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Sarah's Key

By: Tatiana de Rosnay
Narrated by: Polly Stone
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Editorial reviews

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay is the heart-breaking tale of 10-year-old Sarah Stravinsky, a French Jew, and her journey during the Holocaust in 1942. Paralleling her story is the account of American journalist Julia Jarmond, in the year 2002, who is living in France and assigned to cover the 60th anniversary of the Vél' d'Hiv', the French round-ups in which little Sarah and her family were arrested and sent to concentration camps. The two women have a tie that binds, as Julia discovers her French in-laws have owned the apartment that Sarah once lived in since her family was removed from it. As Julia desperately searches for Sarah, hoping she was one of the lucky few who escaped death at Auschwitz, she uncovers the unspeakable horror that Sarah endured in the very same apartment - a secret that has haunted her in-laws for 60 years.

If the superb simplicity of this saga isn't enough to draw you in, Polly Stone's flawless narration will. She gives each character a distinct voice (complete with accurate accent and pitch), which lends authenticity, as if the characters themselves have come alive within her. This novel, like most accounts of the Holocaust, is weighty, ridden with horrific details. Stone's tone is subtle, letting these details ring out and strike your heart. She's also a master at building suspense, and you'll find yourself so endeared by little Sarah, that you will be white-knuckled for her during her frightening journey.

The last portion of the novel is a bit drawn out, but this is forgivable, as the denouement is touching, and Sarah's struggle is one that will stick with you long after you've finished listening to it. (Colleen Oakley)

Publisher's summary

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.

Tatiana de Rosnay offers us a brilliantly subtle, compelling portrait of France under occupation and reveals the taboos and silence that surround this painful episode.

©2007 Tatiana de Rosnay (P)2008 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“Polly Stone's delivery of Sarah's story is riveting with its spare emotional power.” —AudioFile Magazine

“This is a remarkable historical novel, a book which brings to light a disturbing and deliberately hidden aspect of French behavior towards Jews during World War II. Like Sophie's Choice, it's a book that impresses itself upon one's heart and soul forever.” —Naomi Ragen, author of The Saturday Wife and The Covenant

Sarah's Key unlocks the star crossed, heart thumping story of an American journalist in Paris and the 60-year-old secret that could destroy her marriage. This book will stay on your mind long after it's back on the shelf.” —Risa Miller, author of Welcome to Heavenly Heights

What listeners say about Sarah's Key

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My new favorite author!

I couldn't put this book aside. It's so well written! The storyline kept me wanting to keep going to find out what happens next. I love historical fiction during this era. It could have been a true story.

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Great story.

love it, narrator was great with the exchange of voices and accents. Will recomend it.

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Powerful and Heartwrenching

A wonderfully performed story. Penny Stone really did this so try justice. And the story, so moving. Paced quickly enough that you won't get bored.

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A Wealth of Emotions

I loved this book. it made me sad, angry and happy. I normally don't like books that go back and forth in time but the narration made it easy to follow.

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Great story to well

Great story, performed well. I learned a lot of history through this story. Almost read like a mystery. Evoked emotion as well. Lost a star because it finished slowly.

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Very poignant

An interesting handling of the history of Jewish treatment in France during the 2nd World War. A young girl with a gold star taken from her home. A younger boy hiding in a forgotten closet. A family who had moved into their vacated apartment. Current relatives looking into what happened in that apartment decades later.

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Touched

The story touched my heart. It made me realize how a society can be so cruel; hard to understand. I hope it has made me a more caring person.

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great story with an awkward ending

great book but the ending was awkward in the storyline and writing. such an amazing story to end awkward was a bit of a let down.

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Listened Every Free Second of the Day!

What a wonderful story. I was capturered from the first sentence. I had to know what happened to Sarah. Stories like this make sure we never forget the evil that happened during the war.

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Powerful, Emotional and Important

So very good. It is personal and informative about a period in the story of Paris

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