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lucyn20 's review for:
Sarah's Key
by Tatiana de Rosnay
Inspiring and educational...
I found this book to be rather inspiring, insightful and education. In general, I find learning about the Holocaust rather fascinating and found this book covered a dark era in history in a very sensitive and delicate way.
The book was slightly different to others I have read in this genre as it highlighted an important, and yet often forgotten part of French history during the Second World War - the Vel d'Hiv roundup.
Very briefly, the Vel d'Hiv roundup or the Vélodrome d'Hiver, was an indoor cycling stadium in Paris. The roundup took place in July 1942 and saw the arrest of thousands of Jewish men, women and children across Paris arrested by the French police. They were then imprisoned in the Velodrome in inhumane and inhospitable living conditions.
This is a rather sad and heart-breaking part of history and this book tackled this in a very sensitive way.
The book also follows two parallel plots and centres on the lives of two central characters across two different time periods - Sarah and Julia.
Firstly, Sarah is a little girl who was born in Paris and was arrested as part of the Vel d'HIV roundup in 1942. It then goes on to follow Sarah's story and her search for her younger brother who she left locked in a cupboard in her house.
The novel also centres on Julia who is a journalist in the present day. She is originally from New York and has spent many years living and working in Paris. Julia is asked to write a piece on the Vel d'Hiv roundup for the upcoming anniversary and as a result of her research comes across Sarah's story.
This is a heartbreaking novel which explored both Sarah's life and Julia's discovery of some of Paris' darkest moments.
This book is a powerful and heartbreaking read and one that I struggled to review. I always find reviewing books on the topic of the Holocaust hard as they are so important for remembering and learning from the past.
I would of loved to give this novel more stars, however, I found the ending to be a little dissapointing and felt that Sarah's story could of continued for a bit longer. I felt it ended a little too soon for me. I also found Julia at times to be slightly annoying, although I did like her as a character by the end of the novel.
Furthermore, the writing style made the book clear and easy to read. I also liked and thought it was clever to use a darker bolder font for Sarah's sections, splitting the book up clearly between past and present, Sarah and Julia.
On a final point, the film adaptation of the book is also very good and is worth a watch as it complements the book in bringing the characters and events alive in more vivid detail.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this book immensely and found it inspiring and rather educational. I learnt a lot from the book and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning about the Holocaust more generally and events in France or the Vel d'Hiv roundup more specifically. This is a book and a story that will stay with me for many years to come.
I found this book to be rather inspiring, insightful and education. In general, I find learning about the Holocaust rather fascinating and found this book covered a dark era in history in a very sensitive and delicate way.
The book was slightly different to others I have read in this genre as it highlighted an important, and yet often forgotten part of French history during the Second World War - the Vel d'Hiv roundup.
Very briefly, the Vel d'Hiv roundup or the Vélodrome d'Hiver, was an indoor cycling stadium in Paris. The roundup took place in July 1942 and saw the arrest of thousands of Jewish men, women and children across Paris arrested by the French police. They were then imprisoned in the Velodrome in inhumane and inhospitable living conditions.
This is a rather sad and heart-breaking part of history and this book tackled this in a very sensitive way.
The book also follows two parallel plots and centres on the lives of two central characters across two different time periods - Sarah and Julia.
Firstly, Sarah is a little girl who was born in Paris and was arrested as part of the Vel d'HIV roundup in 1942. It then goes on to follow Sarah's story and her search for her younger brother who she left locked in a cupboard in her house.
The novel also centres on Julia who is a journalist in the present day. She is originally from New York and has spent many years living and working in Paris. Julia is asked to write a piece on the Vel d'Hiv roundup for the upcoming anniversary and as a result of her research comes across Sarah's story.
This is a heartbreaking novel which explored both Sarah's life and Julia's discovery of some of Paris' darkest moments.
This book is a powerful and heartbreaking read and one that I struggled to review. I always find reviewing books on the topic of the Holocaust hard as they are so important for remembering and learning from the past.
I would of loved to give this novel more stars, however, I found the ending to be a little dissapointing and felt that Sarah's story could of continued for a bit longer. I felt it ended a little too soon for me. I also found Julia at times to be slightly annoying, although I did like her as a character by the end of the novel.
Furthermore, the writing style made the book clear and easy to read. I also liked and thought it was clever to use a darker bolder font for Sarah's sections, splitting the book up clearly between past and present, Sarah and Julia.
On a final point, the film adaptation of the book is also very good and is worth a watch as it complements the book in bringing the characters and events alive in more vivid detail.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this book immensely and found it inspiring and rather educational. I learnt a lot from the book and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning about the Holocaust more generally and events in France or the Vel d'Hiv roundup more specifically. This is a book and a story that will stay with me for many years to come.