It's time for another Reading Review- and this one's not a baby book! I present to you "Sarah's Key" by Tatiana de Rosnay:
"Sarah's Key" is actually two tales in one- the story of a modern-day American journalist (Julia Jarmond) who has made her home in France and that of a young Jewish girl (Sarah Starzynski) and the horrors she experienced living through the Vel' d'Hiv roundup of Jewish citizen in France in 1942. As Julia uncovers more about Sarah and her own family's connection to that dark time in history, she discovers herself and in turn changes her own life forever.
Overall, I enjoyed the story; although, it is very dark and definitely brought tears to my eyes on multiple occasions. Even though the book is a work of fiction, I appreciated the bit of history I learned while reading- I had no prior knowledge of the roundup. One of my favorite aspects of the book was the growth and development of the relationship of Julia and her father-in-law because of (and perhaps in spite of) his family's past.
I will say that the book did have some language in it, and I didn't appreciate the focus on several of themes that were presented rather nonchalantly (adultery, abortion, cohabitation, etc.). So while the story itself was very moving, this book will not be sitting on my shelf at home, and I am not over zealous to recommend it.
It's time for another Reading Review here on the blog. Today I present to you another historical fiction work, "Gods and Kings" by Lynn Austin:
This book is loosely based on the Biblical accounts of Ahaz and Hezekiah. I appreciated the horrifying detail that Austin put into the pagan practices of the surrounding nations that the kings of Israel adopted as their own; this helps me to better picture while reading my Bible of what actually went on. The entire work was heart wrenching; even though I knew ultimately who would choose good and who would choose evil, it pained me to read about all these people did against God. The book indirectly made me think about my own transgressions against our Lord (the author never breaks from her 3rd person narrative, don't worry).
One thing that bothered me about the book, however, is the behavior of several of the prophets. While I understand adding their humanity and reactions is part of what makes this work fiction, the way in which they received their revelation from God by just "feeling" or "knowing" is in direct contradiction to anything we actually see in the Bible (the examples show God telling His prophets exactly what to say, when to say it, and where to go to say it).
All things considered, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction. I look forward to reading the subsequent books in the series as well.
