Sarah's Key

by: Tatiana De Rosnay

Published by: St. Martin's Giffin

Reviewed by Andrea Sisco

Sarah’s Key is a work of fiction, but based on an actual, little known and dark part of France’s history during World War II. Thousands of Jewish families in France were rounded up by the French authorities and kept in the Velodrome d’Hiver before they were sent to their deaths at Auschwitz.

Sarah’s Key alternates between the year 1942 and the present. The past consists of the Starzynski family. Wladyslaw and Rywka were the parents of ten-year-old Sarah and four-year-old Michael. The Starzynski’s were rounded up early one morning and brought with other families to the Velodrome d’Hiver. Sarah instinctively knew the family was in danger and hid her beloved brother, Michael, in the cupboard he played in at home. She locked the door and pocketed the key so she could release him when the French authorities allowed them to return home later in the day.

The present is the story of forty-five-year-old American, Julia Jarmond. She moved to Paris as a young woman and married Bertrand Tezac, who is an arrogant and unlikable man. They have an eleven-year-old daughter, Zoë.

Julia writes for an American magazine and her editor assigns her to write a story on the 60th anniversary of the Velodrome d’Hiver roundups of the Jews. As Julia researches the story, she discovers the apartment her husband’s family owns, and that she and Bertrand are remodeling for themselves, was formerly occupied by a Jewish family who were deported during the Velodrome d’Hiver roundups. Julia becomes determined to find out what happened to the family who lived in the apartment before Bertrand’s family.

The only member of the Starzynski family to survive is Sarah. Julia uncovers information about her, Bertrand and his family, and the French involvement that impacts her life and changes it forever.

Once in awhile a book comes along that touches your heart in ways you didn’t know the written word could. Sarah’s Key is one of those books. It is beautifully written without being overly sentimental. The story is mesmerizing and continually reminds the reader of the good and the evil humans are capable of doing.

The book cover blurb by Augusten Burroughs says the story will haunt the reader and I will attest to that. I continually think about that time and of Sarah and my heart aches.

Armchair Interviews says: A must read!