The Postcard

De: Anne Berest, Tina Kover - translator

Narrado por: Barrie Kealoha

Winner of the Choix Goncourt Prize, Anne Berest’s The Postcard is a vivid portrait of twentieth-century Parisian intellectual and artistic life, an enthralling investigation into family secrets, and poignant tale of a Jewish family devastated by the Holocaust and partly restored through the power of storytelling.

January, 2003. Together with the usual holiday cards, an anonymous postcard is delivered to the Berest family home. On the front, a photo of the Opéra Garnier in Paris. On the back, the names of Anne Berest’s maternal great-grandparents, Ephraïm and Emma, and their children, Noémie and Jacques—all killed at Auschwitz.

Fifteen years after the postcard is delivered, Anne, the heroine of this novel, is moved to discover who sent it and why. Aided by her chain-smoking mother, family members, friends, associates, a private detective, a graphologist, and many others, she embarks on a journey to discover the fate of the Rabinovitch family: their flight from Russia following the revolution, their journey to Latvia, Palestine, and Paris. What emerges is a moving saga that shatters long-held certainties about Anne’s family, her country, and herself.

©2023 Anne Berest and Tina Kover (P)2023 Europa Editions

Reseñas de la Crítica

AN INSTANT NATIONAL INDIE BESTSELLER

Named a Most Anticipated Book by the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Bustle, Book Riot, Vogue

Named a May ABA Indie Next Pick

Winner of the Choix Goncourt Prize, the Prix Renaudot des lycéens, and the ELLE Readers Prize

“Powerful, meticulously imagined... The Postcard (translated into a lucid and precise English by Tina Kover) takes its readers on a deep dive into one Jewish family’s history, and, inextricably, into the devastating history of the Holocaust in France... [A] powerful literary work... that contains a single grand-scale act of self-discovery and many moments of historical illumination.”—Julie Orringer, The New York Times Book Review

“Moving…Ms. Berest has done her research, artfully weaving grim facts and figures into her family history…Let’s hope that a book like this, which encompasses both the monstrosities of the past and the dangers of the present, will guard us from complacency.”—Heller McAlpin, The Wall Street Journal

“In what feels like a literary magic trick, Berest transforms her own family’s complex and heartbreaking Holocaust history into a novel that masterfully blends elements of drama, mystery and philosophy. It’s propulsive yet deep—an intimate, exacting contemplation of loss that somehow ends in love.”—Kate Tuttle, People Magazine

The storytelling was incredible!

This book is a must read!! The things she went through to learn more about her family are incredible. I could not stop listening. So good.

"Magnifique!"

The Postcard by Anne Berest is a true story based on her own family's experiences during the Holocaust. Having read extensively about WWII and to some extent about the Holocaust, including Herman Wouk's "The Winds of War," and "War and Remembrance," I didn't expect to get such a new and unique perspective about how the war, and the Holocaust and how each played out in France. It gave me a deep understanding of how France was ruptured and torn apart, not only by its Nazi invaders but by its own internal prejudices and deep hatred for "The Others." There were moments, while listening to this powerful tale that I wondered why the Allies even bothered to liberate France as I felt that the Vichy government should have suffered the same fate as Germany!

The story likewise captures the plight of the immigrant, perhaps more relevant today than it was nearly a 100 years ago. That plight is perpetually nomadic, ever moving but never able to truly be "home."

The story provokes deep emotions: rage, fear, anger, sadness, despair to name but a few. Nonetheless, it is victorious in its capitulation of the human identity, so deeply rooted in family, ancestry, language and culture. Best of all, the story doesn't necessarily provide a "victory" but rather an identification and understanding of how WWII and the Holocausts forever changed humanity, some for the better, and the rest for the worst...

Devastating

Loved the combination of history, interesting characters, personal stories, and the mystery of the postcard. The plot and braiding of the stories made it very suspenseful.

Just ok for me

Longer than it needed to be. Good premise. Wanted to love it but couldn’t get there.

Very good

This was a great book. Ww2 is a sad part of our history and it’s important these stories live on