Most people have heard of Auschwitz and know the Germans' role in Nazi movement, however the French involvement was much less known. Sarah's key is told from alternating perspectives - Sarah was a 10 year old girl who was captured and imprisoned in the Vel d'Hiv roundup in France in 1942... fearing for her life and the safety of her family, she locks her brother in a cupboard inside their home before the police arrest them, thinking she will be able to come back for him. Hers is a story of survival at the concentration camps.
Fast forward several decades to 2002, and you get the other perspective - an American journalist, Julia, living in France is asked to write a story about France's involvement with concentration camps and about the Vel d'Hiv round-up for the 50th anniversary. Reluctantly, knowing that this will be an unpopular story, Julia agrees. As she begins to discover and uncover more and more truths about the round-up, she finds an unexpected family connection to Sarah.
Each chapter alternates between Julia/2002 and Sarah/1942 and is truly captivating. At first I found myself wanting to skip Julia's part to learn more about Sarah, but eventually, Julia's story is so interesting that you want to skip Sarah's story to learn more about Julia. This is an excellent book... I couldn't put it down. While I typically am not drawn to historical fiction, I made myself read this one, and I'm so glad that I did.
Highly Recommended... One of my favorites.
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