Zakhor. Al Tichkah.

  It's done. And this is now one of my favourite books. It's gripping, exciting, and emotional. This book was also one of the best written books that I have read. It deals with such a strong and emotional subject but Mrs. De Rosnay makes it easy to read about, without belittling the subject matter. I also loved going back and forth through time periods and was sad when it stopped. It gave me a look inside more than one character which doesn't usually happen. I also learned a lot from this book about the Vel D'hiv, which before reading I wasn't really aware of. I had heard of it once before in history class but it was briefly mentioned; this book gave me a real insight to what happened. It showed how the Jewish families felt and treated, how the people of France reacted, and how present day we try to remember. The emotions in this book were so strong, and deep that at some points I wanted to cry for Sarah. I was immersed in this book from the moment I started reading it and I couldn't put it down. Everything about this book made it delightful to read, even though the mood of the story sorrowful. This book is what it promises to be, and is something that will stay on my mind for a long time. I am recommending it to everyone one of my friends because I thought it was so good. It is a very touching and heartfelt story that kept me wanting more. I'm sad that it's over, but I know I will Zakhor. Al Tichkah; Remember. Never forget. 

Sarah's key the MOVIE!

  The book has been adapted into a movie in France! this is very exciting because hopefully I will be able to watch it, with subtitles of course. It was released this year and is still being released around the world today. The movie was also featured in a Gala at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) earlier this year. So hopefully soon the movie will be available in Canada. One thing I noticed though was that the movie in France is call Her Name is Sarah not Sarah's key. So this makes me wonder if for North America she changed the name of the book? Or if there is just many different versions of the title? Either way I must see this movie.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzDZ9e3mGRE

Judging a Book by its Cover

The book has had a variety of different covers such as:

                                    

All the covers I find intriguing and I would most likely read the book based on all of these covers. But my favourite is the one with the two children running. It shows innocents that Sarah had, and the in the background reminds me of my trip to Paris. To me it almost looks like the back courtyard of Versailles. I was able to visit Versailles in March and a picture I have of the palace is similar to the background. the two children also allow a vision of Sarah and Michael together and how they used to have fun, and be so innocent. This cover is my favourite out of the many that there are.

 

Quotes for Thought

 Through out reading the book I came across some lines and quotes that I really liked. So hear are just a few of them:

"The eyes of a women in the face of a ten-year-old girl." (162)

"He had closed his eyes." (163)

"Zakhor. Al Tichkah. Remember. Never forget." (261)

"I had looked at him straight in the eyes. Sorry for not knowing. Sorry for being forty-five years old and not knowing." (192) 

"Why so much pain, so much suffering, thought the girl. "It's because they hate us," Rachel had told her with a deep hoarse voice. "They hate Jews." Such hate, thought the girl. Why such hate? She had never hated anyone in her life, except perhaps a teacher, once." (page 87)

"Were they in fact machines, not human beings? She looked closely at them. They seemed of flesh and bone. They were men. She couldn't understand." (79)

All these quotes stuck in my mind through out the book. They are all powerful and full of meaning, and show what Sarah went through and the pain of the time. These were the most memorable quotes for me.  

The Key

   The book is called Sarah's Key, and the actual key is a symbol in the book. To me the key is a symbol for how we as people like to try to lock our fears away. We try to ignore them and hide from them; and we think that if we try to lock them up then they won’t bother us. In the book Sarah locks her brother in the closet because she is scared. She has fear of what is going to happen to her family and especially her little brother who she cares for greatly. By locking her brother in the hiding place and her taking the key she thinks that now he is safe, and her fear of what will happen to him is going to go away. When she later learns that they will not be returning home the key is a constant reminder of what she did; she instantly becomes afraid and worried about her brother Michael every time she sees it. The key does not allow her to have power over her fear by locking them away. There is always a reminder of what you are trying to hide, and it's is not until you come to reality and face the fear you are hiding that you are able to unlock it. Sarah has a key, a key to her secrets, and just like everyone in the world she carries it around with her until she is able to face her worst fear come true. The key in the book shows us that we cannot just try to hide our fears but we have to try to unlock them.
 Another way to look at what the key symbolizes is to think of it as hope. Sarah carries around the key with her everywhere she goes and this is a little piece of hope that her brother is safe and may be alive. She used the key in hope that her brother would be safe and one day she will find him. We all have a little piece of hope in our lives that we turn to when we need it. Sarah never let go of the key just like how she never lost hope or ambition to get back to her brother. The key is her only hope that her brother is alive and she hangs on to it until the day she dies. The key is also then symbolic for hope.
Overall there can be many interpretations about what the key symbolizes but these are just my views.

Characters

Now that the book is done I have a complete list of characters and their relationships. So here is an overview of the characters:


                                                         Sarah Starzynski
                                          Main character, 10 year old Jewish girl.
Family and Friends:                                                                                                
Michel Starzynski- Sarah's younger brother                     
 Wladyslaw Starzynski- Sarah's father                               
 Rywka Starsynski- Sarah's mother                                   
Rachel- Sarah's friend who she meets in the Jewish prison camp                                                                                                                                                                                              
Family Post War:
Jules and Genevieve Dufaure- Sarah's adoptive parents, who hide her during the war.
Gaspard and Nicolas Dufaure- Sarah's adoptive cousins, Jules and Genevieve's grandsons
Nathalie Dufaure- Gaspard's daughter            
William Rainsferd- Sarah's son                                                           
                                                          Julia Jarmond
                    Main character, middle aged American journalist living in Paris   
Bertrand Tezac- Julia's french husband
Zoe- Julia's 11 year old daughter
Charla- Julia's sister
Edouard Tezac- Bertrand's father and Julia's father- in-law
Mame- Bertrand's great grandmother
Colette Tezac- Bertrand's mother, Julia's mother-in-law
Laure and Cecile Tezac- Bertrand's sisters, Julia's sister-in-laws
Antoine- Family friend and Bertrand's business partner
Joshua- Julia's boss
Bamber- Julia's friend and co-worker
Herve and Christophe- Julia's long time friends, both gay.
Guillaume- Herve and Christophe's friend, who soon becomes Julia's friend. His family was apart of the Vel D'hiv
William Rainsferd- Julia's new found friend, son of Sarah Starzynski
Sarah - Julia's youngest daughter, named after Sarah Starzynski



                                             

The End

  The book is done and I am sad it's over. I just wanted to keep reading and I kept putting off reading the ending because I didn't want it to end. I was quite happy that Julia moved to the States and that she could not live in Sarah's old house. I know after learning about the past history I wouldn't be able to live there, and I'm glad that Julia felt the same way. I was also very happy when Mr. William Rainsferd called her and asked to see her again. Him and Julia didn't really have closure together and if they didn't meet up Julia would be wondering about him forever. She had to know that she didn't ruin his life, and that he knows what she did was so Sarah was never forgotten. At the end of the book it is also set in NYC in 2005 so Julia has had her baby and she is now a toddler. Like at the beginning of the book this little girl does not have a name, she is referred to as "the baby", but I had my suspicions that her name would be Sarah. And I was right she named her after Sarah Starzynski. She felt that it was the right thing to do seeing as she had spent her pregnancy searching about Sarah, and it was a way for her to remember her always. Julia says "My Sarah. An echo to the other one, to the other Sarah, to the little girl with the yellow star who had changed my life." (p293) I'm glad that Julia is now able to go on in her life and that Sarah will always play a role in her life. I just wish that the book kept on going, because I loved the way it was written and it was hard to stop reading. This is now one of my favourite books and I am so glad I choose to read it.

Sarah's Ending

At the end of the book we learn that while living in the USA Sarah died. We are first told it was because of a car accident, but this to me did not seem right. Why would Mrs. De Rosnay just end her life with a car crash? Sarah had gone through so much and with all that has happened through the book with Julia working so hard to find her, a car crash just didn't seem right. I may be thinking this way also because I so desperately wanted Sarah to be alive and for her to meet Julia. So hearing she died in the first place was heart wrenching for me, my favourite character gone and with little explanation. Luckily later on thanks to William Rainsferd we learn that her death was no accident. She had become depressed, and was hiding who she really was. Not even her family after the war knew all of her secretes. No one not even her new cousins, or children, she kept it all bottled up. This caused her to eventually snap, and kill herself, even though her soul had been dead for a long time. Julia, even though she never met her, was able to have more closure knowing this mystery of Sarah had been solved.
  This was a very sad part in the book, and even though it is not exactly what i wanted as a reader, I knew for Julia to have closure something like this had to happen. Sarah had to move on, even though it wasn't on earth, she had to be with her family. For her to die was the only way herself Sarah I think could ever have closure.

The Abortion Issue

  Julia is pregnant! It's wonderful news considering her past history with miscarriages, and her age. But Bertrand doesn't want to have this baby! This makes me not like him even more then I did before. He was always arrogant and thinking he was superior. He also was not supportive of Julia and her work on the Vel d'hiv and Sarah. To me for a relationship to work you both have to support each other and Betrand did not seem to ever support Julia. And then we find out he had an affaire, of course that’s when I decided I truly disliked him. Julia was forgiving enough to stay with him, but I'm not sure if I would be able to do that, or even trust him again. But then when he says he doesn't want to keep the baby, that’s when I really hated him. He wants her to get an abortion! Something that is a miracle to Julia is a tragedy to Bertrand, and he tells her she must give it up. This is the abortion issue, and personally I do not think she should have the abortion. She portrays emotions of happiness, and excitement when she finds out about this miracle, why should she have to give it up because he says so?  It is Julia's decision and Bertrand is just being selfish. He says the reason he does not want to have the baby is because he doesn't have to be an old father. To me this is the worst excuse for not having a baby that you could ever think of. The child won’t care how old their parents are all they will care about is the love they receive and age doesn't stop you from loving. Bertrand is just having a mid life crisis and he needs to be supportive and allow Julia to do what she wants. 

  But then again with him being so negative and selfish, maybe it is better for Julia to get a divorce to get rid of the negativity in her life. She could have to baby and do as she pleased, without a burden of Bertrand to bear.

No More Time Traveling

  So near the end of the book it stops switching from Sarah in 1942 back to Julia in 2002, and this made me sad. I loved going back and forth, and Sarah's plot was my favourite! I'm so sad it stopped because even though she got away I still wanted to know what she was up to and what she was thinking. But now there is just Julia and her plot, but this does mean that her plot and Sarah's plot have become more intertwined. And that is probably why she stopped going back and forth; because Sarah and Julia's plot had become one. Julia is so immersed with Sarah that we are able to see what Sarah did and how she must have felt through Julia. So this is my thought on why Mrs. De Rosnay stopped the time traveling. But I still miss reading between the two, and being placed back in time in 1942. Sarah's plot was just so intriguing and kept me on my feet reading and I'm just sad her side of the story stopped.

Eyesight in Sarah's key and King Lear

 To answer Ms. Romyn’s question about comparing the use of sight in Sarah's key and King Lear, I definitely think that there are some similarities. Previously I mentioned the quote "He closed his eyes"(pg163). Her father in law Edouard and all other Parisians during 1942 had closed their eyes on what their own country was doing to the Jewish people. They were not seeing what was right in front of them. This is like in King Lear, when Lear himself was not able to see the sins that he had committed. "I am a man more sinned against than sinning". (3.2 58-59) Also how he had cause disruption out of his own selfishness by banishing Cordelia. Gloucester also had his eyes closed, he was not able to that Edmund was setting him up, and it is not until he has no eyes at all that he is able to see truth. He can see the truth about Edgar and Edmund and what he has done. In Sarah's Key they all kept their eyes closed and Julia opens them for the family and makes them see the truth.

Staying True

   A few days ago in class we were talking about the characters in the play King Lear, and if we liked Cordelia. Now personally I like her because she took a stand for what she thought was right and didn't just go with what was the safest way. Some people in the class had a different view, they just wanted her to say she loved her dad like her sisters did; and then everything would have been fine for her. They think she should have just gone with the flow, and with those who had power over her. Then Ms. Romyn said something that made me think immediately to Sarah's Key. She said that if we were all to go along with everything even if you think it is not right or true, then should we have gone along with Hitler? This brought me back to my book and past discussions about the Holocaust. When I was younger someone in a class brought up the question why didn't the Jewish people just change their religion so they wouldn't get killed? Now this was obviously asked from a very naive sense, but it brings me back to what Ms. Romyn said. Why didn't they just go along with Hitler? Sarah and her family all wore the yellow star, and she was told to be proud of her religion. Why should they have to change their way of life and who they are for one person in power? If Sarah and her family did change their religion, which I assume is not as easy as it sounds, then they would have been loosing who they really are. Cordelia was not going to loose who she was just so she could get land, she stayed true to who she was. And so did Sarah's family, even though they knew that it could land them in trouble. We all shouldn't just go with what is deemed to be the best way. If we did then no one would have stood up to Hitler, and schools may still be segregated, our lives as we know it would be completely different. Everyone should stay true to who we are and what we believe.

He Closed his Eyes

Edouard Tezac, Julia's father in law was alive during the Vel d'hv round up, and the way he describes the people of Paris is something that I found interesting. He says
           "He had closed his eyes, like so many other Parisians, during that terrible year of 1942. He had closed his eyes the day of the roundup, when he had seen all those people being driven away, packed in the buses, taken God knows where. He hadn't even asked why the apartment was empty, what had happened to the family's belongings. He had acted like any other Parisian family, eager to move into a bigger, better place. He had closed his eyes". (pg. 163)
 He closed is eyes. I find this a great way to explain how the people must have felt at the time. Ignoring all the people in pain and what was going on around them, so just closing their eyes. I find this quote symbolizes something, but i'm not 100 % sure yet. So I'll keep looking into this and thinking of more meaning for this, I'll just keep on reading.

This is one of my favourite quotes so far!

Worst Fear Come True

 Sarah has made it back home but her worst fear has come true. Her brother is dead, and at this point I felt like I wanted to cry. I was hoping so bad that the family living there (Julia's father in law's family) would have found him and helped him. But before I read this part, like Sarah inside I really knew the truth that he was dead. Personally if I was the family living in the house, I would have moved. Knowing that a young boy had died there and you had seen his body would have been too much for me. An innocent family, like mine, taken by force to their deaths. This was a family who once lived in that apartment. I couldn't live there knowing all this, the pain and thoughts would have been too much. I don't know how people during that time could have blocked out all this from their minds. Not even just blocking out families who once lived where they did, but watching and being a witness to innocent families being taken to their deaths, blocking all this from their minds.

"The Girl" has a name!

  Through out the beginning of the book the main character is referred to as "the girl". So this had me confused, why keep one of the main characters name a secret. The one who is referred to as "the girl" is the little girl who goes through the Vel d'hiv roundup with her family in 1942. She remained nameless until page 118 when she is hiding at a farmer’s house; here she tells them that her name is Sirka! This was surprising because I was expecting her to say Sarah, because the title Sarah's Key made me think that was her name. So I thought that maybe Sirka was a Jewish name that could also mean Sarah or something. Then on page 132 she tells us her name is SARAH! FINALLY! Sirka is her baby name, but now she is referred to as Sarah, Sarah Starzynski. This was so exciting to finally have a name for her! But why no name at the beginning? I think it could possibly be because to have a name is to have an identity. Having an identity, especially in her situation can give more vulnerability. She didn't want Sarah to be vulnerable; she wanted her to be portrayed as a stronger, braver character. Being a vulnerable person in her situation is very dangerous, and once she felt she was out of danger she was ok with being more vulnerable. And by telling them her baby name first allowed her to have time to gain more trust with Jules and Genevieve. Once she saw that they were there to help she felt safer and was ok with being herself and more vulnerable. "The girl" has a name!

Critical Article summary #3

Writing Backward: Modern Models in Historical Fiction

  This article written by Anne Scott MacLeod is about criticisms of today’s versions of Historical Fiction. It focuses mainly on books and how they portrayed history, but they were not accurate.  She opens up stating that "Historical fiction should be good fiction and good history", but now a day’s people are focusing more on fiction then accuracy of the history. The books have been lacking in accuracy especially in children’s historical fiction; they are putting today modern views on the past. Characters are being portrayed as having more modern views an example she stresses is female characters. Female characters are always being portrayed as feminists who go against the grain and views of their society; they are always fighting for more freedom or just have more freedom. But the truth is in many stories, the time period and setting makes this all in accurate. Most women would not stand up for this because of the consequences, and most societies would not tolerate this. Authors are not focusing on the truths about those past societies and everyday life; the real working life, or hardships that many would have faced are being muddled. The historical truths are being cut out of the story to make it more intriguing; yet the books are still being passed as historical fiction. Ms. Scott MacLeod used books such as Sarah Plain and Tall, True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, and  Catherine, Called Birdie all as examples to show how authors are manipulating historical fiction as it is more fiction then history. She wants authors to know that people of the past had different views of the world and everyday life; they were not just us 100 yeas ago. They approached the world differently and authors should have these differences between our world and theirs clear in their novel. Ms. Scott MacLeod closes saying; "To wash these differences out of historical fictions is not only a denial of historical truth, but a failure of imagination and understanding that is as important to the present as to the past". She truly believes that the past is as important as the future.

Vel D'Hiv

Velodrome D'hiver

  So since my book is about the Vel D'Hiv I figured it would be a good idea to actually learn more about this and what and where it happen. The book does give me some historical facts but because it's historical fiction it is more about a story then details with facts. But this is so far what I have learned from the book: it was a giant roundup of Jewish families in Paris France, and took place in July 1942. The Jewish families were kept in the Velodrome d'hiver (Vel d'hiv) for days before being transported to concentration camps; almost all did not return.

   Now during this time in 1942 the people most in danger were the men and fathers in Jewish families. Most of the men went into hiding to avoid being taken away by Nazis and sent to concentration camps. During this roundup on July 16th and 17th 1942 however, everyone was taken; women, children and babies included. It is estimated that just over 4000 children were taken in this event. Despite what many French people at the time believed, the ones who were involved and making arrests were the French Police, making this events one of the darkest in French history. Families were arrested from their homes in the middle of the night and taken to the Velodrome d'hiver; an indoor cycle track used for many sporting and entertainment events at the time. This operation was called "Operation Spring Breeze" and over 12,000 Jews were arrested and kept in this stadium. The Jewish people were held for over five or six days with horrible living conditions. The way "The Girl" describes it in the book is them having little food and water, no place to go the bathroom, no where to bathe, and constant heat and smell. Only a few doctors and nurses were allowed to enter and because of this many died while being held. After staying at the Velodrome they were transported to concentration camps like the Drancy Transit Camp, and the women children and men were all separated. Those who survived were eventually transported to the Auschwitz extermination camp.  Very few survived this horrific event and because of it's brutality it is a dark mark on the French history.

Critical Artical Summary #2

Historical Fiction

   This article is written by Jo Beverley, and it is about what makes up good historical fiction and how to write it. Ms. Beverley has written a number of books under the historical fiction genre and therefore has much experience with writing and knowing what makes good historical fiction. She tells us that writing historical fiction breaks the rule "Write about what you know". When writing it you go into a world and time that you are not familiar with; a place that you know nothing about. You must research and do a lot of it to be able to have a convincing and accurate novel. The main part of this article is steps to help you write historical fiction, and all of the steps involve research. Through out this article research is what Ms. Beverley is stressing must be involved with writing and must be present. She suggests things like knowing the basic history of the era you are writing about, and this can also help you when reading the book as well. You can have a more accurate view of the time period and how their lives are and were affected during the story. Another suggestion she makes is that good historical fiction focuses on everyday life, and this is what most of you research should be about. This accuracy is the key to what makes the novel worth reading and dependable when referring to the historical part of the book. To get the research you should look at things like newspapers from the times, diaries, memoirs etc. for primary sources. Primary sources; although they are hard to find, are the best type of research because it is direct and in Ms. Beverley's eyes is the research that is the best when writing. "Historical novelists are interrupters of the past for readers in the present". The research is one of the most important parts of writing these books to Ms. Beverley, but she also tells us that not all the facts will help the message you are trying to send. It is still important to have a good plot, but good research makes good historical fiction.  

First Critical Article Summary

   HISTORICAL FICTION: Get more than just the facts right.


   This article written by John Edward Ames is about what makes up a good historical fiction novel. He is an author of many genres but historical fiction is one of his favourites to write. He has many views on what makes up a well written historical fiction novel, because not all are accurate and well written. They have to be written in such away that the reader is drawn into the time period and are not just getting facts. He makes it clear that in a good historical fiction novel, fiction trumps the facts. People do not want to be bombarded with fact after fact; they still need a storyline to keep them engaged. The facts should be an undertone compared to the story. To Mr. Ames well written historical fiction will have usage of wording and commonplace subject matter to the era; in the dialog and in character development. This can give a book more historical accuracy to the story, which is a common mistake to not well written historical fiction. When it is not well written it will have mistakes in references to the time period, whether it is clothing, religious views or even having a reference to a character or object not present in the time period. He also makes clear that it is important that historical fiction has themes that are not contemporary. The views and themes should be appropriate to the time period; we can not force our contemporary views on a past era. Mr Ames really focuses on how “History tells, but good historical fictions shows”. The story must come before the history, and facts must be present, to a point, and accurate; otherwise it is not good historical fiction. He is in favour of this genre and feels that historical fiction should make the past feel as an immediate experience

Authors Survey

Author: Tatiana De Rosnay                                           Title: Sarah's Key

What made you interested in this author?
Before reading Sarah's Key I must admit that I had never heard of Tatiana De Rosnay. I had heard of the novel Sarah's Key but not the author Ms. De Rosnay. Once i picked up the book though and was trying to decide whether to read it or not, I read a few pages to help me decide. And what helped me make the decision to read the book was her writing style. I found it interesting how she chooses to write the book with two different perspectives, and very short chapters. I also did some quick research to see how people liked the book, and most commented on how they liked how she had written it, so this made me interested in the book and her.

Background on the Author.
Tatiana De Rosnay was born on September 28 1961 in Neuilly Sur Seine, which is just outside of Paris France. She is of English, French and Russian descent, but she grew up and lived in both the United States (Boston) and Paris and later England where she went to the University of East Anglia and studied literature. Later she became a journalist before an author; she worked for the magazines Vanity Fair and Elle. Tatiana De Rosnay has currently written many books, the first in 1992, and the latest released earlier this year. Many of her books have been translated in many different languages including her native French and English. Ms. De Rosnay is currently married and has two kids, and they in Paris.

Other Published Works and genres.
She has currently written 11 books, and they are (in order of publishing):
The Show apartment
Married Fathers
Les Diner des ex: Roman
The heart of another
The neighbor
Spirals
Moka
Her name was Sarah (also known as Sarah's Key)
Memory Wall
Boomerang
A Secrete Kept
The genre that Tatiana De Rosnay writes is fiction, but each book branches out into subcategories of the fiction genre. She has dramatic fiction, a little mystery fiction and Sarah's Key in considered Historic fiction.

Particular influences or interests of your author.
Tatiana De Rosnay seems to like placing the setting of her books in Europe especially France. I would think this is because she is French herself and this is where she lives so a familiar setting would be easier to write about. She also seems to have quite a few strong child characters, or characters that look back on their childhood, so she may be influenced from her childhood, or even her own children.

Themes favored by the author:
Themes that seem to be favored by Tatiana De Rosnay are: strength, family relationships, childhood, and the past. These are themes that are present in Sarah's Key and also in number of her other books. She seems to have a character in each of her books that must show their strength to overcome an obstacle at some point. Family relationships are a theme very present in Sarah's Key and from what i have read of A Secrete Kept as well. The family members in the book are what keep the main characters strong, and their way of living and thought seems to be based on how they lived with their family and how their relationships with them. Her child characters like "the girl" in Sarah's Key and the references to characters childhoods shows the theme of childhood and how our childhood is very important and can even define who we are. The theme of the past is very relevant in Sarah's Key because she is looking back at history and the past can affect the future. These are just some themes that I have come across while reading Sarah's Key and researching Tatiana De Rosnay and her works.

Other authors compared to...
She likes to compare some of her works to books and authors such as: The pursuit of Happiness by Douglas Kennedy; Shophie's Choice by William Styron; Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky and others. Personally compared to other authors she is one of my favorites. Her writing style I enjoy and it is not something that is hard to read and understand. She writes about interesting and ratable themes and I enjoy her as an author.

Critical Articles
Because the book Sarah's Key is still quite new it is very hard to find good criticism about the novel so here are three critical articles about the genre Historical Fiction.
Go to http://www.proquestk12.com/, next log in and click the elibrary Curriculum Edition Canada. Next go to the literature link. Once there in the search box type in Historical Fiction and scroll down to the criticisms section.

Ames, John Edwards. Historical Fiction: Get more than just the facts right. Boston: Kalmbach Publishing Company, 2004. http://literature.proquestlearning.com/quick/displayItem.do?QueryName=criticism&ResultsID=12B21826319&forAuthor=0&ItemNumber=55

Go to more on the criticisms section then go to the third page, click on article 55.


Beverley, Jo. Historical Fiction. Boston: Kalmbach Publishing Company, 2005.

http://literature.proquestlearning.com/quick/displayItem.do?QueryName=criticism&ResultsID=12B21826319&forAuthor=0&ItemNumber=52

Go to the third page of criticisms and click on article 52.

Scott MacLeod, Anne. Writing Backward: Modern Models in Historical Fiction. Boston: Horn Book Incorporated, 1998.

http://literature.proquestlearning.com/quick/displayItem.do?QueryName=criticism&ResultsID=12B227D08FB&forAuthor=0&ItemNumber=79

Go to the fourth page of criticisms and click on article 79.

Two Sides to Every Story

   As I keep reading the book it gets more interesting and hard to put down. I want to know what happens next to this girl and her family, and I want to start seeing connections between the two stories. Having the two different story lines I thought would be more difficult but truly it makes the book keep moving. There is constantly a development in either story and having the chapters for each being short keeps my mind always entertained. I think that she choose to have the two story lines because it gives a new perspective for readers. Having different views of an historical event is something that is very interesting to me. We get the view as it is actually happening and then the view of now, and how people remember this event; both of which are completely different. The two different stories also mean more connections too characters and this is what makes me want to keep reading. So far they have just started to come together; Julie the journalist is writing about the Vel D'Hiv which "the girl" is currently living through. Julie has also just come in touch during present day with another women who saw the round up happen, so she is learning more about this historic event and becoming closer the "the girl's" story. I feel that Julie will find more personal connections that connect her to "the girl", possibly something to do with the grandmother’s house. "The girl's" story when I read it, I feel that if it was written differently it would be hard to read because it is very emotional and deals with a difficult subject. But I find the way Tatiana De Rosnay writes it, it makes it easier to read about. It is still very emotional but she writes about it in a very respectful way. I find this book so far very well written especially since it is about a very strong and emotional subject.

The Journey Begins

  I Started the book, and right away I was pulled into the story. It starts off in July of 1942 in Paris, during the middle of World War 2. The narrator of this part of the story is not who I thought it would be, I thought that it would be the little girl, but instead it is an unknown source telling the story as if watching over the family. I also realized after reading the beginning of the book that we have not be told what the little girl's name is. I assume that it is Sarah from the title, but so far in the novel she has been referred to as "the girl", and I find this odd that the main character has no name yet. With this part of the story, the plot has been very dramatic. In the middle of the night the young girl, who is only ten, has been woken up by the french police. Her family is Jewish, and they have been taken away to a stadium with thousands of other Jewish families. They are all being treated like animals, being starved and denied water, but the main concern for the girl is her brother. Before they left their house she hid her younger brother in a closet that locks from the outside, thinking they would be back in a matter of hours. Realising this is not the case now she worries for him and wants to help him.
  The Book is divided into two different stories, the first is the 1942 version and the second is set in May 2002 in Paris. Every chapter switches back and forth settings and plots, but surprisingly it is not confusing. It is quiet easy to follow; each story has a different font and narrator, and each new part is only a few pages long. This I find actually keeps me more engaged to the stories and my mind is constantly being worked. The second part of the story is about an American who has lived in Paris for 20 years, she is married and has a daughter, she is also the narrator of this part of the story. Her family is renovating her husbands grandmothers old apartment, which I predict was once the families, from the first part of the story, apartment. This plot then switches a bit and goes to her work life. She is a journalist and has just been assigned the story of the anniversary of the Vel' d'Hiv. This is the roundup of the Jewish families conducted by the french police during 1942, this is what is happening to the family in the first part of the story.
  So far i love the book, it has been filled with drama and some suspense and I can wait till the two different worlds collide.

Why Sarah's Key?

  My name is Hillary, and this is my blog about the novel Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay. I chose this novel because I was very intrigued by the plot. The story is about a young girl and her Jewish family who get taken away during World War 2; it then switches back to a present day writer who becomes connected to this young girl’s story and family. The book is half set back during World War 2 in France, and half in modern day; so I am able to get some history (which I love) and modern day life. This book was also a book recommended by some of my friends, saying that they loved the book and it would be a great novel for me to read. Finally what made this my final choice, was reading the first few pages. I was already hooked into the story and I can’t wait to keep on reading.