Lori M. (lormac) reviewed on 4/3/2011 + 120 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

The best part of this book was learning about the Val'de Hiv event. Like many of the characters in the book, I had no idea that this happened, and it is something that everyone should be aware of - the complicity of other nations in the Nazi atrocities.
Having said that, the plot was ridiculous, and the ending completely denies belief. SPOILER ALERT!!!(And not just that a middle-aged divorcee with an infant in NYC would be the object of desire for at least five different men within two years!!) This plot line seems even more trivial when you consider the impact of the Sarah plot line. So Julia married a self-absorbed Frenchman and it took her 15 years to notice that she didn't much like him as a person - setting that in counterpoint to people struggling against all odds to survive the cruelties of others makes Julia seem even more silly. Hmmm, does this really make me feel sorry for her? (Answer: Not at all, and I lose respect for her as well.)
Finally, MORE SPOILER ALERT!! I read somewhere that Holocaust survivors actually have a much lower suicide rate than the average population, so to imagine that Sarah would have survived as she did, and created a new life, only to end it by driving into a tree, is extremely far-fetched.

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