Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
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Book Reviews of Sarah's Key
Book Review: excellent tale
Summary: 5 Stars
In the summer 1942 under the Nazi occupation orders, the French gendarme violently arrest Jewish families. Amongst those brutally rounded up is ten year old Sarah and her parents Wladyslaw and Rywka Starzynski. Before Sarah is grabbed, she hides her four years old younger brother Michel inside the apartment's cupboard expecting to return rather shortly to free him.
On the sixtieth anniversary of the intolerance dark Vel'd'Hivs, fortyish American expatriate journalist Julia Jarmond is assigned to write an article about this day of infamy. Her research finds her connected to Sarah through the apartment she and her womanizing spouse Bertrand Tezac reside in; as that was where the Starzynski family lived before the snatch and the Bertrand brood took occupancy.
This is an incredible look at a dark moment in French history as seen by a reporter six decades later following the tragic footsteps of one Jewish family. The cast especially in WWII is super as the audience will feel they are with Sarah and her family from the moment the cops raid their apartment. Julia is also a terrific protagonist as she refuses to bow to pressure from her in-laws or fiancé to end her research or look for someone else. Although Bertrand pales next to the journalist and the Starzynski brood, fans will appreciate Tatiana de Rosnay's haunting profound glimpse at the day Paris sold its soul to the Nazis.
Harriet Klausner
Book Review: Mesmerizing read!..spoiler alert!
Summary: 5 Stars
From the moment I picked up Sarah's Key, I was unable to put it down. I have not had that experience in quite some time. The book switches between past (Sarah) and present (Julia) every few pages. Each "chapter" provided just enough information to peak my interest to continue.
The book follows Sarah, a young Jewish girl, who is taken along with her family by the French police in July of 1942. Sarah had been sheltered from the increasingly hostile climate towards Jews and was left unaware as to what was happening around her. She was able to use her quick wits and intelligence to figure it out fairly quickly. Her journey begins the second she locks her four year old brother in a hidden cupboard, promising to return for him in a few days. She is determined to make it back to him before it is too late. I can't help but think that the key to the cupboard was also her key out of the concentration camp. If she had not yearned to save her brother, she would have been unable to save herself--something she never realizes.
Julia, a journalist, is writing a piece on the French roundup. Her story leads her to Sarah and she becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to her. Their paths intertwine and it makes for a great read! I love Tatiana de Rosnay integrated historical events into this story, especially an event that is apparently, not only unheard of but also ignored by many.
I highly recommend this book!
Book Review: Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
Summary: 5 Stars
A hanting, riveting novel of life under the German occupation and why it's still so painful for many Frenchmen to acknowledge this terrible chapter in their history. It's 1942 in Paris when ten-year-old Sarah and her family learn they are to be arrested in the shocking Vel' d' Hiv' roundup of the Jews, the most horrible example of French collaboration with the Nazis. However, Sarah is a bright girl and before the police come she locks her little brother Michel in a cupboard, their favorite hiding place, thinking she will be back in a few hours to get him. But sadly it's not to be as all the Jews in the roundup are sent to concentration camps where most of them die.
Sixty years later an American journalist, Julia Jurmond, married to a Frenchman, learns of the notorious roundup of so long ago and is not only horrified but shocked by the government's silence and the ignorance of the general population. Determined to investigate and find the truth she stumbles upon a long-hidden family secret as she traces Sarah's ordeal, which causes her to question not only the validity of her marriage but also her life. A complelling, heart-wrenching novel that really touches the soul and sheds light on a bad chapter in French history.
Book Review: Just Amazing . .
Summary: 5 Stars
This book effortlessly educates the reader about a little-known event in French history, the roundup of Jews living in Paris in 1942, while simultaneously crafting an absolutely haunting story of one particular family, the parents of two children, Sarah and Michel. There is also a secondary plot about a young American journalist who writes about the Veldrome roundup for a special anniversary issue of the magazine. Ultimately, the two stories come together in a profound and moving way. The novel calls to mind many of the questions asked about the holocaust in Germany as well -- the huge numbers of neighbors who claimed not to know what was happening, who did nothing to help, and who in some instances benefitted from the tragic losses of these families (in, for example, occupying the real estate vacated by Jewish families who were deported and taking their possessions). This is another book that makes you think that history is never really over, and that how history is dealt with (or not dealt with) has enormous repercussions for the present day. As France struggles anew with social issues, including the situation of its new immigrant minorities, this book has continued relevance on both a social and political level. First rate!Book Review: Sad Time in History
Summary: 5 Stars
This book was highly recommended to me and at first not sure of why nor of its contents. I am a WWII history buff and thoroughly enjoyed the journaling of Julia and her deep desire to reach the conclusions of Sarah's story. Throughout the book, the history of the rounding up of the Jews in France in 1942 was appalling. It is time that we all acknowledge the treason that the French police implemented towards their own countryman whether Jewish or otherwise. The story is very captivating and truly worthwhile. I highly recommended this book to a lady that was in the bookstore in the San Diego Airport. I'm a church librarian and have a great love of books and history. I gently asked "are you looking for recommendations". She took my advice and bought Sarah's Key. She said she didn't want to "cry", but I said it was very sad time in our history. Question: were the French police held responsible for the deaths of the Jews in France? Yes, they had their orders, but so were the Nazi police in Germany and eventual trials. The back of the the book offers other suggestions. I also highly recommend Trudy's Promise which shares the time of occupation after the Berlin Wall was erected. Blessed reading.