Paris, July 1942. Sarah, a 10 year old girl, is taken with her parents by the French police as they go door to door arresting Jewish families in the middle of the night. Desperate to protect her younger brother, Sarah locks him in a bedroom cupboard - their secret hiding place - and promises to come back for him.
Sixty years later, Sarah's story intertwines with that of Julie Jarmond, a journalist investigating the round-up. Sarah's Key is an emotionally gripping story of two families, forever linked to and haunted by one of the darkest days in France's past.
Although this book rated high with our members, there was plenty of criticism on the author's writing style and story structure. On the positive side, many of us found the history compelling and some new knowledge gained around the Jewish arrests in France and particularly of the Vel-d-Hiv round-up by the French police. The sad treatment of Jewish children was a little too much for some, while others found it contrived and soapy.
But overall we had to agree that this was a very readable book and should certainly be suggested reading for anyone who normally finds historical reading not to their liking. It does impart specific knowledge of that time in a 'page turner' format.
Our numbers exceeded the usual complement this month, with 12 attending, so the opinions and ideas were varied to say the least. But it did create a good discussion, particularly about human nature and how anyone would know how they would react given a certain situation. It would seem that we have more than adequately covered the Holocaust of World War II though, and that we will, to the delight of a few of our members, give it a rest next year!
