Karen
There is an element of mystery novel in The Postcard: who sent the postcard that arrives at the Berest home bearing the names of the grandparents, aunt, and uncle who were murdered in the Holocaust, and why? The main character of the book, Anne, waits 15 years before she is motivated by an incident at her daughter's school to try to find out, but once she starts, she is determined. As a mystery novel, it's poignant and satisfying, and without the feeling of forced cleverness or contrivance that mystery novels sometimes have.
It's also heartbreakingly clear about what happened to Anne's great-grandparents and great-aunt and uncle, and her grandmother Myriam, who was the only one of her family to survive the Holocaust. In the course of tracking down the sender of the postcard, Anne becomes more closely acquainted with her Jewish heritage--something her family kept its distance from as she was growing up. She becomes more aware of the anti-semitism that still permeates the modern French society in which she lives. She also cultivates a new kind of relationship with her mother, Lelia, exploring these topics that had always seemed off limits before. Through this investigation of the postcard, Anne comes to a deeper understanding of her place in the world and in her family--who she is. By the end of the novel, I imagine her life opening up, with dark places illuminated, and horizons visible that she had not imagined before.
There is an element of mystery novel in The Postcard: who sent the postcard that arrives at the Berest home bearing the names of the grandparents, aunt, and uncle who were murdered in the Holocaust, and why? The main character of the book, Anne, waits 15 years before she is motivated by an incident at her daughter's school to try to find out, but once she starts, she is determined. As a mystery novel, it's poignant and satisfying, and without the feeling of forced cleverness or contrivance that mystery novels sometimes have.
It's also heartbreakingly clear about what happened to Anne's great-grandparents and great-aunt and uncle, and her grandmother Myriam, who was the only one of her family to survive the Holocaust. In the course of tracking down the sender of the postcard, Anne becomes more closely acquainted with her Jewish heritage--something her family kept its distance from as she was growing up. She becomes more aware of the anti-semitism that still permeates the modern French society in which she lives. She also cultivates a new kind of relationship with her mother, Lelia, exploring these topics that had always seemed off limits before. Through this investigation of the postcard, Anne comes to a deeper understanding of her place in the world and in her family--who she is. By the end of the novel, I imagine her life opening up, with dark places illuminated, and horizons visible that she had not imagined before.