Sarah's Key

by Tatiana De Rosnay

[Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews]

On July 16, 1942 thousands of Jewish families where taken from their homes and held at the Vélodrome d'Hiver outside the city of Paris before being transferred to Auschwitz. This story centers around 10 year old Sarah Starzynski, who upon realizing they are being taken locks her four year old brother Michel in their secret hiding place, thinking she will return shortly to let him out; obviously that is not the case.

Now in 2002 reporter Julia Jarmond and her family move into an apartment once occupied by a Jewish family who were arrested the day of the Vélodrome d'Hiver. It is also the sixtieth year anniversary of this tragic event and has been assigned to write an article on it; which adds fuel to they fire to find out the identity of the apartment's former tenets.

This book was so incredibly sad and no matter how fictional tore your heart. Also, I thought Tatiana de Rosnay did a good job describing the backdrop of that time in history getting the point across of these horrid times. Even though I found the end result of Sarah's brother to be a little predictable, it still touched me with the devotion and determention the girl had in recovering her brother with a tragic ending.

Through, Julia we get the aftermath of the discovery of Sarah's secret hiding place and the fate of Sarah Starzynski. Not only does the Vélodrome d'Hiver become retold but also adds salt to the wounds of those who survived and witnessed this parade of sorts bringing memories who wished to be lost up to the surface.

Sarah's Key is a wonderfully written story that keeps you thinking throughout and is very moving in general, with a key to a cupboard as concrete evidence that it occurred.