Sara's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

This book was a disappointment (I'm sick with a cold and I'm not mincing words).

I have to admit that initially, I enjoyed the way it stylistically jumped between two stories: one based in 1942 and the other in 2002. I was also pleased to see that the author (or publisher, more likely) represented the 1942 story by using a type font and formatting typical of that era.

The 1942 story, based on the Vel' d'Hiv' roundup, is horrific. I didn't know about this event and I found it terribly disturbing. Within a few alternating chapters, the book quickly its appeal and I began to skim read. I gave up on the book when it became evident that de Rosnay was unable to sustain the book's initial structure. At some point, the book was told only for the 2002 perspective.

I couldn't help but think of Blindness by Jose Saramago. This book also described unimaginable horrific, but Saramago was a master and made Blindness a literary work that was a joy to read, and altered one's view of the world. De Rosnay is not in the same league -- not even playing the same game as Saramgo. So again, the book was a disappointment and I wouldn't recommend it.

Here is the publisher's blurb:
Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel' d'Hiv' roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.
Paris, May 2002: On Vel' d'Hiv's 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France's past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d'Hiv', to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah's past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life.