Dear Carolin,

I know how you take your time to read books slowly with depth and try to understand every little thing by completely entwining in the novel and forgetting everything surrounding you, I love that about you. I am sure you will love to read this book called Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay, which enlightens the past events of the dreadful Holocaust that took place. This is surely a book that provides the reader with a new insight about how horrific the Holocaust was and the ever-lasting impact it left on some families causing grief and misery. The story describes how a journalist is assigned to research on the Vel’ de’Hiv’ that occurred during that Nazi invasion, in which she reads about the life of a girl that took place during this time and the numerous misunderstandings that occurred.

This book that was beautifully written by Tatiana de Rosnay made me realize how much pain and difficulties the Jewish families had to face just because of their race which is not right.  I realized how lucky I am to be living in a country that racism is not that big of issue to the point where killing and brutally torturing people is necessary.  Although this book takes turns from establishing two different perspectives, I know you will love to read it since there is suspense filled in every turn of a page. The author describes all of the events using vivid description and imagery which creates an emotional bond between the reader and the character (The little girl that experiencing the Nazi invasion- Sarah).  While reading this book, I have noticed that right from the beginning of the book Tatiana De Rosnay establishes a strong beginning with the police knocking on the family’s front door, creating suspense right from the start of the novel.

This book has had vast impact on how I view things. Sarah’s Key portrays the ideology of how even though the Nazi’s and a large group of the population were in favour of persecuting the Jews, there still were some people who were willing to help those in danger. It brings a sense, reminding individuals that  although there can be not necessarily a  “bad” group of people but rather people with beliefs that might harm others, there still is a small “good” group of people within that “bad” group that will help others, fighting against the wrong.

“The girl wondered: These policemen… didn’t they have families, too? Didn’t they have children? Children they went home to? How could they treat children this way? Were they told to do so, or did they act this way naturally? Were they in fact machines, not human beings? She looked closely at them. They seemed of flesh and bone. They were men. She couldn’t understand.”

This one quote from the book was really powerful, stating Sarah’s thoughts when the policemen had arrested her and her family, locking them up with several others in a large stadium. It shows how a little child questions the reason why people that have families/loved ones are being this cruel to others in their own town and she recognizes the loss of faith in humanity during that time. While reading this book whenever Sarah encountered a horrific experience or witnessed a death it filled me with fury and sorrow and I kept questioning the reason why the Holocaust took place at all, which provided nothing except death for millions.

“The eyes of a woman in the face of a ten-year-old girl.”

This petite girl’s loss of innocence at such a young age reminds me how many difficulties and cruelty the children faced and are still facing today. Sarah was determined and she knew she had to do anything and everything to rescue her little brother. This taught me that difficulties in life can cause one to change themselves in many forms in order to accomplish their goal; in this case the loss of Sarah’s innocence is necessary in order for her to try to rescue her brother. I connect to the book because Sarah was extremely attached to her younger brother which similar to the attachment between me and my brother and I understand the feeling that she had to go back to him to save his life which is the most she could do.  I am really attached to my family and I cannot imagine the fear and panic this 10 year old girl had to face, including the pressure on her (as time ticks by) to save her brother.

After all this description of the book and my experiences I honestly believe that you will enjoy this book a lot and it will remind you about the past events that have occurred. I know that we both can connect to this because you and I both have a younger brother and we can feel Sarah’s fear and pain. I hope you find the book really interesting and develop some thought on this inspiring story. Take your time to read this book with great care and thought!

Love,

Ishmeet