A moving story of a 10 year old Jewish girl who with her parents are rounded up in 1942 and shipped to a concentration camp. Innocently Sarah believes she will be released quickly and since the police have not noticed her little brother, she locks him in a cupboard and pockets the key. Sixty years later Julia, a journalist, becomes curious about the apartment her husband is renovating for his family. The apartment has belonged to his family since WWII. Her in-laws consider the subject taboo and so Julie uses her journalist skills and connections to unearth the history of her future home.
The novel tells the story of Sarah's attempts first to escape the concentration camp and to find her way back to Paris and Julia's attempts to locate information about the family who once resided in the home she is soon to move into.
This is a moving story, a novel based on historical facts, much like many other real life stories of life during WWII, with the exception of the boy locked in the cupboard and the little girl agonizing over his fate. It is a novel that will grip you by the throat and never let go. Highly recommended.
The book is 316 pages soft cover, once read from a non-smoking home. Published by St. Martins Press in 2007. It was a NYTs best seller. ISBN 978-0-312-37084-8
Condition is excellent once read. No tears, dog ears, or marks.
