Sarah's Key

By: Tatiana de Rosnay

Published: 2008

# of pages: 293

Official description:

A New 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 in France, 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.

My opinion: I found this book to be horrifyingly haunting. I had never heard of the events of Vel d'Hiv' and what happened to the children afterwards. It's a shame that people have never heard of those particular events that took place during the Holocaust. It's so important to remember the victims of the Holocaust for multiple reasons. They deserve to be remembered and their deaths should serve as a warning for the future so that hopefully such things will never be repeated.

Why I gave this book 5/5 stars: Great historical fiction setting, unique storytelling, well-written

Other reviews:
S. Krishna's Books
Bookfoolery and Babble
Royal Reviews
Letters from a Hill Farm

Have you reviewed this? Let me know and I'd be happy to post yours as well.