Sarah's Key

About the book

In July 1942, ten-year-old Sarah Starzynski hides her younger brother in a bedroom cupboard to protect him from the French police during the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup. She locks the door and keeps the key, believing she will return within hours. Sixty years later, Julia Jarmond, an American journalist living in Paris, investigates the history of the roundup for an article and discovers her husband's family apartment was seized from the Starzynskis. Julia tracks Sarah's life through French detention camps and her eventual escape, uncovering a history of displacement and a lingering family secret.

This narrative suits readers interested in the specific mechanics of the French occupation and the long-term impact of historical silence on modern families. Those who value investigative structures will see how archival research connects private genealogy to national events. Readers walk away with a detailed understanding of the 1942 mass arrests in Paris and the psychological weight that inherited guilt places on subsequent generations. It provides a factual foundation for understanding how the French government and ordinary citizens participated in wartime deportations.

Details

Published

2006

Language

EN