I really enjoyed this book. As far as loving the entire story (even though it's sad), I loved The Pearl That Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi more. http://bookserinread.blogspot.ca/2015/02/the-pearl-that-broke-its-shell-by-nadia.html
The stories have nothing to do with one another, I'm just thinking about fiction stories about real life.
I guess they are similar in the way they tell two different stories.
My next book is going to be happy. I need to find something funny. There isn't enough of that in my house of books.
Okay, about the book:
From the first few pages, I knew I was going to love it. I could tell it was going to be a book that I had trouble putting down. (I was right).
It follows two stories. One in France, 1942, and the also other in France, but closer to present day.
I enjoyed the story from 1942 more. It was about Sarah. She and her parents were taken away from their home by Paris police because they were Jewish. They were taken to a camp. Not understanding that she wasn't coming back, young Sarah, locked her brother in a cupboard, and took the key with her, planning to get him out soon.
The other story is about Julia, an American living in Paris. (For many years). She researches the day in July when the Jewish families were taken to camps, and she ends up learning about Sarah, and feeling deeply connected to her story.
At some point in the novel, Sarah's story stops, and it's left to Julia to find out what happened. I wasn't happy about that. I wasn't as interested in Julia as I was Sarah. Her story wasn't the one I wanted to read more about.
I felt sad for her because of the unhappy life she seemed to be leading.
It was a sad novel. It was fiction about a true and horrifying event in France history. One that many characters in the novel thought was better left in the past. That right there is a pretty sad thought.
I finished it last night, and I'm a bit let down by the end.
It feels like this was a negative post, but I did like the novel. I was invested in both stories, but more invested with Sarah's ending.
I will definitely recommend this book, but I also think I'm a bit late in reading it, so most people have already read it.
Either way, I'd probably read it again myself in a few years. Like I said, it was gripping from the very first pages. That's the way books are supposed to be.
Oh - and this is book four. My goal was to read 13 this year. It's a good start.
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