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.