What readers think of The Postcard, plus links to write your own review.

If you are looking for light entertainment about the Holocaust, "The Postcard" by Anne Berest is not that book. Should you desire something heavy that packs an emotional wallop, look no further. I have learned a lot about Jewish culture, but here we see lively celebrations and abject suffering, the latter making the former all the more tragic and bittersweet.

I needed to consult an AI family tree a few times to ensure I followed correctly. Some ill-fated characters in 1940 recognized the historically significant horrors they were experiencing, and others saw it as an opportunity. Things become real only when they begin to assign barracks and numbers, and the frightened reader recognizes the intense claustrophobia and fear that awaits them.

The storyline goes like this. The Berest family receives a postcard with nothing written but their ancestors' names. The narrator then makes it her mission to find out who sent it and why. The result is a mixture of survivor's guilt and anti-Semitism that most likely affects a large number of Jewish descendants. Judaism, part culture and part religion, carries significant weight in one's identity.

The modern-day narrative becomes a mystery for Anne to solve about the postcard. She tries to determine which family, friends, or neighbors were involved. If you or any of your relatives have gone down the family history rabbit hole before, you will recognize Anne's relentless pursuit of the sad truth and what she finds.

Some characters and sad plotlines happen late in the process, and I found that the ambitious writer had a different moral and lesson, not decreasing the quality, than I anticipated. The ending is chaotic, confusing, and random, but I fear that was accurate for French Jews in 1942. It still amazes me how many stories have come out of this time.

This book is about real people living in a very dangerous and frightening time and place. It includes a mystery but the book does not dwell on a solution; rather a solution naturally evolves. The writing feels immediate and personal.

I have a profound respect for this author who took on researching her family’s Holocaust story. There are so many books written about the Holocaust, but when the story is about a family or just one or two people, it becomes so much more powerful and moving.

An anonymous postcard is delivered to the author’s mother’s home. On the front is photo of an opera house in France and on the backside of the card are the names of four of the author’s relatives who died at Auschwitz in 1942. There is nothing more on the card. The postage stamp is upside down. This card leads the author to start a search for her family’s history as well as to try to find out who sent the card. So there is a bit of mystery in the book.

What was remarkable for me was Anne Berest’s self-discovery about being a Jew and how her family’s trauma was part of her own DNA.

The book is poignant, sad and very moving. I recommend it highly.

It's a very nice and incredible story and it's educational

Well, this book gets interesting the more you read, I've just loved it, and I hope everyone who get to the library reads it.