Fantastic Fiction Based Upon a True Tragedy During WWII

Those who have followed the postings on this blog already know that I like to read. This is the 13th book that I have reviewed since February of 2024. What a set of books it has been, and this is only a portion of what I have read. I began reading aggressively again when I was recovering from my tragedy, and reading and walking are big things for me now.

As is often the case, this book that I am discussing today was in a box in my neighborhood. I had never heard of the author, Tatiana de Rosnay, and I had never heard of the book, which was published in 2008, Sarah's Key.

The story is about the Holocaust, which is an important tragedy for me, though it was over well before I was born. I had never heard of the circumstances that surrounded this novel, which was based on a real event that took place in 1942. France, under Nazi pressure, rounded up thousands of Jews living there and deported them, using its own police force. This was known as the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup.

Sarah was a young child, the oldest of two. Her parents died in Auschwitz, and her brother died of starvation while being locked in hiding in their home in Paris. Sarah broke away from the children's camp where she was being held. Some kind farmers found her and ended up taking her back to her house by train.

I like what the author did here. She actually had two stories going back and forth. There were many chapters in this book of almost 300 pages, and there were no chapter titles or numbers. She rotated between Sarah's story and Julia Jarmond's. Julia was an American married to a French man, working as a journalist. I don't want to spoil the book for anyone who wants to read it, but very early in the book it becomes clear that her husband's grandparents acquired the home where young Sarah was living. Julia is driven to learn more about Sarah, which she does successfully.

Sarah's Key raises the big question of why so few in France knew about or cared about the involvement of the country in getting rid of Jews. Here in America, we have struggled with issues against "different" people, whether they were Native Americans or Blacks. I reviewed a book about a move by Black sharecroppers in Tennessee to act upon the right to vote that created a terrible situation for them in the early 60s.

This was a fantastic book, in my view. It covered the important issue that the author wanted to review, and it also said a lot about how people relate. For those who want to watch movies instead of reading books, this was turned into a film in 2010, with Kristin Scott Thomas starring as Julia Jarmond. Here she is discussing the story in the movie.