There is no such thing as the perfect family. Every family has its secret, hidden in some old wardrobe or cupboard. Sometimes, this secret is passed on from generation to generation as a folk tale whose lesson should always be heeded. There are other secrets, however, that are never meant to be known. They are never meant to be shared at family gatherings. Secrets too harsh to share with reality. In Tatiana de Rosnay’s Sarah’s Key, the secret held by the Tézac family pushes the idea of skeletons in the closet to a whole new level.

de Rosnay gives us the key to unlock one of the most under researched occurrances of the Holocaust. In July of 1942, nearly four thousand French Jews were rounded up and literally impounded at the Vélodrome d’Hiver – an indoor race track. Through the eyes of the younger of the main characters, Sarah Starzynski, we are thrust immediately in an unknown world of fear and confusion. Even as she was being drug from her home, Sarah still had that uncanny innocent hope adults usually envy in their children. Having believed she had properly secured her little brother safely in their cupboard hiding spot, she went with little struggle. It was not until the desperation seen on the faces of four thousand cramped, starving bodies that she began to realize her brother may not have been as safe as she had thought. It is through Sarah’s voice that we begin to see and understand the tragedy of mother’s being beaten away from their children. And subsequently suddenly orphaned children were struggling to learn the skills they needed to survive.

Sixty years into the future, the American journalist in France Julia Jarmond is asked by her magazine to cover the sixtieth commenoration of this horrid event. As she learns more and more of an event she had never even heard of, she suddenly realized the country she had called home for twenty-five years was more than blissfully ignorant. Even her own in-laws – who had moved into an apartment right near the scene of the crime only days after it had occurred – approach her with anger and disdain. Why must anyone dig up the past? The past only hurts.

The theme of ignorance runs rampant throughout the whole novel. Sarah’s parents had forced her to be ignorant of the tragedies their family could face because of their yellow stars. The Tézac’s were the epitome of French ignorance. Even though it was French police who rounded up French men, women, and children, it was under the orders of the Germans. And, therefore, it was the Germans who would be dealt all the blame. It is quite reminiscent of the inability of Americans to remember who nearly exterminated the Native American tribes.

There is little evidence to show that de Rosnay was attempting to attack her home nation. She does not write with spite or nor with malice. She simply wants to remove the wool from the eyes of many. Her words are skillfully crafted, gentle at times. The story tugs at the heart strings but certainly creates the desire to learn more. It is novels like Sarah’s Key that allow the present and the past to come together, teaching today’s society on how to learn from mistakes. There is no perfect family, no perfect country. But by realizing and facing the skeletons in the closet, one can find themselves a better person.