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Mar 26, 2017sgcf rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
I wanted to love this book. Maybe it was spoiled by seeing the movie almost a year prior to reading. The story of France’s complicity with the Nazis in sending thousands of French citizens to their death was a facet of history I was unfamiliar with, and it’s a story that needs to be honoured by retelling. However, the story came across somewhat flat to me. The historical Sarah’s story was gripping and I wish we had more of this point of view. But the modern section about Julia of this dual track plot left me skimming lines and rolling my eyes at the melodrama. I really question why Julia hangs on to Sarah’s suffering for years the way Sarah hung on to the closet key. She remains a rather static, weak character and doesn’t grow beyond the issue. Ultimately the problem is in the writing – the author repeatedly tells us how to feel, slathering us in Julia’s tears and angst. Go see the movie – it has tightened up on the book’s wanderings and the riveting acting breathes truth into the characters.