Book Review: Sarah's Key

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Because I lived in Austria for 18 months, have visited concentration camps and minored in German Literature in college, I feel like I am somewhat familiar with the Holocaust.  But the Holocaust story told in the book 'Sarah's Key," which took place in Paris, was completely unfamiliar to me.  In brief, the book details the horrific events that took place on July 16, 1942, when the French police took an active role in rounding up about 4,000 French Jews and shipping them almost directly to their deaths at Auschwitz.

I was fascinated and appalled at the story, glad that I now know this piece of history.

Tatiana de Rosnay chooses to tell the story by way of a present-day American reporter living in Paris.  She becomes fascinated with one Jewish girl who escaped, finds that the girl's story connects directly to her family's past, and the ensuing events eventually change the course of the reporter's life.

For about the first half of the book, I was sure I was going to give it a high rating.  I couldn't put it down.  I cried.

But as the book progressed, I started to feel emotionally manipulated by the storyline.  However, I am in the minority on Goodreads -- this book has received very high ratings.

I still recommend it because of the fascinating piece of history it tells, but personally would have liked to see the story approached from a different angle.


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