Sarah's Key
Tatiana De Rosnay
Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel' d'Hiv' roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.
Paris, May 2002: On Vel' d'Hiv's 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France's past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d'Hiv', to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah's past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life. (Courtesy of Goodreads)
Paris, May 2002: On Vel' d'Hiv's 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France's past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d'Hiv', to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah's past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life. (Courtesy of Goodreads)
No words can do this book justice.
As it is mentioned in the description above, this book was about the Jewish deportations that occurred in the early 1940s (a bit before and during WWII), particularly in France (yes, FRANCE!). It introduced us (the readers) to Sarah, a Jewish girl who gets arrested along with her parents by the French police and locks her little brother in a cupboard in order to prevent him from getting arrested as well. Sarah's story parallels with Julia's: a journalist in early 2002 who is assigned to research Vel' d'Hiv (the roundup of Jews, including Sarah, in Paris).
Can we just talk about how this book, a WWII Holocaust-related book, takes place in France? That piece of information alone brings an entirely different insight and atmosphere to the book. Rosnay breaks the norm and talks about deportations that happened in a country that you would never think of when talking about the deportations of the Jewish. I know for a fact that I would have never thought of France as one of the main countries who also deported them by THEIR OWN PEOPLE, NOT the Nazis. This book gave me soooo much information on Vel' d'Hiv that when I went online to look it up for more information, I already knew more than half of the information displayed!
The way the author was able to balance the two time periods in the story and the way she brought the stories of two different people was absolutely brilliant. I found myself turning the pages at a fast pace because the story was constant suspense. "What's going to happen next? Where is this heading? What is she going to do???"
The story leaves you with constant additions of information that all leads up to this big conclusion in the end. I admired Julia's character very much. Her 15-year marriage is slowly falling apart and she has to deal with many problems, yet she kept going headstrong in dealing with many situations at once and went on this journey to figure out what is most important to her and what she feels is right. And Sarah... her story and what she goes through is heart-wrecking... no words can describe, and if I tried, I might end up spoiling the book.
I have just found out today that this amazing book is a movie. I hope to watch it and see how it compares with the book. Until then, go get your copy of Sarah's Key as soon as you can because I without a doubt recommend this book.
My Rating:
1/5 I didn't like it
2/5 It was okay
3/5 I liked it
4/5 I really liked it
5/5 It was amazing
~Deniz
As it is mentioned in the description above, this book was about the Jewish deportations that occurred in the early 1940s (a bit before and during WWII), particularly in France (yes, FRANCE!). It introduced us (the readers) to Sarah, a Jewish girl who gets arrested along with her parents by the French police and locks her little brother in a cupboard in order to prevent him from getting arrested as well. Sarah's story parallels with Julia's: a journalist in early 2002 who is assigned to research Vel' d'Hiv (the roundup of Jews, including Sarah, in Paris).
Can we just talk about how this book, a WWII Holocaust-related book, takes place in France? That piece of information alone brings an entirely different insight and atmosphere to the book. Rosnay breaks the norm and talks about deportations that happened in a country that you would never think of when talking about the deportations of the Jewish. I know for a fact that I would have never thought of France as one of the main countries who also deported them by THEIR OWN PEOPLE, NOT the Nazis. This book gave me soooo much information on Vel' d'Hiv that when I went online to look it up for more information, I already knew more than half of the information displayed!
The way the author was able to balance the two time periods in the story and the way she brought the stories of two different people was absolutely brilliant. I found myself turning the pages at a fast pace because the story was constant suspense. "What's going to happen next? Where is this heading? What is she going to do???"
The story leaves you with constant additions of information that all leads up to this big conclusion in the end. I admired Julia's character very much. Her 15-year marriage is slowly falling apart and she has to deal with many problems, yet she kept going headstrong in dealing with many situations at once and went on this journey to figure out what is most important to her and what she feels is right. And Sarah... her story and what she goes through is heart-wrecking... no words can describe, and if I tried, I might end up spoiling the book.
I have just found out today that this amazing book is a movie. I hope to watch it and see how it compares with the book. Until then, go get your copy of Sarah's Key as soon as you can because I without a doubt recommend this book.
My Rating:
1/5 I didn't like it
2/5 It was okay
3/5 I liked it
4/5 I really liked it
5/5 It was amazing
~Deniz
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