Sarah's Key Tatiana de Rosnay | ISBN : 0-312-37084-9

Sarah's Key

Author: Tatiana de Rosnay

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Publication Date: 30 September, 2008

ISBN: 9780312370848

Pages: 320

Subjects: Historical, Jewish, War and military

Available as: Trade Paper, 978-0-312-37084-8 Trade Cloth, 978-0-7862-9923-2 Trade Cloth, 978-0-312-37083-1 Trade Paper, 978-0-312-35685-9 E-Book - Open Ebook, 978-1-4299-8521-5

Description:

ANew York Times bestseller. 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 inFrance, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life.
Tatiana de Rosnay offers us a brilliantly subtle, compelling portrait of France under occupation and reveals the taboos and silence that surround this painful episode.

PW Publishers Weekly

Review Source: Publishers Weekly

Review Date: 2009-06-29

In the summer of 1942, the French police arrested thousands of Jewish families and held them outside of Paris before shipping them off to Auschwitz. On the 60th anniversary of the roundups, an expatriate American journalist covering the atrocities discovers a personal connection--her apartment was formerly occupied by one such family. She resolves to find out what happened to Sarah, the 10-year-old daughter, who was the only family member to survive. The story is heart-wrenching, and Polly Stone gives an excellent performance, keeping a low-key tone through descriptions of horror that would elicit excessive dramatics from a less talented performer. Her characters are easy to differentiate, and her French accent is convincing. De Rosnay's novel is captivating, and the powerful narration gives it even greater impact. A St. Martin's hardcover. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved