Sarah's Key

Book Blurb:  Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family’s apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.
Paris, May 2002: On Vel’ d’Hiv’s 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France’s past.  Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah.  Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl’s ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d’Hiv’, to the camps, and beyond.  As she probes into Sarah’s past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life.

oft times I find a good book first and am the leader in discovering a good read, My dad filled that function for me for years and led me to many a worthy discovery. Of late Blair and Brigham share their finds and the end result is a good read. This time I follow the reading by Mackie and Rindy. Sarah's Key is as stirring of a holocaust memoir as is to be found.I spend less time reading  novels, but my favorite works of fiction are those that also incorporate some history  ( think the name of the rose by umberto eco)- be it cultural, social or military - leaving me with both a sense of satisfaction with the story as well as the sense of having learned something in the process of reading. This book does that for me.

It is gut wrenching to read, as you know she will, the discovering of her brother in the closet. Those sobering experiences remind me of visiting concentration camps in Europe, or listening to Dad in a rare moment sharing horrific war memories with Parker. We must "never forget"; but as attested in the recently read "the blue sweater" we as a collective civilization do forget and repeat the wrongs. And so we must read and try to always remember (an interesting opposite of the words never forget; but i save that for a church talk).

Personally, I enjoyed the hearkening to living near Luxembourg garden and my living for a time in Paris. Not having the depth of the main character's experience of living in France for years; but having lived there long enough to relate.To appreciate the context, the French, their view of American's, the city.I furthered enjoyed the lessons in listening, truly listening that were to be learned by multiple layers and and multiple interactions where people did not listen.They missed things, they hurt people, they were scarred because they did not listen intently. And the secrets families do not share even with each other, where disclosure and the sunshine would clearly clear the air and breath life into relationships. More risk needs to be taken in communicating.

Sarah's Key , is haunting and unforgettable. A moving story and one which hopefully we don't forget