May 13, 2008
Interview with Tatiana de Rosnay, author of "Sarah’s Key"
On the advice of my Parisian uncle, I plan on reading Tatiana de Rosnay‘s novel, “Sarah’s Key.” The book has gotten a lot of buzz on the international scene in the last year and I believe St. Martin’s Press will be publishing a paperback version on this side of the Atlantic in September.
According to the novel’s description, it is a fictionalized account of “the 1942 Paris roundups and deportations, in which thousands of Jewish families were arrested, held at the Vélodrome d’Hiver outside the city, then transported to Auschwitz.”
I’ll probably write a review sometime this summer but in the meantime you can check out this recent interview with de Rosnay:
For more information on this book, please check out the blog. To buy this book, click here.
For more news about Jewish books, sign up for Jewish Literary Review’s email alerts (via Feedburner).
Is this a true story….-Sarah, the Tezac family, Julia, etc? Is the escape by Sarah and Rachael true, and if so, how was it dsicovered?
It is a remarkable story, a fabulous read and my only sadness is that I have finished the book but wanted to read on.
I loved the way you had two stories going on simultaneously. It is beautifully and sensitively written. Thank you! Dana Beach
Your story captured me and held me for days! Too many people do not know true history. The way you interweave the history with characters that come to life makes it easy to learn the facts and want more. I have spent much time on the internet reading about this time in European history since finishing your book. My father was from Belgium and I find anything European fascinating since I have visited France ,Ireland and Belgium. I am looking forward to your next novel – A Secret Kept—–what other books have you written? Please keep writing!! Blessings, Anne Clements
Read Sarahs key in 2 days cou;d not put it down, really well written, I liked the idea of switching from past to future useing different type set.
Great job, very moving, I went from disgust /anger/ to understanding and finally hope, I know the caracters are fictional, but the story could easily have been a true one.
thank you
There are no words I can use to adequately describe the impact this book and then the movie has had on my wife and myself. I, as a Jewish man, have read many holocaust books, but this book, reducing it to the experience of one little French Jewish girl caught in the Val d’hiv roundup, her subsequent physical escape but not psychological escape, from the horrors of the holocaust reached a spot in me that had never before been touched. Ms. De Rosnay belongs in the ranks of Elie Weisel and Primo Levi as a chronicler of the holocaust. I wonder if the book has been translated into Hebrew. I know of many Israeli’s who would like to read it, but do not read English well enough to do so.
i read this book like the other readers quite quickly as i could not put it down. And i just went to see the movie this past weekend which was very well done! I found the story very moving and in fact life changing. I can’t even imagine going through what those folks had to. Kind of puts life in perspective. Thank you for writing it, and i hope to read many more of your books!
My wife and I just watched this movie and were so impacted by it. Neither of us had a dry eye. As the parents of a daughter and son who absolutely adore one another, this story resonated at a level like no other.
Thank you for this story and the indelible imprint it has left on our lives. We will live our lives with a greater appreciation of love, family, peace and most importantly standing up for what is right–which can become somewhat blurred when the world around us is so messed up. Again, thank you, thank you, thank you!