What a powerful story. I had no idea that the French police participated with Hitler's Nazis to send French Jews to Auchwitz and other camps. The author did a great job in jumping from past to present without losing me. Of course, the whole locked cupboard storyline was gripping and tragic. It made me really hope for the best, while knowing that it wasn't possible that he would be alive.
Julia's deep interest in pursuing Sarah was courageous, as the American "outsider"; however it reaped great rewards as her father-in-law needed to come out with the dark secret he had kept for so long. It was also rewarding to see their relationship enlarge, while her marriage with his son deteriorated. A rather interesting twist at the end to see the connection and desire between Julia and William, but perfectly understandable for Julia to birth a "Sarah" -- out of her deep heartbreak over the past and the end of her life in Paris.
