Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

The Readers Garden book discussion group met April 24, 2012 to discuss Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. Dina, Judy, Molly, Melody and Ann were present. Everyone agreed they enjoyed this book and felt the author created an informative novel about a little known time in French history.  She alternated past and present with unforgettable characters. The past is July, 1942 Paris when the French collaborated with the Nazis to round up Jewish people, mostly children. The present day is Paris with journalist Julia Jarmond writing a story about this dark period in France’s history as the 60th anniversary approaches.  

The book discussion questions kept the conversation flowing. Judy shared that the Danish people would not allow Jews to be taken as they felt they were Danish. Discussion followed as to how the French could allow these atrocities to occur especially to so many children. Melody said many of the French people believed that nothing really bad was going to happen to the Jews that were taken and had no control over events anyway. Molly watched the movie Sarah’s Key twice and remarked that it was true to the book. Readers cheered for Julia’s strength and determination to pursue the story of Sarah. The group highly recommended this selection to other book clubs and individuals, too. Dina shared that historical fiction has become her favorite genre.

There are openings in The Readers' Garden group.  Meetings are the 4^th Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. The next meeting is May 22nd to discuss The Borrower, a debut novel by Rebecca Makkai. Booklist named it as a Top Ten Debut of 2011 and it was featured in Oprah’s Magazine.  Copies of the book are available for checkout. We are also excited to welcome Rebecca Makkai on Tuesday, June 12, 2012 at 6:30 pm. See you then!