Sarah's Key, by Tatiana de Rosnay * * *

In 'Sarah's Key,' the main character, Julia, a journalist, is given an assignment by her boss to write a piece on the Rafle du Vel' d'Hiv, an operation carried out by French police in which thousands of Jews in and around Paris were rounded up and sent away to concentration camps. In her research, Julia becomes attached to one family in particular, the Starzynski family. She soon discovers a connection between the daughter of that family, Sarah, and her own in-laws, a connection that no one wants to remember or explore.

I enjoyed, as much as one can, the part about Sarah and the roundup. I found those sections of the novel to be very moving. It never ceases to amaze me what humanity is capable of. Sarah endures things most of us do not even dream about. De Rosnay does a wonderful job capturing the horror and the fear that dominated Nazi Europe. Stories like Sarah's need to be told to remind us of what has happened in order to keep the same things from happening again. Again, I think de Rosnay tells this part of the story perfectly. She paints for the reader an accurate picture of what Jews went through during WWII.

However, I simply could not get on board with Julia. One, I think there is too much emphasis on her personal life, her love life specifically. Yes, the emotional impact of the Holocaust is important, but I think de Rosnay spends too much time in Julia's when she could have spent more time on Sarah, the real victim in, and center of, the story.

I also think Julia acts on entirely selfish reasons. Her in-laws make it abundantly clear they have no interest in finding out about the Starzynsky family. Julia blatantly disregards this to satisfy her own curiosity. That is the key in all of this. If Julia is seeking this information to help her in-laws in some way, that would be okay, but that is not what she is doing. The novel continues to come back to, 'I have to know.' Julia is curious about this story and shows no regard for the feelings of those around her in her pursuit to satisfy that curiosity.

Julia's selfishness is also revealed in her encounter(s) with William, Sarah's son. When they meet in the end she finally has a chance to ask him what she has been dying to know for some time, 'do you hate me.' Her question is not, 'how are you handling this new-found history of your mother's life,' it is 'do you hate me for telling you.'

This novel is, essentially, two stories. Sarah's story is deep, emotional, and gut-wrenching. Julia's story is not. Her search for answers appears noble, but in the end comes down to her own desire to have answers for herself.