Sarah's Key [Paperback]

 

 

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July 1942 marked a dark period in the history of France where thousands of Jewish families were rounded up and forcibly kept in the Velodrome d'Hiver. They were then sent off to transit camps in France such as Drancy, before being packed off to Auschwitz, a Nazi death camp. What is so unnerving about this whole incident is that the rounding up and mobilisation of Jews for deportation was done by the French authorities.

Based upon this seldom mentioned, little known piece of French history, author Tatiana de Rosnay has crafted a well-written novel that alternates between the past in 1942, and the present. The past centers around a 10 year old Jewish girl Sarah Strazynski who is forced to go to the Velodrome d'Hiver with her mother and father, innocently leaving behind a 4 year old brother Michel locked in a secret cupboard with the assurance that she would return to let him out when it was safe.

The present revolves around writer Julia Jarmond, a transplanted American who is married to a frenchman and finds herself being consumed by the story of the Vel d'Hiv incident. As she digs deeper, she uncovers dark secrets surrounding her husband's family which are connected to the deportations of Jews from France. As the truth emerges, the author deftly handles the question of guilt caused by supressed secrets and how the truth can sometimes not only bring about pain and disrupt the regularity of life, yet also have the ability to heal and move forwards into the future.

The method employed by the author, which alternates between the past [1942] and the present is an effective tool for it ties both periods together and brings the story to a satisfying conclusion. I do confess though that I found the story of the past much more dramatic and interesting than the one which deals with Julia in the present. On the whole though, it was an engrossing read and I would recommend it, especially to those interested in the genre. I'd also recommend the following books which deal with the Holocaust and France:
The Holocaust, the French, and the Jewsby Susan Zuccoti (non-fiction)
One Step Ahead of Hitler: A Jewish Child's Journey Through Franceby Fred Gross(memoir)
France: The Dark Years, 1940-1944 (Modern World)by Julian Jackson (non-fiction and more for those already familiar with the history of the period)

There is also a movie adaptation of the novel starring Kristin Scott-Thomas, Sarah's Key

In the first half of this book, two stories interlace with each other in short alternating chapters. Sarah Starzynski, a ten-year-old Parisian girl born to Jewish parents, is captured in the round-up of June 16, 1942, and imprisoned with almost 10,000 others in an indoor cycling arena, the Vélodrome d'Hiver, awaiting transportation to Auschwitz. When the police arrive, she has just time to hide her younger brother in a concealed closet in their apartment, locking him in and promising to return. Sixty years later, Julia Jarmond, an American journalist married to a Frenchman, researching for a story on the "Vél d'Hiv," stumbles on the trail of Sarah's family, and becomes obsessed with trying to discover her fate. She is struck by the fact that the round-up and subsequent disposal was carried out, not by the Gestapo, but by ordinary French policemen, enabled by a citizenry that for the most part looked the other way. A coincidental discovery leads her to question the involvement of her husband's family at the time and to re-examine her own marriage.

Apart from this one coincidence that one has to grant for the sake of the novel, Tatiana de Rosnay mostly avoids melodrama, excessive sentiment, or plot surprises. Sarah's story may be merely a variant on the Holocaust narrative often told before, but its child's-eye viewpoint gives it a moving authenticity, and the short chapters keep it bearable. Especially touching are the glimpses of individual concern and kindness among the general indifference of the French people; the novel honors those unsung saints and heroes who put aside their fear to help in individual ways.

At the half-way point, however, de Rosnay is forced to give up Sarah's direct narrative, telling her story solely through what Julia Jarmond is able to discover about her. Julia is an attractive character, a woman in her forties trying to balance the demands of profession, motherhood, and marriage, while retaining her independence as a foreign female in a chauvinistic society; her story could make an interesting novel all on its own. But it cannot possibly compete with the searing truth of the Holocaust, and for the first half of the book it makes no attempt to do so. When the side-by-side narrative ends, we are indeed invested in Julia's personal concerns, but may feel uneasy about it, as though her questions of personal identity and romance are trivial compared to the horror of where the book started. To de Rosnay's credit, she does not try to tie everything up in an implausibly neat ending, but she cannot stop the book from thinning out at the end, although the final pages are touching and suitably unresolved.

Any novel dealing with the Holocaust is full of echoes of other books. De Rosnay's portrayal of Parisians under occupation chimes perfectly with the picture in SUITE FRANCAISE by Irène Nemirovsky, who herself suffered the same fate as Sarah's family. The transit camps and deportation of French Jews feature in Sebastian Faulks' CHARLOTTE GRAY. And the story of an American in France looking into an earlier time somewhat resembles THE VIRGIN BLUE by Tracy Chevalier, an author whom De Rosnay apparently admires. Readers who enjoyed any one of these would probably appreciate SARAH'S KEY, a book that stands up well to all but the first of them.

The theme and historical context of this book is certainly compelling and the moral issues raised by the story, though familiar, are still intriguing. However, once the key elements of Sarah's story are revealed, the book looses steam and we are left with the banal life crisis facing our journalist narrator who comes off frequently as more than a little spineless, letting the people around her direct the flow of her thoughts and actions. The angst of modern life over-shadows past tragedy. Most of the author's characters seem stereotyped, merely cardboard cut-outs who are ill-suited to the task of explicating the difficult gray areas between good and evil. When Joshua, Julia's editor, points out to her the fact that she has left out one whole side of Sarah's difficult story, he might as well be describing this novel. It never really does address the issues of responsibility and moral culpability in any deep and meaningful way. When Sarah's voice disappears from the narrative, the book looses its psychological edge and Julia's subsequent quest seems to lack real purpose. The confrontations which do take place towards the end of the novel are not the one's a reader might be anticipating and ultimately, leave the reader feeling unsatisfied and disappointed. Read this book to learn more about the Jewish experience in occupied France but don't expect to be challenged--this book doesn't take readers anywhere near the true tragedy symbolized by Sarah's key.

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5.0 out of 5 stars You won't be able to put it down.
I must admit I am a fan of most historical fiction novels, especially those that take place or recall the events of the Holocaust, but this one just on all accounts was AMAZING... Read more

Published 1 day ago by BSalem921

5.0 out of 5 stars Sarah's Key
This is an amazing story about the German occupation of France during WWII . Although it is historic fiction, much of it is historically accurate. Read more

Published 3 days ago by Lauren Peruzzi

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it!
Great read! And a fast read! I was glued to this book for 2 days! I Loved the story, and it really makes you think about life.

Published 3 days ago by angie28

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful story
Wonderful story, complex and engaging. At points, I could not put this book down. The author lets you truly know the characters. Recommend highly to any reader.

Published 4 days ago by G. Atkinson

5.0 out of 5 stars Sarah's Key
Sarah's Key I read Sarah's Key after my mother told me it was a wonderful book,well written,a page turner & a book I would never forget. She was right. Read more

Published 5 days ago by L. Gramling

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved this book
Although I live in Paris as an American ex-pat, I'm not familiar with all the history. I have to say this book was WONDERFUL. I couldn't put the book down. Read more

Published 5 days ago by Rod de Paris

5.0 out of 5 stars A good read, an important reflection on a shameful piece of history.
A very moving account of a little-known piece of history. I loved the movie and the book was every bit as good, or better.

Published 6 days ago by Truc

4.0 out of 5 stars Soul Searching
I read this book not to say that I read another book, but I wanted to get insight and read something that I am not used too. This book did it. Read more

Published 7 days ago by Sugga

5.0 out of 5 stars couldn't put it down
Nice light reading. Leaves you wanting more. I was unable to put this book down and finished it within two days.

Published 8 days ago by Liz

5.0 out of 5 stars A nice surprise
I'll admit I normally find myself bored with books written about this event in that they all are very similar. Read more

Published 9 days ago by Asterias

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