Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

I didn't have an awful lot of time to read this week - it was final exam week, and I had one. That course is over now, and, by the grace of God and my professor, I passed. So, for a few weeks - until classes start again in January - I can get some reading and knitting and housecleaning done. And (maybe) do some studying, since I am signed up for another semester of the same stuff - and I feel none to confident of what I just "learned."

At the last book club meeting that I attended, someone mentioned this book. I thought it sounded interesting and ordered it - then at the last book club meeting (which I missed - we have several members who are convinced that it would be much more civilized to meet on a weekday evening instead of Sunday afternoon), the hostess for the next meeting announced this as our next selection. I think I said something in an earlier post about putting it aside to read during the long break, but I finished about three things at once and I picked it up to "taste" a few pages.

I am a little leery of "then and now" books, the switches of place and period can be jarring and/or difficult to follow, but de Rosnay makes a clean job of it. And the contrast between the horror of the central historical event - the round-up of French Jews by Frenchmen to be turned over to the Nazis - and the ignorance and indifference of the present-day French to the fact of the event is striking.

Although the early part of the story switches faithfully chapter by chapter from Julia in the present and Sarah in 1942, we never really become well-acquainted with Sarah especially since we actually follow her for a period of a few months. Some information about her life is uncovered, but only through the narratives of others. Julia we get to know better. In fact, the story is actually about Julia and her personal crisis. Julia's research into Sarah's story is a thread that runs through the whole thing, but I think the connection could have been made more significant.

I enjoyed it, it was a good read, but I don't know that I am going to hold my breath waiting for the next one - which, from the excerpt at the end of this book, sounds rather similar - family secrets, dying declarations, etc.