The Postcard - Anne Berest & Tina Kover

The Postcard

By Anne Berest & Tina Kover

  • Release Date: 2023-05-16
  • Genre: Historical Fiction
4.5 Score: 4.5 (From 156 Ratings)

Description

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
TIME Magazine・NPR・Library Journal・The Globe and Mail・Lilith・Forward Magazine・Toronto Star・The New Yorker

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.

Reviews

  • Amazing Novel

    5
    By GLC2551
    The research is outstanding and the writing exquisite. I didn’t want to put it down but had to on occasion to reflect on the depth of this story. Having lived a year in Paris and having traveled a bit in France plus a love of history increased my connections to this book. Thanks for delivering a chef d’oeuvre.
  • Ultimately Disappointing

    2
    By juliusa
    Has high hopes for this one based on the reviews and press. But in the end it was another attempt to novelize The Holocaust and it’s repercussions through family histories. Started out well going through what happened to one family, although nothing new and well known history. Then for a bit intriguing in the middle as the hunt for who sent “the postcard” went into high gear. But lost steam in the rushed third part describing the horrors of what the family endured in a cold and factual way. Maybe for those who know little about the horrors this would be important, it for this reader it felt like a recitation of well known experiences that were hastily written and devoid of feeling. The ultimate reveal was nothing special. And even nonsense, as it turned out to be unnecessary and all the main character had to do was ask. Started skimming paragraphs , and that’s not a good sign. Hard pass to those interested. There’s better.
  • From an avid reader to specially of ww2 history

    5
    By lbwnaima
    Very moving and realistic account of a Jewish family history before and during and after the Second World War in Europe especially France.

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