I think it's easy to get burned out on these kinds of novels, but this one is very well done and balances the heavy stuff with the good. There are equal parts horror and sadness, strength and hope in both women's stories, and together they make for a powerful read. Julia's story is told in alternating chapters with Sarah's - the little girl. When she discovers that the apartment that she, her husband, and her daughter are getting ready to move into, which belonged to her grandmother-in-law, was owned by one of the Jewish families taken away that day, she becomes obsessed with discovering what happened to the little girl who lived there. She's given an assignment on the Vel' d'Hiv' roundup in 1942, in which French authorities helped the Nazis by raiding Jewish homes and forcing the inhabitants to stay in horrid conditions in a stadium before being taken to the camps and slaughtered. Julia is an American expatriate living in Paris and working as a journalist. It's just a very powerful story of a young girl - and I think the author deserves kudos for creating a work where you can really feel deeply what the characters are going through. But this weakness wasn't enough for me to remove a star. Unfortunately, the book really climaxes about three quarters through, and I found that the "wrap up" dragged on a little longer than it really needed to and was less satisfying than I had hoped. still emotional, but not like I needed to cry about it. More like a welcome relief in the reading. It could have seen really trivial when taken against the backdrop of the horrors that Sarah encounters, but somehow I didn't find it that way. and I thought that made the book so powerful.Īlso, I did enjoy the subplot of this book which involved Julia, the journalist investigating Sarah's story, and her husband. There's not a parent alive who can't imagine the mental anguish that this family is subjected to.
The initial half of the book rests on the premise that it is a very, very strong emotional hanger for the story.
I need to get to Suite Francaise (which I own and STILL haven't gotten around to reading). I will say, I do agree that and are higher on my list of Holocaust-related reads - but I still thought this was a very outstanding book.
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