The first half of the book is told from two different characters. Sarah a 10 year old girl who is blind sided by the Jewish round up in France July of 1942, and Julia an American living in France in the present time, who is a reporter and is doing a story of the round up 60 yrs. later. As Julia digs deeper into the events of the round up she discovers that she and Sarah have a connection through the family she married into. Julia makes it her goal to find Sarah and make things right.
First off this book was such an eye opener!! This event was something that I don't remember learning about in school. How sad that the events of the Holocaust were so much bigger than any of us could ever imagine.
I think one of the things that made it seem so sad was how confused Sarah was and how much her parents kept from her. It tugged at your heart when she realizes that she didn't save her brother at all. What a sad memory to carry with you your whole life. I really liked Julia, aside from the fact that she was going to go through with the abortion. She had a fiestiness about her. She was determined to bring out the truth, even though her horrible mother and sister in law were horrified that she even stirred up the past.
I am glad we read this book. It is one of those that can bring many different conversation starters to the table, and I think it did. ( One of them being the writing styles!! LOL) Lisa I am glad you pointed that out because the book I am reading now is written the same way and I keep thinking how you would not like it!!
I agree. I felt such a profound feeling of shock because I had never heard of this particular round up. I was literally sick to my stomach thinking about the countless families whose stories of horror where left unheard until late.
ReplyDelete