This acclaimed French novel, published in English in 2023, is a tour de force. A work of auto fiction, it tells the story of Anne Berest’s family – a story both fascinating and shocking that enthrals the reader from start to finish. It is a tale of a Jewish family seeking safe sanctuary as Nazism takes hold and of what it means to survivors and their descendants to be Jewish. It paints a vivid picture of Paris and the attitudes of the French, and also provides a thought-provoking insight into human behaviour.

The tale starts in Paris in January 2003 when an anonymous postcard arrives at the home of the Berest family. On the front is a photo of the Opéra Garnier and on the back are four names: Ephraim and Emma (Anne Berest’s maternal great grandparents) and Noemie and Jacques their children – all killed at Auschwitz. The mysterious postcard is archived by Anne’s mother, Lelia.

Ten years later when Anne is about to give birth to her own daughter she feels a pressing need to hear the story of the line of women who had given birth before her. Lelia starts her blended account of their ancestors based on fact and her theories. By the age of five Anne’s daughter is already aware that Jewish people are treated differently, and this awareness moves Anne to finally solve the mystery of who sent the postcard and why.

[We have a copy of The Postcard in the library]