What was the Vel d'Hiv Roundup mentioned in this book?

Beginning at 4:00 a.m. on the 16th of July 1942, 13,152 Jews were arrested according to records of the Préfecture de police, of which 5,802 were women and 4,051 were children. An unknown number of people were warned by the French Resistance or hidden by neighbors, deliberate or accidental, some policemen escaped being rounded-up. Conditions for the arrested were harsh. They could take only a blanket, a sweater, a pair of shoes and two shirts with them. Most families were split-up and never reunited. They were taken to wait in a window-less building with no food or water, or bathrooms for 4 days.

After arrest, some Jews were taken by bus to an internment camp in an incomplete complex of apartments and apartment towers in the northern suburb of Drancy. Others were taken to the Vélodrome d'hiver in the 15th arrondissement, which had already been used as a prison in a roundup in the summer of 1941.

This picture shows the internment camp at Drancy, outside Paris, where Jews were confined until they were deported to the death camps.

My favorite character!

My favorite character in this book was Sarah. She was the young Jewish girl in the story. What made me like her so much was that she showed so much bravery and courage throughout her story. She managed to escape a concentration camp with another young girl and went back to Paris, France to save her baby brother although it was too late. Her story ended halfway through the book, but it was definitely my favorite part to read. I know I would have never been able to do half the things that she did, therefore she is my favorite!

What this book is based on.

This book is pretty much a combination of two stories in one. One is based on a young Jewish girl named Sarah during the Jewish round-up in Paris, France in 1942. The other story is on an American journalist who lives in France in 2002 and somehow discovers the story of Sarah and how her life connects to it. After investigating her story, it helps her figure out her life and ask herself if her husband is worth staying with.