Sarah's Key

blergh. I am not sure whether I'm appalled or amazed at the chutzpah of entwining a love story with an exploration of the Vel' d' Hiv' roundup and deportation. And the author's choice to maker her protagonist an American is an interesting one–but one, I think, somewhat at odds with her message regarding France's blindspot to the atrocities of Vichy. The two-dimensional French and American families that populate the margins don't add much to the book. The writing is flat. The “love” story is just odd. Blergh.