Sweet Yet Sour

I have finished another book! Impressive, no?

For our book club this month, my friend Andrea picked “Sarah’s Key” by Tatiana De Rosnay. I finished it quickly, in about a week, which is pretty good considering how little time I have to read these days.  It was really engrossing, so I sped right through it.

The book is written in two voices, one of a little girl in France in 1942 and one of an American woman in Paris in 2002.  The subject is mostly about the “Vel d’Hiv“, a roundup of Jews by French police that took place in Paris in 1942.  I had never heard of the Vel d’Hiv and I can see why, since the French are rightfully ashamed of the role of the French police and government.

The book is truly enlightening and at the same time heart-wrenching.  The holocaust is never easy to read about, but from the perspective of a child it’s even worse.  The facts of the Vel d’Hiv in the book are true, as far as my research shows, and as usual the treatment of Jews during this time is truly disgusting.  It never ceases to amaze me the depths that people will go to when they have even a sniff of power over another human being.

The link between the girl in 1942 and the modern woman was a little predictable, but that did not diminish the book’s subject.  I read it knowing mostly how it would end, but that was okay.  For such a serious subject though, the author went a little “romantic” at the story’s end but it was a nice way to end such a depressing book.

I do recommend the book, mostly because I had never heard of the Vel d’Hiv and even if it is hard to read about.   The holocaust is one of those things that you must know about so that we never forget and hopefully never repeat.