If you like "Sarah's Key" by Tatiana de Rosnay...

I see the movie Sarah’s Key is coming out on DVD on November 22.  I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I read the book when it was first published.  If you haven’t seen the movie or read the book, there’s still time to read Sarah’s Key before the DVD is released. 

In my opinion, it’s always better to read the book first before you see the movie so you’ll be in a better position to judge how well or poorly the book has been adapted as a film. If you haven’t read Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay, then you have missed a book club favorite.  De Rosnay skillfully weaves a tale alternating between Paris in 2002 and the Paris of World War II.

American journalist Julia Jarmond is covering the sixtieth anniversary of the deportation of Jewish families in Paris to Auschwitz. She finds Parisians are not too anxious to recall this part of their history. 

When Julia discovers that her French in-laws’ home was acquired from deported Jews, she is determined to find out what happened to the Jewish family that lived there – of whom only one, young Sarah, survived.

If you like Sarah’s Key, you may enjoy other books that have a similar tone. There are so many excellent books that address the theme of the Holocaust and World War II, but there are two novels that are my particular favorites:  The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

Louise Murphy’s The True Story of Hansel and Gretel is a thought provoking retelling of the classic fairy tale as a memorable survival story set in Poland during World War II. 

Two Jewish children are left in a dark forest by their father and stepmother as they flee the Nazis, renamed Hansel and Gretel for their protection, to hide their Jewish heritage.  They wander, lost, until an old woman, Magda, called “witch” by the villagers nearby, takes them in. Magda makes it her mission to save the children as a German officer arrives in the village with his own plans for Hansel and Gretel. 

Murphy has crafted a powerful novel, depicting how war is experienced by families, especially children.  I admire her wonderful melding of fairy tale and war literature into a haunting, unforgettable story. (Incidentally, I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Louise Murphy for the library’s cable television show, @ Your Library, when her book was selected for the One Book, One Region program in 2006.)

Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief is also a book club favorite, originally marketed to a teen audience.  But The Book Thief is not just for teens; it speaks to everyone. 

For starters, the book is narrated by Death.  You might think choosing Death as a narrator is some sort of hokey gimmick on Zusak’s part, but what better narrator for a story about the very real horrific effects of World War II on ordinary people, both Germans and Jews.  And what an eloquent narrator Death proves to be.  

Zusak’s use of language and phrasing reflects the power of words, books and reading that is the thematic backbone of The Book Thief.  It is also just the story of Liesel Meminger, a young girl living with her foster family in Munich, Germany during World War II, stealing to make ends meet. 

But then she discovers something she simply can’t resist stealing – books.  With the help of her foster father, Liesel learns to read and shares stolen books with neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man her foster parents are hiding in the basement. 

I loved getting the perspective of German families on the war and Hitler, something not ordinarily found in historical novels I have read on World War II.  Most of all, I loved Zusak’s writing style, his command of language, his complete articulacy speaking as Death.

Don’t miss these novels if you like Sarah’s Key.  I’m sure you won’t be disappointed if you read either one.