Sarah's Key

The latest and greatest from the book shelf. 'Sarah's Key' is quite a story. It was sent to me in a care package from my mama. (Yes, I'm almost 30 years old and still love getting care packages from my mama). I actually had never heard of it before. Sad, but true. It's an international bestseller, and I had not even heard of the title. My most favorite genre of all time is Historical Fiction. I can get lost and found and lost all over again in fantastic historical fiction novels. This book has a little bit of everything. It is historical fiction, but it is also modern-day fiction. It's a combination that is very well written and you can find yourself in the emotional turmoil of the main character.
Seriously, I think the last book I read on the Holocaust was 'The Diary of Anne Frank' back in junior high. It's not because I don't appreciate or enjoy the many books out there, it's because it's very hard to be reading something very private and specific and real that happened to very real people and then go on my merry way throughout the day. It's the same idea as reading 'Shake Hands with the Devil' about the genocide in Rwanda, it's beautiful and tragic and leaves your stomach in knots with an empty feeling of 'what can I do?' and 'how can this happen in this world?'
This book is easier than that. It's a story. A sad story, yes. A tragic story, yes. But pieces of happiness float through though and it's an easy read. It takes off the harsh edge just a bit to give you a slight education (that I ashamedly was completely unaware of) and a look into a modern-day world which helps you breathe if you find yourself drowning a little bit.
Worth the read.