The Postcard by Anne Berest

Amy    

historical fiction, mystery

A mysterious postcard arrives containing the names of four of Anne Berest’s ancestors who had been killed in the Holocaust. At the time it arrives, the family doesn’t really know what to do with it. But, fifteen years later, Anne decides to solve The Postcard mystery. Anne herself is the protagonist of this tale which, I’m assuming, is based on her real life.

At the start of Anne’s quest, and taking up the first half of the novel, her mother shared all the research she had previously performed to discover exactly what happened to her grandparents, aunt, and uncle during the Holocaust. Their stories illustrated the plight of Jewish people who had no way of predicting the danger that was going to become inescapable in France. They had seen public opinion changing but assumed they’d be safe. And then it became too late to flee the country as restrictions and actions against the Jews became more far-reaching, unavoidable, and deadly.

The second half of the novel described the detective work that Anne performed in an effort to determine who had sent the postcard of family names and why. Her strategies involved onsite visits in her great grandparents’ old neighborhood, interviewing some experts as well as old friends of her ancestors, and a bit of luck. Anne did eventually solve the mystery of the postcard. Meanwhile, in the midst of gaining understanding of her ancestors’ lives, she discovered her own priorities and identity. 

I enjoyed the feeling of authenticity of Anne’s search efforts. It was a challenge locating records and information which had been purposely destroyed, hidden, and/or made misleading in order to cover up atrocities and protect the guilty. All the books I’ve read about the Holocaust usually take the reader back to the point of view of the people living through it, rather than a current viewpoint attempting to look back for answers. Perhaps this is because most people killed in the Holocaust had no survivors to search for their truths. But I appreciated this fresh story perspective as well as the homage Berest paid to her ancestors by sharing details of their lives, dreams, and struggles.

The audiobook was narrated by Barrie Kealoha and she did a great job, especially considering there were plenty of difficult pronunciations including Hebrew and Yiddish words and names. I’ll give her an A-.