Sarah's Key by: Tatiana De Rosnay

Author Background: Tatiana De Rosnay

• Tatiana De Rosnay was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine on September 28,1961, and she is 51 years old. She is a writer,a French journalist, and also a screenwriter. For her education, she attended the University of East Anglia. Rosnay is the author of 10 famous novels, including Sarah's Key, which is the New York Times bestselling novel. This novel was an international bestselling sensation with more than 2 million copies sold in 35 countries all around the world. Rosnay,with Dan Brown, Stephenie Meyer and Stieg Larsson, was named one of the top 10 fiction writers in Europe in 2009. Now,Tatiana lives with her husband and their two children in Paris. 

Historical Background 

•   Sarah's Key was published in 2007, and the film, which came out last year in France, sparked an awareness there of the Vel d'Hiv, where the French police arrested more than 13,000 Jews, which were mostly children and women, and held them at a cycling stadium, the Vélodrome d'Hiver, in Paris. They stayed there until they were sent onto trains, to leave for Auschwitz.  
• It is a black mark in French history that is not known by many French until President Jacques Chirac's famous 1995 speech, which officially apologized for the tragedy.
• The Vel' d'Hiv Roundup was a raid and mass arrest in Paris by the French police on 16 and 17 July 1942, code named Opération Vent printanier ("Operation Spring Breeze"). The name for the event comes from  the nickname of the Vélodrome d'Hiver ("Winter Velodrome"), which is a bicycle velodrome and stadium where  the victims were temporarily confined. The roundup was one of several aimed at reducing the Jewish population that had appeared in France. According to records of the Préfecture de Police, 13,152 victims were arrested and held at the Vélodrome d'Hiver and the Drancy internment camp nearby. They were then sent away by railway transports to Auschwitz, so that they can get exterminated. 

Key Characters and Analysis

• Sarah Starzynski -She is also a main character in the novel, because she begins as a little innocent girl who was taken away to the concentration camps with her family. Sarah tells the story of her escape from the camp, and describes her life for the next few years while living with the Darfure family. She went through so many hardships and obstacles throughout her life,but in the end, she just couldn't take it anymore, and committed suicide. 

• Julia Jarmond -Julia is also a main character in the story, because she is the driven career woman that many people look up to. She is also a writer for a French magazine. She is given the task of writing an article about the Vel D’Hiv, and finds herself going above and beyond the requirements and the project seems to take over her life.

• William Rainsford -After the terrible death of his mother, William fled to Italy to get away from the tragedy. Until Julia told him, William was not cautious of his mother's true past. When he finds out that she was Jewish and went through the concentration camps, he is extremely shocked. For a long time, he keeps himself away from everybody else, especially Julia. Towards the end, William ends up moving to New York to meet up with Julia. 

• Zoe Tezac -Zoe is Julia and Bertrand’s daughter, and she is 10 years old. But she is more mature than most 10 year old children at her age. She becomes caught up in her mother’s journey to discover Sarah’s past. At most times, Zoe provides the comic relief during the moments of great sadness.

 

• Bertrand Tezac -Bertrand is Julia’s husband in the story, and from the very beginning, he seems to be a very negative person who is distant in his relationship with Julia. Bertrand is not really supportive in Julia, whether it it be when Julia is researching for her article or pregnant with their child. 

• Darfure Family -The Darfure family took care of Sarah after she had escaped from the concentration camp. They took Sarah in as if she was their own daughter, and gave her much support.They provided shelter, food, and also emotional support when Sarah finally found out about what happened to her brother.

• Edouard Tézac -Bertrand is Julia’s father-in-law, and he has been keeping a really big secret from his family for over the past 50 years in his life. His family lived in the Rue de Saintonage apartment when Sarah came back and found her brother locked away and dead in the closet. At this moment, Bertrand felt more than guilty for his death,and he sent money to Sarah anonymously for years and years, to help her live her life. 

• Michael Starzynski - Michael is Sarah’s younger brother,and Sarah and her brother were best of friends, and were very close to each other all the time. They had a very strong brother and sister relationship. When the French police come to take the Starzynski family, Sarah does everything she can to try and save her brother from leaving. She does this, by locking him in the closet saying that she promises she will be back for him later.

Key Quotes and Analysis

• “The mother pulled her daughter close to her. The girl could feel the woman’s heart beating through her dressing gown. She wanted to push her mother away. She wanted her mother to stand up straight and look at the men boldly, to stop cowering, to prevent her heart from beating like that, like a frightened animal’s. She wanted her mother to be brave” (De Rosnay 3). 

-This quote is significant,because it shows how it is always difficult for the helpless to stand up for themselves and say something. Sarah’s mother knows that if she says anything to the police, she will suffer the severe consequences. Sarah is very naive at this moment, and she is always hoping for things that are  not possible in the real world.

• “Quick, children, come now,” she said, holding out her hands. “You are safe here. You are safe with us” (De Rosnay 110). 

-This quote is significant, because this represents how vulnerable Rachel and Sarah are at this point; more than they had ever been, because they had escaped from the Drancy Internment Camp. They both spent hours  and hours looking for a safe place to stay when they came to the Dafaure’s house. Jules and Genevieve Dafaure are two of the nicest people around. They selflessly cared for Sarah and Rachel, doing everything that they could possibly do.

• "The girl had watched the bodies being carried out. She had never seen such horror."
  (De Rosany 55)

-This quote is significant, because Sarah has never experienced anything this terrible in her life before, so it shocks her. This also represents innocence, because before they were at the camps, she was as innocent as ever, but the camp has changed her view on the world.

• "Zakhor. Al Tichkah. Remember. Never forget." (De Rosany 261)

-This quote is significant, because it symbolizes the poem that is in the story. Also, it represets all of the obstacles and hardships that everyone had to go through in Paris. 

• "Why so much pain, so much suffering, thought the girl. "It's because they hate us," Rachel had told her with a deep hoarse voice. "They hate Jews." Such hate, thought the girl. Why such hate?" (De Rosany 87) 

-This quote is significant, because it clearly describes the innocence of Sarah, because she does not know the real truth of what is happening to the Jews. She does not understand the meaning of hate, because she thinks that no one can hate someone so much. 

Theme

• What happened in the past can greatly affect the present.
• Losing your innocence can change your perspective.
• Innocence can be taken away

-These are some of the major themes in Sarah's Key, because when Sarah had found out that her brother had died, she felt guilty, because she did not return back to him, like she had promised him before. So this is a time when Sarah felt like going back in time, and saving her brother's life. She had lost the closest person to her that she had ever had in her life.

                                                                                      Works Cited

• "'Sarah's Key' Exposes Dark Part of French History." SFGate. N.p., 2013. Web. 16 May 2013.
• "Sarah's Key Quotes." BookRags. BookRags, 2013. Web. 16 May 2013.
• "Sarah's Key." Sarah's Key: Characters. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2013.
• "Tatiana De Rosnay Biography, plus Links to Book Reviews and Book Excerpts from Books by    

                 Tatiana De Rosnay." BookBrowse.com. N.p., 1997-2013. Web. 16 May 2013.