Sarah’s Key

What is home? How does our history figure into how we think about home? These are just two of the questions explored in the novel through this theme. In the case of the novel, one is reminded of the classical cliché, “Home is where the heart is,” because the idea of home for Julia, for Bertrand, and for almost everyone in the novel is fluid—ever-changing but rooted in the people we share space and experience with. Julia ends up in New York City with Zoë and her new daughter, Sarah, struggling to find a sense of home. It isn’t until William shows up in her life that Julia can imagine her home there. In this way, home becomes a palpable, felt thing for the characters once it’s tied to the love and support of someone else. For Sarah, however, she never managed to find home again, and she could not bear being without it, taking her own life. 

Is it better to keep certain truths hidden? Can certain truths do more harm than good? Many of the Tézacs and other French prefer to remain willfully ignorant of the facts regarding Vel’ d’Hiv’ and