Sarah's Key in Crazy Challenge Connection

Nov 10, 2010 Book Concierge rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club, france, library, concierge, world-war-ii, holocaust

The book is told in alternating chapters – Sarah Starzynski, her parents and younger brother in Paris and environs during WW 2, and Julia Jarmond Tezac, an American living in Paris in 2002.

Sarah and her parents were rounded up in August 1942 by the French police on orders of the occupying Nazi regime. They were held for about a week at the velodrome stadium – without food, water, toilets, beds. They were then sent via train to a detention camp, and some time later divided. Her parents are sent ...more

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Apr 22, 2012 Anne (Booklady) Molinarolo rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: permanent-library, good-fiction, read-around-world, historical, summer-2013

Truly a10 Star Book

My Goodreads friend, Debbie recommended this book to me a while back and I kept putting it back on my bookshelf. Did I really want to read another Holocaust story? Not really, since I'm again horrified by the evil that was the Nazis and I usually get into a funk after reading one. But Sarah's Keyis different. It truly is a beautiful book. And I learned about an event in Paris, France that I new absolutely nothing about: Vel' d'Hiv Roundup. Almost none of the Jews rounded up o Truly a10 Star Book

My Goodreads friend, Debbie recommended this book to me a while back and I kept putting it back on my bookshelf. Did I really want to read another Holocaust story? Not really, since I'm again horrified by the evil that was the Nazis and I usually get into a funk after reading one. But Sarah's Keyis different. It truly is a beautiful book. And I learned about an event in Paris, France that I new absolutely nothing about: Vel' d'Hiv Roundup. Almost none of the Jews rounded up on that July early morning survived, including over 4000 children. This "Operation Spring Breeze" was solely carried out by 450 French Policeman and is a dark stain in France's history. All afternoon, I have been reading about Vel' d'Hiv and I can understand why Tatiana de Rosnay wanted to write about it. Intertwining Sarah's story and Julia's story seems natural, since L'Amerecaine journalist is writing a story commemorating the tragic Vel' d'Hiv Roundup exactly 60 years later.

Alternating between the past and the present, both Sarah and Julia's voices shine through. Never do they sound alike or contrived. The little girl's fear and bewilderment of leaving her home to the awful conditions in the stadium under the watchful eyes of the armed French policemen. My heart broke for the little girl when she realized that she has not protected her 4 year-old brother. Michael is still locked in their secret hiding place at their apartment. I felt her sadness and guilt all through the novel. And I wasn't surprised by the connection between Sarah and Julia. Sarah keeps the key with her at all times. It almost becomes a talisman for the girl. Julia uncovers secrets as well and Sarah is her "key". Her life and her husband's family will never be the same. The ending really surprised me. It has a Gone with the Wind ending. I'd like to believe what I wanted to happen: Both Sarah and Julia are finally at peace as Julia opens her eyes to the set of turquoise that are peacefully staring at her.

Giving a plot summary seems indecent to do, because I loved the story as it unfolded. That young Jewish girl and the middle-aged woman are bound together in Julia's heart. I can't do their story justice by a clumsy summary. Tatiana de Rosnay's writing is just to beautiful to hack both stories down to a few sentences. These characters will stay with me for a long while until I pull the book down from its place and re-read it. ...more

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Feb 08, 2010 Linda C rated it liked it

Shelves: read-2013

This is a perfect example of an over hyped book not living up to its advance billing. Given that the title was "Sarah's Key," rather than "Julia's F'ed Up French Life," one would think that the story would have been about Sarah, but it really wasn't. It was about Julia's f'ed up life. Instead of telling Sarah's story, the author used Sarah to show Julia how exactly her (Julia's) life was f'ed up.

This wasn't a long book (fortunately!) anyway, and Sarah's story was over halfway through the book. A This is a perfect example of an over hyped book not living up to its advance billing. Given that the title was "Sarah's Key," rather than "Julia's F'ed Up French Life," one would think that the story would have been about Sarah, but it really wasn't. It was about Julia's f'ed up life. Instead of telling Sarah's story, the author used Sarah to show Julia how exactly her (Julia's) life was f'ed up.

This wasn't a long book (fortunately!) anyway, and Sarah's story was over halfway through the book. All the rest was about Julia. In many respects this book should only get two stars. I am giving the third star (which makes it sound as if it is merely another book in a long line of so-so, mostly forgettable books) because the part about Sarah WAS SO GOOD!!! Tatiana de Rosnay can write; there is no doubt about that. She took a little known WWII event and made you feel as if you were there in the velodrome, dirty, smelly, starving, thirsty and terrified.

So what went wrong? Sadly, everything about Julia. Many books successfully use a narrator from the present to tell the story about the past. If she had done this, concentrating on Sarah through Julia's research as a reporter while keeping Julia herself on the periphery, the book would have been much, much better. Instead, Sarah's powerful story was continually set aside and we had to read about Julia's obnoxious French husband, his whiny obnoxious relatives, Julia's job, her life in France, yada yada yada.

De Rosnay also made the classic mistake of European writers when trying to create an American character-- instead of a character, she created a stereotype. Other than having good teeth (ok, also a stereotype), not every American is tall, athletic and blond. If De Rosnay felt compelled to create a back story for Julia, she would have done better to create a character that she actually understands... how about, let's say... maybe someone French? Even French women would, I suppose, get tired of philandering husbands and obnoxious, whiny in-laws.

My advice on this book-- read the part about Sarah, and skip over the Julia sections. They add nothing to the story. ...more

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Oct 28, 2011 Megan rated it really liked it

I have been wanting to read this one for a while. That is the problem with my obnoxiously large 'to read' pile, and not being able to say no to new review opportunities!! I just cannot read them all at once! I am so glad I finally brought Sarah's Key to the top of my pile! It was a great read. While definitely not a "feel good" novel, it was well-written, emotional, and filled with vivid characters and history. I would highly recommend this book, especially for those who like historical fiction ...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Nancy Brady rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: book-exchange-library-group-read

The interwoven story of Sarah, a young Jewish girl, and Julia Jarmond, an American journalist living in Paris. Set in Paris in 1942 and 2002, the story is told of Jewish family sent by the French ultimately to Auschwitz. As they are rounded up, Sarah locks her brother, Michel, in a hidden cupboard with a promise to return for him. Her story is told along with Julia's story of researching the sixtieth anniversary of the tragic events. As Julia's research continues, she becomes obsessed with findi ...more

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Jul 22, 2010 Megan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I have been wanting to read this one for a while. That is the problem with my obnoxiously large 'to read' pile, and not being able to say no to new review opportunities!! I just cannot read them all at once! I am so glad I finally brought Sarah's Key to the top of my pile! It was a great read. While definitely not a "feel good" novel, it was well-written, emotional, and filled with vivid characters and history. I would highly recommend this book, especially for those who like historical fiction ...more

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Oct 17, 2010 Tien rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, contemporary, france

Truly captivating!

Firstly, I found the concept of the novel itself of interest: locking your little brother in a closet to keep him safe and promising to return to him. Unfortunately, looking back retrospectively, we know that nothing is for certain. Would you keep your loved ones with you to keep them safe or hide them away somewhere hoping for the best?

I loved that the chapters alternate between the Now and Then and the distinguishing feature of different fonts to let the reader know right off ...more

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May 10, 2021 Rusty rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, tbr-when-i-find-them

There are two parts to this novel and the author moves from one to the other weaving the two into one fascinating story. In 1942, little Sarah and her family are taken from Paris home by the French police at the direction of the Nazis. Ten-year-old Sarah hides her younger brother in a secret area, hoping to keep him safe. She believes the trip with the police will be short and promises to be back to let him out. With the key in her pocket, she and her parents join others sent to the Vel' d'Hiv f ...more

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Oct 06, 2011 Nadine Smith rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2011

I thought the story of Sarah and her family was very interesting. Julia's story was ok. I learned a lot about the deportation of Jews in France that I didn't know before. I was shocked that it was the French police who did all the gathering and deporting of so many Jews, to send them on to their deaths. I think we do need to know and remember what happened to so many people. And lets pray that we learn from the past, and make sure it doesn't happen again. ...more

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Mar 12, 2012 Carol rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-french

There are 2 stories which run side by side, but only one stands out for me.

In my opinion the 1942 tragic story of 10 yr. old Sarah and her family is compelling, well written with rounded characters that at times brought tears to my eyes. The other story is about 45 yr. old American journalist, Julia who is writing the historical story about the thousands of Jewish families who were rounded up and forcibly kept in the Velodrome d'Hiver before sending them out to camps and onto Auschwitz. Julia c ...more

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Jan 19, 2012 Samantha rated it really liked it

I watched the movie they made last year and was so intrigued I started the book. It is very emotional and in opinion not for those who think Anne Frank is brutal. I tried imagining myself in these situations and I couldn't handle it. Very well written, but be warned, bring tissues. ...more

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