The book love book being reviewed is “Sarah’s Key” by Tatiana De Rosnay. It is a historical fiction book about the unrevealed relations of the Holocaust and occupied territories with internment camps in Paris named the “Vélodrome d’Hiver.” The book exemplifies the theme that although the victims of the past remain silent because of death, their secrets still live on to torment those who still live on to keep them. That way it bonds with the future and creates connections.
It begins with a young, Polish girl named Sarah at the age of 10, eavesdropping on her mother’s conversation with the Parisian police who was forcing them to pack their belongings as quickly as possible. The poor girl had already noticed and experienced the abnormalities that only applied to their kind, the Jews. This time, the police demanded that everyone in the house was to be cleared out, but the girl’s little brother, Michael refused to leave, so the girl let him retreat to a large cupboard in his room. The girl locked it tightly and spoke through the wood promising she would return no matter what. Fast forward to 2002 in Paris, the middle-aged American journalist was assigned a research project on the Vel’ d’Hiv roundup in the 1940s. Sooner or later she finds an unheard of connection with the young polish girl, Sarah Starzinsky.
The book is mysterious and riveting the way the author describes the prejudice and discrimination this child has gone through and how peoples’ emotions can alter depending on the circumstance and what they have experienced. It depicts the comparison between being uninformed about the truth and discovering it without warning, especially the people who were held in the internment camps and how they dealt with that tragedy. It can change a person's perspective and outlook on life irrevocably —either choosing to educate the unaware or remain silent and perturbed for the rest of your life.
Rosnay stated that she couldn’t possibly make this a historical novel. Instead she wanted to take a more contemporary approach and relate it to herself. I agree with this choice of perspective and diction since it turned out to be a very enticing read. It included some of the key points of this roundup like the polices’ intrusion, the traveling experience, the physical and emotional sickness and heartbreak of the separation from loved ones and homes, etc and what it entailed. She helped to raise awareness about the topic of the Holocaust’s existence in France that was kept under wraps to its own people, revealing its place in history and explaining the connections with Paris and Germany in World War ll. It relates to the betrayal and unnecessary oppression these people have gone through and how it unintentionally relates to the more prominent discrimination on the rise against Jews today because of the back and forth war with Israel and Palestine and the anti-Semitic threats against the groups of people with contrasting beliefs. Though it depends on opinions of others, it is certain that the Jewish culture has been abused in a number of ways. It is almost like how the girl and the journalist relate to each other while in separate time periods. It shows that though this book is fiction, it presents real events of the past honestly to educate others about what they used to not be knowledgeable of. It strengthens each others’ passions to mitigate its forces against people who are unfairly judged or punished.
I feel like this book could change many lives for the better or for the worst depending on how they choose to acknowledge it. You could either choose to take the truth into account and recognize how an untold story can reflect itself on to future events later, or just read it and move on with your life. No matter which way you choose, you will still share that connection with the book and the characters since now you have an understanding of what went on and how a story can be communicated in such a compelling and comprehensive manner. It might evoke unwanted emotions since it is a serious topic, though it is worth the shock and pain for the sake of the intriguing plot and revelations.
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