After a shopping spree spawned by half a day off and her holiday bonus
Reading Sarah's Key, by Tatiana de Rosnay, which she just picked up by Borders bookstore, near the ice skating at Union Square. The book is a fictionalized account of the roundup of the Jews in Paris in 1942. The narrator--an American woman married to a French man--is assigned to write a magazine article about the 60th anniversary of the roundup and uncovers the truth about the Jewish family that had to move out of the Paris apartment she currently lives in with her husband....which leads to finding out more about her husband's family and her life, too. The plot thickens.
Usually she drives home with her husband, but today, because of the bonuses, she got to go shopping and take the BART train home, so she's excited she has time to read! She has no time at home.
What she's been reading lately -- books about colors; Llama, Llama Red Pajama, by Anna Dewdney; and other children's books, some of them in Spanish, to her two-year old.
If she were to write her own book, it'd be about sisters. She has six of them, and three brothers, too. She's the second oldest. The youngest is eighteen--young enough, she said, to be her daughter! They don't live here in San Francisco, but she talks to them all the time on the phone.
What have you read that does a good job with fictionalizing history?
4 Comments:
Elsa Morante's La Storia is one of my favourites, set in Rome, Italy, during WW II and after. Probably 20 years have passed since I last read it (in German), but I remember it as powerful, very moving, quite specific about the history of the time (fascism, war, partisanship) and how it affects people over the years. Very beautifully written.
'hang a thousand trees with ribbons' does an amazing job of retelling the story of phyllis wheatley. it paints an amazing picture of her meeting the president, going abroad, proving her genius to a group of plantation owners, her precarious relationship with the master's son and her bittersweet experiences with freedom. it's an amazing take on a very meaningful and groundbreaking life.
A bit trashy but lots of fun, I read The Other Bolyn Girl(sorry can't spell) before a summer trip to England 3 years ago. It's light on history and big on intrigue, but when we actually visited Hever castle, where the Ann lived, it was a blast. I also ended up seeking out portraits of the characters in National Portrait Gallery.
I actually just finished Sarah's Key last week and enjoyed it. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was also a great book that did not feel like fiction.
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