Staff Pick
Set during the occupation of the Vichy government in France during WWII, this is a heartbreaker of a book. When Sarah's family is targeted by the Vel d'Hiv roundup, she locks her little brother in a cupboard to keep him safe and promises she'll come back for him. A beautifully told story, this is one WWII book you will never forget. Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
A young girl.
A fateful key.
A woman searching for the truth…
Experience the novel that has touched millions.
Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten-year-old girl, is taken with her parents by the French police as they go door to door arresting Jewish families in the middle of the night. Desperate to protect her younger brother, Sarah locks him in a bedroom cupboard—their secret hiding place—and promises to come back for him as soon as they are released.
Sixty Years Later: Sarahs story intertwines with that of Julia Jarmond, an American journalist investigating the roundup. In her research, Julia stumbles onto a trail of secrets that link her to Sarah, and to questions about her own future.
With more than five million copies in print and over two years on the New York Times bestseller list, Sarahs Key has made its way into the hearts and minds of readers everywhere. Now, with this beautiful new hardcover edition, the gift of powerful storytelling can be shared with the ones you love.
Review
“This is a remarkable historical novel, a book which brings to light a disturbing and deliberately hidden aspect of French behavior towards Jews during World War II. Like
Sophie's Choice, it's a book that impresses itself upon one's heart and soul forever.”
-Naomi Ragen, author of The Saturday Wife and The Covenant
“Sarah's Key unlocks the star crossed, heart thumping story of an American journalist in Paris and the 60-year-old secret that could destroy her marriage. This book will stay on your mind long after it's back on the shelf.”
-Risa Miller, author of Welcome to Heavenly Heights
Review
"A wonderful book." --Joy Behar, The View “This is the shocking, profoundly moving and morally challenging story... It will haunt you, it will help to complete you… nothing short of miraculous.” -Augusten Burroughs “Just when you thought you might have read about every horror of the Holocaust, a book will come along and shine a fierce light upon yet another haunting wrong. SARAH'S KEY is such a novel. In remarkably unsparing, unsentimental prose... through a lens so personal and intimate, it will make you cry--and remember.” -Jenna Blum, author of Those Who Save Us "A haunting, riveting novel... This book grabs your heart in the opening chapter, and its scenes and characters stay with you long after you finish." --Publishers Weekly, a PW 2008 Staff Pick “Masterly and compelling, it is not something that readers will quickly forget. Highly recommended.”-Library Journal, Starred Review
“Exceptional, emotional, and compelling…” - Sacramento Bee“A powerful novel… Tatiana de Rosnay has captured the insane world of the Holocaust and the efforts of the few good people who stood up against it in this work of fiction more effectively than has been done in many scholarly studies. It is a book that makes us sensitive to how much evil occurred and also to how much willingness to do good also existed in that world.” --Rabbi Jack Riemer, South Florida Jewish Journal “A remarkable novel written with eloquence and empathy.” -Paula Fox, author of Borrowed Finery "A story of hearts broken, first by the past, then by family secrets, and the truth that begins to repair the pieces. A beautiful novel." -Linda Francis Lee, bestselling author of The Ex-Debutante “SARAHS KEY unlocks the star crossed, heart thumping story of an American journalist in Paris and the 60-year-old secret that could destroy her marriage. This book will stay on your mind long after it's back on the shelf.” -Risa Miller, author of Welcome to Heavenly Heights “This is a remarkable historical novel... it's a book that impresses itself upon one's heart and soul forever.” -Naomi Ragen, author of The Saturday Wife
Review
“A shocking, profoundly moving, and morally challenging story…nothing short of miraculous. It will haunt you, it will help to complete you…”—Augusten Burroughs, New York Times bestselling author of Wolf at the Table and Running with Scissors
“It will make you cry--and remember.” -Jenna Blum, New York Times bestselling author of Those Who Save Us“This is a remarkable historical novel. Like Sophie's Choice, it's a book that impresses itself upon one's heart and soul forever.” -Naomi Ragen, author of The Tenth Song
“Sarahs Key unlocks a star-crossed, heart-thumping story… This book will stay on your mind long after it's back on the shelf.” - Risa Miller, author of Welcome to Heavenly Heights
“Rich in mystery, intrigue and suspense, Sarahs Key made me wonder and weep.” -The Roanoke Times
Review
“This is a remarkable historical novel, a book which brings to light a disturbing and deliberately hidden aspect of French behavior towards Jews during World War II. Like
Sophie's Choice, it's a book that impresses itself upon one's heart and soul forever.”
-Naomi Ragen, author of The Saturday Wife and The Covenant
“Sarah's Key unlocks the star crossed, heart thumping story of an American journalist in Paris and the 60-year-old secret that could destroy her marriage. This book will stay on your mind long after it's back on the shelf.”
-Risa Miller, author of Welcome to Heavenly Heights "The story is heart-wrenching, and Polly Stone gives an excellent performance, keeping a low-key tone through descriptions of horror that would elicit excessive dramatics from a less talented performer." -- Publishers Weekly "Sarah's Key opens a door into this heartbreaking WWII episode that's been cloaked in silence, making it intensely real and affecting." - Book Page "Tatiana de Rosnay offers us a brilliantly subtle, compelling portrait of France under occupation and reveals the taboos and silence that surroudn this painful episode." - News-Record "Polly Stone's flawless transitions alternate between English adn French and the 1942 and present time setting of two stories." —The Chapel Hill Herald "Polly Stone's delivery of Sarah's story is rivitng with its spare emotional power." - AudioFile Magazine
Synopsis
A
New York Times bestseller. Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel dHiv roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.
Paris, May 2002: On Vel dHivs 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France's past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d'Hiv', to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah's past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life.
Tatiana de Rosnay offers us a brilliantly subtle, compelling portrait of France under occupation and reveals the taboos and silence that surround this painful episode.
Synopsis
More than two years on the New York Times bestseller list.
Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten-year-old girl, is taken with her parents by the French police as they go door to door arresting Jewish families in the middle of the night. Desperate to protect her younger brother, Sarah locks him in a bedroom cupboard—their secret hiding place—and promises to come back for him as soon as they are released.
Sixty Years Later: Sarahs story intertwines with that of Julia Jarmond, an American journalist investigating the roundup. In her research, Julia stumbles onto a trail of secrets that link her to Sarah, and to questions about her own future.
In Sarahs Key, Tatiana de Rosnay offers up a mesmerizing story in which a tragic past unfolds, the present is torn apart, and the future is irrevocably altered.
Synopsis
An American journalist researches the notorious roundup of Parisian Jews and uncovers her French family's war-era secrets.
Synopsis
Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel dHiv roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.
Paris, May 2002: On Vel dHivs 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France's past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d'Hiv', to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah's past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life.
Tatiana de Rosnay offers us a brilliantly subtle, compelling portrait of France under occupation and reveals the taboos and silence that surround this painful episode.
Synopsis
Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel' d'Hiv' roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.
Paris, May 2002: On Vel' d'Hiv's 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France's past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d'Hiv', to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah's past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life.
Tatiana de Rosnay offers us a brilliantly subtle, compelling portrait of France under occupation and reveals the taboos and silence that surround this painful episode.
Synopsis
A
New York Times bestseller. Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel dHiv roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.
Paris, May 2002: On Vel dHivs 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France's past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d'Hiv', to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah's past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life.
Tatiana de Rosnay offers us a brilliantly subtle, compelling portrait of France under occupation and reveals the taboos and silence that surround this painful episode.
About the Author
TATIANA DE ROSNAY is the author of ten novels, including the New York Times bestselling novel A Secret Kept. Sarahs Key is an international sensation with over five million copies sold in thirty-eight countries worldwide. It has been on the New York Times bestseller list for more than two years, and has now been made into a major motion picture. Together with Dan Brown and Stieg Larsson, Tatiana was named one of the top three fiction writers in Europe in 2010. She lives with her husband and two children in Paris, where she is at work on her next novel. Visit her online at www.tatianaderosnay.com.
Reading Group Guide
1. What did you know about Frances role in World War II—and the Vél dHiv round-up in particular—before reading Sarahs Key? How did this book teach you about, or change your impression of, this important chapter in French history? 2. Sarahs Key is composed of two interweaving story lines: Sarahs, in the past, and Julias quest in the present day. Discuss the structure and prose-style of each narrative. Did you enjoy the alternating stories and time-frames? What are the strengths or drawbacks of this format?3. Per above: Which “voice” did you prefer: Sarahs or Julias? Why? Is one more or less authentic than the other? If you could meet either of the two characters, which one would you choose? 4. How does the apartment on la rue de Saintonge unite the past and present action—and all the characters—in Sarahs Key? In what ways is the apartment a character all its own in?5. What are the major themes of Sarahs Key? 6. de Rosnays novel is built around several “key” secrets which Julia will unearth. Discuss the element of mystery in these pages. What types of narrative devices did the author use to keep the keep the reader guessing? 7. Were you surprised by what you learned about Sarahs history? Take a moment to discuss your individual expectations in reading Sarahs Key. You may wish to ask the group for a show of hands. Who was satisfied by the end of the book? Who still wants to know—or read—more?8. How do you imagine what happens after the end of the novel? What do you think Julias life will be like now that she knows the truth about Sarah? What truths do you think shell learn about her self?9. Among modern Jews, there is a familiar mantra about the Holocaust; they are taught, from a very young age, that they must “remember and never forget” (as the inscription on the Rafle du Vél dHiv) Discuss the events of Sarahs Key in this context. Who are the characters doing the remembering? Who are the ones who choose to forget?10. What does it take for a novelist to bring a “real” historical event to life? To what extent do you think de Rosnay took artistic liberties with this work?11. Why do modern readers enjoy novels about the past? How and when can a powerful piece of fiction be a history lesson in itself ?12. We are taught, as young readers, that every story has a “moral”. Is there a moral to Sarahs Key? What can we learn about our world—and our selves—from Sarahs story?