Sarah's Key

This book has been on my list for awhile now, mostly because of its Paris setting (I'm in love with Paris and the French language), and partly because of its subject matter: Nazi-occupied France and the deportation of Jews. As a teacher of World War 2, it's helpful for me to research and gain further knowledge of that particular, though extremely sad, period of time. Prior to reading this book, I had no knowledge of the Vel' d'Hiv roundup that occured on June 16, 1942, nor did I ever learn about the instrumental role the French police played in these tragic and inexcusable events. My leisurely strolls through the Marais in Paris certainly would have been different for me had I known then what I know now.

In the book...

Sarah lives with her mother, father, and brother in Paris in 1942. One summer night while Sarah is sleeping there are a series of knocks on the door, followed by voices that indicate it's the police. Sarah quietly scampers to her mother's room to wake her, while her father hides in the basement and her four-year-old brother sleeps in the bedroom. Her mother answers the door to French police that demand she pack clothes and leave with them immediately. Through tears, she does as she's told, and Sarah helps her brother into the closet hideout they play in. She makes sure he has water and a flashlight, and then locks him in and puts the key in her pocket. She promises she'll come back for him soon, and she knows her father will find him once the police leave and he can emerge from the basement. But things don't happen exactly as Sarah has imagined, and soon she, her mother, and father, are in the Velodrome waiting with the other Jews that have been torn from their homes in the early morning hours. What will happen to her brother?

The very short chapters alternate between Sarah's point of view and that of Julia, who is a journalist living in present-day Paris. Julia is American, in her forties, and married to a French man named Bertrand. They have a daughter, Zoe, who is a bit of a smart-ass. Her husband has just purchased his grandmother's apartment in the Marais district of Paris, and he plans to remodel it into a new home for his family. Julia doesn't seem too keen on the idea, but goes along with it anyway. Bertrand is an ass, for lack of a better word. He is condescending toward Julia and is involved romantically with another woman, Amelie. For whatever reason, probably because she loves him, Julia puts up with his despicable behavior and attends to her job at the American French magazine where she is assigned a story on the Vel' D'Hiv Jewish roundup in 1942. Her job will be to find and interview people who remember that horrid day and use facts only in the piece she writes. This is where things get very interesting for the reader. I won't give away the details, though, because this is such an intricately detailed plot. You really have to read it for yourself because any description I would give could not possibly do it justice. Tatiana de Rosnay has created a masterpiece with this novel, one that will stick with me forever. And there's a bonus: I learned something about history that I never knew before, something that I can share with my students, too.

Happy Reading!