The Postcard (Hardcover)
Staff Reviews
The Postcard combines the gentle suspense of a thriller with the powerful storytelling of a Jewish family devastated by the Holocaust. This is an emotional saga that begins in January 2003 with the delivery of an anonymous postcard listing the names of four family members killed at Auschwitz. Only fifteen years later does the heroine revisit this event, embarking on a quest to find out who sent it and why. So begins a captivating novel woven between two centuries, a poignant tale of mothers and daughters, and a luminous portrait of Parisian artistic and intellectual life in the 20th century. Beautiful and unforgettable storytelling — one of the best books I’ve read this year!
— CarolynMay 2023 Indie Next List
“This family saga, about a mysterious postcard received decades after WWII, plunges a daughter and her mother into the search for the truth and their roots. I have never read a book so well-written, so engaging, so poignant, so real.”
— Marianne Reiner, La Playa Books, San Diego, CA
Description
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 Op ra Garnier in Paris. On the back, the names of Anne Berest's maternal great-grandparents, Ephra m and Emma, and their children, No mie 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.
