The Night That Changed Everything

The first line of the story is "The girl was the first to hear the loud pounding on the door" (Rosnay 1). I found it very interesting that the author decided to get right to the point.We have no idea who this 'girl' is, where she lives, how old she is, we don't know whos knocking at the door, we simply know nothing except for the fact that there is someone pounding on this girls door. So immediatly after reading this line, I predicted that there was a problem.

It was the police pounding on the door."She remembered the recent, hushed conversations she had overheard, late at night, when her parents thought she was asleep" (Rosnay 1). The author added  the word 'night' in there which symbolizes a symbloic end. The girl had said that her parents were saying things like; camps, roundup, early morning arrests. Instantly I knew what was going on, they were Jewish and the police were there to arrest the family. Her father was going to stay in the celler until things got safe. The girl- just like myself- questioned what he meant by "safe". Would they ever be safe again?

" He spoke perfect French. Then we are safe, thought the girl. If they are French and not German, we are not in danger. If they are French, they will not harm us" (Rosnay 3). This qoute seemed very ironic to me. This girl felt that she was safe with these people because they were of the same culture. She implies that the Germans were the evil ones, the French were innocent, they would not harm them. This line just shows you how nieve and young this little girl is. She does not understand what is going on. Another line that I found very ironic was "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. She wanted her mother to be brave" (Rosnay 3). This is a sign a irony because parents are usually the ones who need to brave and take care of their children in bad situations, not the other way around.

The fact that the French police went around arresting Jewish families during World War 2, goes to prove the conflict theory- "participants in an organization or society, function to maximize their own benefits" (dictonary.com). These Policemen were arresting these innocent families because thats what Hitler had ordered. Instead going against Hitler and doing the right thing, they obeyed them just to benefit themselves.

Power Over Love

In the first chapter we are quickly introduced to the conflict in the novel. Sarah a ten year old girl woke up in the middle of the night to loud pounding on her apartment door. It was the police. The mother then woke up and walked frighteningly straight to the door. The police were there to arrest the family because they were Jewish.

 "He spoke perfect French.Then we are safe, thought the girl. If they are French, and not German, we are not in danger. If they are French, they will not harm us." (Rosnay, 3) I found this line to be very ironic. The girl did not expect the French police to harm them since they are from the same country. Little did she know the complete opposite would occur. This quote speaks to me because it just shows you that you can not trust anyone when it comes down to power. Reading that line made me realize that when power is involved, some people will do anything and everything to reach the top- even if it means killing innocent people just because of their religion. I sense a power struggle approaching.

My Book Choice

The book that I have decided to do my independent study on is Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay.The story is about a girl named Sarah who is ten years old. Her and her parents were arrested in the middle of the night by French police just because they were Jewish. Sarah was desperate to protect her little brother so she locks him in a bedroom cupboard and promises to come back to him as soon as they returned. Sarah's story intertwines with a girl named Julia who was doing research on the roundup sixty years later. Julia finds secrets that lead her to Sarah.

“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
I found this quote and it really brought my attention towards this book. The reason that I have chosen to read this novel is because I am very interested in what happened back in the 1940s while World War II was going on. I would love to learn more about the war and what the Jewish families had to go through during that time. Judging from many reviews- such as this one- this story will be the perfect way for me to find out more.

After reading the reviews about the book I decided to research on the author herself. Rosnay was born on September. 28th, 1961. She was born in Paris, France and she is of the French, English and Russian descent . By 1992 she had already written 12 books in French and three in English. She has also written two episodes of the television show Family Affairs. In 2006 Rosnay's most popular novel Sarah's Key was published. The book has sold almost two million copies in English and over three million copies in french. In January of 2010, a number of French magazines issued a ranking of the top ten French novelists. Rosnay was ranked eighth. In January 2011 she was ranked fifth of the top ten most read French authors.

Since I did not enjoy the book that I had read last year for my independent study, I made sure that this time I was going to love the book I read. After doing a lot of reach on this novel and the on the author Tatiana Di Rosnay, I finally came to the conclusion that this was the book for me. According to reviews Rosnay is said to have a lot of talent, and I hope to see it in this story.

Title: Sarah's Key

Author: Tatiana Di Rosnay

Date of publication: 2007

Number of pages: 316

I am going to try and read at least 10 pages per day.