Sarah's Key

Another book that I can highly recommend. I loved this book (right up until the end, but I'll get to that) - it was a great page turner and an easy read on a topic that still haunts and fascinates me - the holocaust.

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay is the story about two women Sarah and Julia separated by sixty years. Sarah's story is based in Paris 1942 during the war - her story is compelling, horrifying, fascinating and haunting (I felt drained through each of her chapters, but couldn't stop reading). Her story is interwoven with Julia's story also based in Paris but 60 years later. Julia's story is much lighter and easier to read but I was disappointed in the ending of her story and its predictability and unlikeliness (I won't spoil the book for you).

"Paris, July 1942. Sarah, a ten-year old girl, is taken with her parents by the French police as they go door to door arresting Jewish families in the middle of the night. Desperate to protect her younger brother, Sarah locks him in a bedroom cupboard - their secret hiding place - and promises to come back for him as soon as they are released.


Sixty years later, Sarah's story intertwines with that of Julia Jarmond, a journalist investigating the round-up. Sarah's Key is an emotionally gripping story of two families, forever linked to, and haunted by, one of the darkest days in France's past."


Although it was hard to read (bit reminiscent of 'Boy with the striped pyjamas' type of angst) it was a fascinating story of an event I knew nothing about - the great Velodrome d'Hiver round-up that took place on 16 July 1942, in the heart of Paris. The story highlighted the evilness of the human race along with extraordinary braveness, kindness and compassion. It still terrifies me that something this awful could have occurred only 70 years ago - and the people were capable of inflicting such misery on people just like themselves and more frighteningly, on children.


Julia's story was welcome relief between the chapters of Sarah's story  - a bit of a detective, drama and love story - but they didn't grip me in the same way and I felt really let down by the end of her story - I'm not sure what I expected but it was a bit too predictable and saccharine after the emotional roller-coaster of the rest of the book.


My better half tells me (and I've confirmed through the trusty internet) that they have already made a movie of this book and Kristin Scott Thomas plays Julia and Melusine Mayance plays Sarah. All the reviews I have read say the movie has stayed quite true to the book - which makes me wonder whether I could watch Sarah's story without dissolving into a mess of tears.

I do recommend you read this book as I thought it was brilliant and fascinating and its a story that we should not forget. "Sakhor, Al Tichkah. Remember. Never forget. In Hebrew."