Sarah’s Key tells two remarkable stories, strangely intertwined. One story happened in Paris 1942, and the second takes place in a vastly different Paris, from 2002 and forward.
Sarah, who for several chapters is called “the girl”, makes difficult choices at a time in history when no good choices are available to her. Sarah agonizes over her first choice, locking her little brother in a cabinet when the French police come to arrest the Jewish families in Paris. She made a kindly meant choice using the imperfect information she had, with painful results.
Julie is a modern journalist, making a modern woman’s choices. She has many more options than 10 year old Sarah had, in her life, her family and her career and as the book progresses, she chooses her options, occasionally wisely and at times without enough caution. Julie’s choices are more varied than Sarah could have dreamed but Julie is drawn to Sarah’s life and story and investigates it in detail
Julie learns of Sarah’s life and times, a complex and difficult period in French history that modern France has almost forgotten. The French police rounded up the Jewish families, including children, treated them in an appalling way, and shipped them to death camps. Most of Paris quickly ignored and forgot the entire episode. One heroic couple and a kinder than most policeman demonstrates that not all of France ignored the Holocaust, but these kind exceptions are a clear minority.
After reading Sarah’s Key, one cannot help but consider what horrors we are capable of denying in our own modern world, and how easily we can live our effortless lives while ignoring the horrors of a history not so many years behind us.
At one point, I stopped reading the book, thinking the story was going end tragically for all the characters, but luckily a glimmer of hope made me pick up the book again. The ending pleased me, and I recommend Sarah’s Key wholeheartedly.
1 comment:
Sarah’s Key submitted by Betty Pugh
Sarah’s Key tells two remarkable stories, strangely intertwined. One story happened in Paris 1942, and the second takes place in a vastly different Paris, from 2002 and forward.
Sarah, who for several chapters is called “the girl”, makes difficult choices at a time in history when no good choices are available to her. Sarah agonizes over her first choice, locking her little brother in a cabinet when the French police come to arrest the Jewish families in Paris. She made a kindly meant choice using the imperfect information she had, with painful results.
Julie is a modern journalist, making a modern woman’s choices. She has many more options than 10 year old Sarah had, in her life, her family and her career and as the book progresses, she chooses her options, occasionally wisely and at times without enough caution. Julie’s choices are more varied than Sarah could have dreamed but Julie is drawn to Sarah’s life and story and investigates it in detail
Julie learns of Sarah’s life and times, a complex and difficult period in French history that modern France has almost forgotten. The French police rounded up the Jewish families, including children, treated them in an appalling way, and shipped them to death camps. Most of Paris quickly ignored and forgot the entire episode. One heroic couple and a kinder than most policeman demonstrates that not all of France ignored the Holocaust, but these kind exceptions are a clear minority.
After reading Sarah’s Key, one cannot help but consider what horrors we are capable of denying in our own modern world, and how easily we can live our effortless lives while ignoring the horrors of a history not so many years behind us.
At one point, I stopped reading the book, thinking the story was going end tragically for all the characters, but luckily a glimmer of hope made me pick up the book again. The ending pleased me, and I recommend Sarah’s Key wholeheartedly.
Respectfully submitted, Betty Pugh
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