Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Sarah's Key

I just finished reading Sarah's Key last night. This was a book I inherited from my aunt. I love reading historical fiction and I thought I'd read quite a bit about WW2 (it's my favorite time period because of all the interesting politics that were going on). Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this book dealt with something that happened in France in 1942 that I had read (and known) NOTHING about! It was a super good book. I was about 1/2 way through it when I laid down to read last night. I couldn't put it down (surprise) and finished it at 2:04 am!

Things you should know before you read this book:
1-There were quite a few French names of people & places (glad I took French for 3 out of 4 of my high school years!), but I was able to decipher them well enough to understand what was going on.
2-It deals with a part of the Holocaust that occurred in France. The reason I think you should know this is that not everyone can deal with that (it was harder for me this time - maybe because I'm pregnant?). What was especially heart wrenching was the description of what happened to the little children. (It was told from the point of view of a 10 yr. old girl.)
3-There are a few cuss words (not too bad though).
4-I found the attitude of the French citizens toward what happened difficult to understand. So many people are knowledgeable about the events of the Holocaust and are sensitive to them. The author portrayed the French citizens as totally indifferent to what happened to the French Jews- both in 1942 and in current day. That bothered me. Not that they were indifferent in 1942, I can understand that, but their indifference to what happened today.

Anyway, it was a great book and I'd highly recommend it. If you want to borrow it, just let me know!