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.