Sarah's Key Kindle Edition

Sarah’s Key, written by Tatiana de Rosnay, switches back and forth between the lives of two people. One chapter is written to talk about Sarah, a young French girl, and her emotions, development, and grief during the time of the Vel d’Hiv round-up in July of 1942. The next chapter switches to the life of Julia, an American living in France as a journalist. The two stories become intertwined when Julia is asked to write about the Vel d’Hiv. She researches the dark event and comes across Sarah’s story, which fascinates her.Sarah’s Key is a heart- wrenching story that brings light and awareness to the tragic events of the holocaust. The way the author wrote from the perspective of Sarah made me feel as if I was there, witnessing the pain and horror that the women and children had to face. I loved push and pull of emotions as I read on into the book, but I wish it focused more on Sarah’s story, and not as much on the life of Julia.In conclusion, Sarah’s Key is an emotional book that will make you want to just keep reading. This book is a blend of fiction and histoy, and is a great way to learn more about the events that occurred in Paris in 1942. It is memorable and will keep you thinking even after you finish the book. I would definitely recommend this book, it was a great read!

Sarah's Key describes the roundup of the Jews of Paris in 1942 at the orders of the occupying Nazis. Many French citizens did what they could to help the victims, while others cooperated in the roundup. Whole families were taken away by regular French police and transported by ordinary city buses. They were held in camps in France before being transported to their deaths at Auschwitz.A present day female journalist becomes obsessed with a girl from this time when she discovers a tragic connection to her own life. The past and the present begin as two stories and merge into one.This book is one part riveting history, one part page-turner, and one part tear-jerker. I gave it four stars instead of five because the last part of the book turns the focus onto the personal problems of the journalist and becomes a sort of rambling soap opera, which some may enjoy and others may not.However, I would recommend this book for its portrayal of history, its swift pace, and its many twists and turns.

This book's treatment of an important era in history--not to mention French involvement in the Holocaust--was disappointing overall, especially given the fanfare (at least in the way it was presented to me.) The characters seemed superficial and cardboard-like, and the events quite predictable. The author did not seem to be able to create truly authentic characters, most of whom were either 'bad' or 'good' guys with somewhat weak attempts at creating depth. Though she seems genuine in her emotions, the dilemma of the Jewish people in Europe deserves stronger writing.Ursula Hegi is an author with a European background who has a sympathetic view towards the Jewish people and is able to create authentic characters and a book packed with effective symbols and images. Her book Stones from the River is a much more sophisticated piece of writing and highly recommended.I appreciated deRosnay's efforts to expose another aspect of the Holocaust in revealing the complicity of the French, although this could be done in either better novel fashion, or simply by writing an essay. It seemed more a book of persuasion than description; the realities of the Holocaust do not require persuasion if portrayed accurately, since the horror of the reality seems more than adequate to show this truth.

I've read several compelling novels set during the WWII Holocaust, but this one moved me more than most. It is a story about a little-known event in which the French police gathered up Jewish families on one terrifying night to turn them over to the Gestapo. It was written from an unusual point of view- that of a modern-day journalist researching the event as a landmark anniversary approaches. While doing the research, she happens to learn of an incredibly sad story involving a young Jewish girl and her family who were rounded up during this incident. She uncovers an amazing connection between that family and her ex-husband's family, and that connection is what makes the story so compelling.Any novels about this period in history are going to have some similarities, and I felt this one was more tragic than most, but also more uplifting in the end.

I have read several accounts of how the Jewish people in and around Paris were rounded up and sent to be exterminated, but the details of how they were arrested and locked in that large stadium by the French police, for heaven sakes, was beyond my comprehension. The author has the gift of describing people, places, and the deep emotions that humans endure in the worst of times that bring out the VERY worst sociopathic behavior known to mankind. I actually had chest pain when reading many descriptions. Even so, I enjoyed the ending immensely; it was SOOO refreshing after reading how hearts and minds can/are destroyed. Thank you, Tatiana Dr Rosnay, for your desire to bring us truth and love all in one book! You have a superb talent! May God bless you.

It is a sad, moving story . The part that is set in 1942 is moving and depressing . The part set in 2002 is really mostly unnecessary . It is yet another book that switches back-and-forth between two time periods in order to have the later time period tell the story of the former . In the miracle story in that later time period is simply annoying . So if it had been much more about 1942 and much less about 2002 the rating would have been much higher.

At a national conference I overhead two others sitting at our table talking about great books that they had read. I joined in the conversation we started talking about various books in the historical fiction genre that were great reads. I offered the names of a couple of my favorites and Sarah's Key was one of the two that these ladies offered.This book was simply riveting! Hard to put down. It was everything I was told it would be and more. I've since recommended it to others as well.

A book that reminds people of the events that took place in Paris of 1942 during WWII which were either not widely known and/or convienently forgotten by the world. This is why this book, in my humble opinion, is such an important one.In Paris on July 16/17 1942, over 13,000 Jews - men, women and children - were forcibly rounded up by the French police and arrested in Paris and its suburbs. They were detained in appalling and horrifying conditions in the Velodrome d'Hiver aka the Vel' d'Hiv, transported to internment camps, where the children and mothers were separated from each other, and ultimately deported to Auschwitz and other concentration camps where they were murdered. Their 'crime' was simply that they were Jewish.This historical novel moves between two core characters; Sarah, a ten year old Jewish girl, who assuming she will be back later in the day to set him free, locks her four year old brother into a hidden cupboard before being held and deported, and Julia, a journalist researching for an article about the sixtieth commemoration of Auschwitz's liberation in 2002.A powerful but tragic story that moves at a fast pace and is very hard to put down. Indeed at one point, whilst sitting on a train, I was so engrossed in reading it, I very nearly missed my stop! My one critiscism and the reason for the four, rather than five star rating is because the last part of the book focuses more on Julia and becomes her story rather than Sarah's. However despite this, it did lead onto a very satisfying ending.'Zakhor. Al Tichkah translates from Hebrew to mean: Remember. Never forget.' (Tatiana de Rosnay 2008)

I'm giving four stars to Sarah's Key as I found it a page turner at first and I did like the way the chapters were alternated between 1942 and the 21st Century. Reading the story this way gave some relief on the horror of what happened to Sarah.I'm not sure I liked some of the characters and I disliked Julia's husband Bertrand from the beginning. I wasn't surprised when he turned out the way he did.As I said the first half of the story was excellent, but I was dreadfully disappointed with the second half that concentrated in the 21st Century and was more Julia's troubles and love life. I lost respect for her as she seemed to lose focus and was intent on finding herself a man to stop herself being lonely. I thought her a completely different character from the one at the start of the story. It all got a bit woolly. I feel the discovery of Sarah's brother ended the story for me.However I had never heard of the atrocity committed in the cycle arena in Paris although I knew the French police and people collaborated with their German occupiers and it was obvious the author had lived in France and had done a great deal of research. It was this that boosted Sarah's Key from three stars to four stars. It will be interesting to read other reviews on this story.

Having watched the movie, and studied French collaboration during the Second World War extensively at university, I knew what to expect. Sarah, a young jewish girl who has been shielded by her family, does not understand the horrors that are about to unfold for her and her family in the summer of 1942. Sixty years later, an American journalist living in Paris begins writing a commemoration piece on the Vel d'Hiv round-up (real events that should never - ever - be forgotten) and uncovers a long buried secret that links the Tezac family to the tragedy that struck Sarah's family. This is a novel that I will be recommending to everybody. It is a historic, thought-provoking novel that forces the question: why have so many people forgotten that the French government were complicit in the Holocaust?

Julia Jarmond, an American journalist living in Paris, is assigned by her editor to cover the 60th anniversary of the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup, a mass arrest of Jews in Paris by the French police in July 1942. Although a resident in Paris for twenty five years, Julia is unaware of the shocking events of July 1942 that led to those arrested being deported to Auschwitz. As her investigation into the roundup continues, Julia discovers the story of Sarah, a young Jewish girl whose story unexpectedly connects to Julia’s French in laws, leading to uncomfortable revelations that have huge consequences for her family and her marriage.Sarah’s Key flips between the past and present day following the stories of Sarah and Julia respectively. I personally preferred the elements of the book set in the past as Sarah’s story was incredibly moving – I would challenge anyone not to be moved by her determination to save her beloved brother Michel. Although I liked the character of Julia, I didn’t connect with her story in the present. I found it a little predictable and light on substance. Overall though, Sarah’s Key is a heart breaking and harrowing read that shines a light on a shameful event in French history that everyone should know about.

Not sure about his book. To begin with I was riveted, loving the story of Sarah and her struggles. But once I had found out what happened to Sarah, and it become the story of Julia, I lost interest completely. Julia has no real personality, her story is dull and rather contrived and I really didn't care about her at all. Which is a bit of a problem since she is, I assume, supposed to be our heroine! It was almost 2 books - the first gripping (and I learned a lot from it) and the second dull and uninteresting and rather formulaic. Shame.