The Postcard

By: Anne Berest, Tina Kover - translator

Narrated by: Barrie Kealoha

"A deeply moving book." — LEILA SLIMANI

***

"A work of rare grace and importance." — THE GUARDIAN

In January 2003, the Berest family receive a mysterious, unsigned postcard. On one side was an image of the Opéra Garnier; on the other, the names of their relatives who were killed in Auschwitz: Ephraïm, Emma, Noémie and Jacques.

Years later, Anne sought to find the truth behind this postcard. She journeys 100 years into the past, tracing the lives of her ancestors from their flight from Russia following the revolution, their journey to Latvia, Palestine, and Paris, the war and its aftermath. What emerges is a thrilling and sweeping tale based on true events that shatters her certainties about her family, her country, and herself.

At once a gripping investigation into family secrets, a poignant tale of mothers and daughters, and an enthralling portrait of 20th-century Parisian intellectual and artistic life, The Postcard tells the story of a family devastated by the Holocaust and yet somehow restored by love and the power of storytelling.

©2023 Anne Berest (P)2023 Europa Editions (UK) Ltd.

Critic reviews

"A powerful exploration of family trauma." —LAUREN ELKIN