JCO Book Club

On a cold day in January 2003, Anne Berest’s mother, Lélia, went out to gather the mail and found, tucked among the junk mail and New Year’s greetings, an anonymous postcard. It had a picture of the Opéra Garnier in Paris on one side, and, on the other, four names, written in an awkward, unfamiliar script. Lélia recognized the names: her grandfather, his wife Emma; and two of their three children, Noémie and Jacques. They were Jews who, in 1942, had been deported from France and then murdered at Auschwitz.

As it happened, Lélia was about to give oral testimony in a legal case, seeking compensation from the French state for property that had been confiscated from her family during the war. Had the postcard been sent as an act of remembrance, or was it a warning to her, to cease and desist?

From this true event writer Anne Berest weaves a gripping novel that explores themes of identity, memory, and the enduring impact of the past.

Attendance is free of charge. 

Feel free to come early with a bag lunch at 11:30 to schmooze and eat before the discussion begins.