The Postcard
| Modern Age |
|---|
 The Postcard
|
World History > Modern Age > WWII > Jewish History
Winner of the Choix Goncourt Prize, Anne Berest’s The Postcard is a vivid portrait of twentieth-century Parisian intellectual and artistic life, an enthralling investigation into family secrets, and poignant tale of a Jewish family devastated by the Holocaust and partly restored through the power of storytelling.
January, 2003. Together with the usual holiday cards, an anonymous postcard is delivered to the Berest family home. On the front, a photo of the Opéra Garnier in Paris. On the back, the names of Anne Berest’s maternal great-grandparents, Ephraïm and Emma, and their children, Noémie and Jacques—all killed at Auschwitz.
Fifteen years after the postcard is delivered, Anne, the heroine of this novel, is moved to discover who sent it and why. Aided by her chain-smoking mother, family members, friends, associates, a private detective, a graphologist, and many others, she embarks on a journey to discover the fate of the Rabinovitch family: their flight from Russia following the revolution, their journey to Latvia, Palestine, and Paris. What emerges is a moving saga that shatters long-held certainties about Anne’s family, her country, and herself.
Emily's Review
This book was beautiful and such an important read. It's a story about a woman relentlessly tracing her family history after receiving a mysterious postcard in the mail. I've been trying to figure out how to classify this book. It is non-fiction but written like a novel. Is it a memoir? A family history? It's all of those things and more.
This book did something to me. It made me wonder about the family I lost in the war that I will never know. I don't even know their names. Who were they? What were their lives like? How could I ever find that out? Everyone who knew them is gone now. The way the author traced her family and learned what happened to them was fascinating to me.
There is so much here - it touches on the war years of course, but it explains what it was like to be a Jew in Europe in the decades before WWII. It explores how antisemitism was always there, festering, waiting for its moment. It explored generational trauma in a way I don't think I've ever seen done.
If you only ever read one book about the Holocaust, make it this one.
Other Similar Books
Other suggestions on the subject of World War II (European Front).
- You Wouldn't Want to Be a Secret Agent During World War II (by: Malam, John, WWII, Great Britain, France, LE, MG)
- You Wouldn't Want to Be a World War II Pilot (by: Graham, Ian, WWII, Great Britain, LE, MG)
- Number the Stars (by: Lowry, Lois, WWII, Denmark, MG)
- Snow Treasure (by: McSwigan, Marie, WWII, Norway, MG)
- The War That Saved My Life (by: Brubaker Bradley, Kimberly, WWII, Great Britain, MG)
- Just a Girl: A True Story of World War II (by: Levi, Lia, WWII, Jews in Hiding, Nazi Occupation, Italy, MG)
- The Little Riders (by: Shemin, Margaretha, WWII, Nazi Occupation, Holland, MG)
- Genevieve's War (by: Reilly Giff, Patricia, WWII, France, MG)
- Max in the House of Spies: A Tale of World War II (by: Gidwitz, Adam, WWII, Kindertransport, Espionage, Great Britain, Germany, MG, UMG)
- The War I Finally Won (by: Brubaker Bradley, Kimberly, WWII, Great Britain, MG)
- The Night War (by: Brubaker Bradley, Kimberly, WWII, Resistance, France, MG, UMG)
- A Whale in Paris (by: Presley, Daniel, Polders, Claire, WWII, Nazi Occupation, France, MG)
- Safiyyah's War (by: Noor Khan, Hiba, WWII, Nazi Occupation, Muslim Resistance, France, MG, UMG)
- Twenty and Ten (by: Bishop, Claire Hutchet, WWII, Jews in Hiding, Nazi Occupation, France, MG)
- The Bletchley Riddle (by: Sepetys, Ruta and Sheinkin, Steve, WWII, Code Breakers, Spies, Great Britain, UMG)
- Code Name Kingfisher (by: Kessler, Liz, WWII, Jewish Resistance, Netherlands, Great Britain, UMG, YA)
- The Dollmaker of Krakow (by: Romero, R. M., WWII, Poland, UMG)
- Catherine's War (by: Billet, Julia, WWII, Jews in Hiding, Nazi Occupation, France, UMG)
- Salt to the Sea (by: Sepetys, Ruta, WWII, East Prussia, YA, A)
- Wrath Becomes Her (by: Polydoros, Aden, WWII, Jewish Resistance, Lithuania, YA, A)
- Seized by the Sun: The Life and Disappearance of World War II Pilot Gertrude Tompkins (by: Atwood, Kathryn J., WWII, Women's Aviation, Various, YA, A)
- Between Shades of Gray (by: Sepetys, Ruta, WWII, Lithuania, Russia, YA, A)
- All the Light We Cannot See (by: Doerr, Anthony, WWII, France, Germany, YA, A)
- The Paper Girl of Paris (by: Taylor, Jordyn, WWII, France, YA, A)
- The Boys Who Challenged Hitler (by: Hoose, Phillip, WWII, German Occupation, Denmark, YA, A)
- Kursed (by: Smith, Lindsay, WWII, Soviet Union, YA)
- Code Name Verity (by: Wein, Elizabeth, WWII, Great Britain, France, YA)
- Leonora in the Morning Light (by: Carter, Michaela, WWII, Art, France, Great Britain, YA, A)
- Girl in the Blue Coat (by: Hesse, Monica, WWII, Nazi Occupation, Netherlands, YA, A)
- We Were the Lucky Ones (by: Hunter, Georgia, WWII, Poland, YA, A)
- X, Y & Z: The Real Story of How Enigma Was Broken (by: Turing, Dermot, WWII, Enigma Machine, Poland, Great Britain, YA, A)
- Code Name Pauline: Memoirs of a World War II Special Agent (by: Cornioley, Pearl Witherington, WWII, France, Great Britain, YA, A)
- The Postcard (by: Berest, Anne, WWII, Jewish Life, antisemitism, Holocaust Survivors, France, A)
- The Bookseller of Dachau (by: Ryan, Shari J., WWII, Germany, United States, A)
- Maria: A Novel of Maria von Trapp (by: Moran, Michelle, WWII, musical theater, Austria, United States, A)
- Light Perpetual (by: Spufford, Francis, WWII, Great Britain, A)
- The Kitchen Front (by: Ryan, Jennifer, WWII, Great Britain, A)
- The Underground Library (by: Ryan, Jennifer, WWII, Great Britain, A)
Other suggestions on the subject of the Holocaust.
- Hidden Hope (by: Boxer, Elisa, France, LE, MG)
- Stars of the Night: The Courageous Children of the Czech Kindertransport (by: Stelson, Caren, Czechoslovakia, LE, MG)
- Stone Angel (by: Yolen, Jane, France, LE)
- Once (by: Gleitzman, Morris, Poland, MG, UMG)
- Then (by: Gleitzman, Morris, Poland, MG, UMG)
- The Girl Who Sang (by: Nadel, Estelle, Savos, Sammy, Strout, Bethany, Poland, MG, UMG)
- Out of Hiding (by: Gruener, Ruth, Poland, United States, MG)
- Now (by: Gleitzman, Morris, Australia, MG, UMG)
- Hidden: A Child's Story of the Holocaust (by: Dauvillier, Loïc, France, MG, UMG)
- I Will Protect You: A True Story of Twins Who Survived Auschwitz (by: Kor, Eva Mozes, Romania, MG)
- Esfir is Alive (by: Simon, Andrea, Poland, UMG, YA)
- When We Flew Away (by: Hoffman, Alice, Netherlands, UMG, YA)
- Four Perfect Pebbles (by: Blumenthal Lazan, Marion, Germany, Holland, UMG)
- Courage to Dream: Tales of Hope in the Holocaust (by: Shusterman, Neal, various, UMG, YA)
- We'll Soon Be Home Again (by: Bab Bonde, Jessica, Various, UMG, YA)
- Beyond Courage (by: Rappaport, Doreen, Germany, UMG, YA)
- No Pretty Pictures: A Child of War (by: Lobel, Anita, Poland, UMG, YA)
- The Devil's Arithmetic (by: Yolen, Jane, Poland, UMG, YA)
- Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl (by: Frank, Anne, Netherlands, UMG, YA)
- Upon the Head of the Goat (by: Siegal, Aranka, Hungary, UMG)
- When the World Was Ours (by: Kessler, Liz, Austria, UMG, YA)
- Briar Rose (by: Yolen, Jane, Poland, YA, A)
- They Went Left (by: Hesse, Monica, Poland, Germany, YA, A)
- Names in a Jar (by: Gold, Jennifer, Poland, YA, A)
- 28 Days: A Novel of Resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto (by: Safier, David, Poland, YA, A)
- Margot (by: Cantor, Jillian, United States, YA, A)
- The Redhead of Auschwitz: A True Story (by: Birnbaum, Nechama, Romania, Germany, YA, A)
- The Search (by: Heuvel, Eric, Netherlands, YA, A)
- My Name is Selma (by: van de Perre, Selma, Netherlands, YA, A)
- Mapping the Bones (by: Yolen, Jane, Poland, YA, A)
- Night (by: Wiesel, Elie, Romania, YA, A)
- Dawn (by: Wiesel, Elie, Palestine, YA, A)
- The Librarian of Auschwitz (by: Iturbe, Antonio, Poland, YA, A)
- Impossible Escape: A True Story of Survival and Heroism in Nazi Europe (by: Sheinkin, Steve, Poland, YA, A)
- The Blood Years (by: Arnold, Elana K., Romania, YA, A)
- Day (by: Wiesel, Elie, United States, YA, A)
- The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million (by: Mendelsohn, Daniel, Ukraine, A)