Sarah's Key

By Tatiana de Rosnay

A journalist uncovers hidden family secrets linked to a tragic wartime event.

4.2/5 Goodreads · 501,197 ratings

294 pages· 82,941 words

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Bookroo's summary

In 2002 Paris, journalist Julia Jarmond investigates the 1942 Vel' d'Hiv' roundup, uncovering a connection to Sarah, a girl who locked her brother away before being arrested. As Julia delves into Sarah's harrowing past, she unravels family secrets that challenge her own identity and life choices. What truths will she uncover, and how will they reshape her world?

From the publisher

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.

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