Harry Bennett Branch Book Discussion via Zoom: The Postcard by Anne Berest

The Postcard by Anne Berest

Considered one of the most acclaimed and beloved French novels of recent years, this enthralling investigation into family secrets tells a poignant tale of mothers and daughters and paints and a vivid portrait of 20th-century Parisian intellectual and artistic life.

It's 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 of a family devastated by the Holocaust and partly restored through the power of storytelling that shatters long-held certainties about Anne's family, her country, and herself.

Registration appreciated.

Join the discussion here at the scheduled time.