Welcome to the Sarah's Key Blog !

Tatiana's official website is here, and her Dutch website is online here.

Her USA pages are here. German one here, and Spanish page

You can follow Tatiana on Twitter and join her Facebook pages. 

http://twitter.com/tatianaderosnay

link

Tatiana's new website is HERE

Cliquez ICI pour le nouveau site de Tatiana

English :  FAQ « Sarah’s Key »

Are Sarah and her family based on people who really existed in 1942 ? No, Sarah and her family come straight out of my imagination. But my daughter Charlotte, who was 10 years old when I wrote this book, was a major source of inspiration for Sarah. Sarah’s brother’s destiny is also an event I imagined, although I do believe it could have happened in real life.

Are you Julia Jarmond ? No, although many of my readers think so ! Julia is American, I am half- English, half –French. I have a wonderful husband who has nothing to do with Julia’s arrogant husband, Bertrand ! I do not have a daughter called Zoe, but a son named Louis and a daughter, Charlotte, who are now 19 and 16. The only thing I have in common with Julia is that we are the same age and are both journalists.

How long did it you take to write Sarah’s Key ? It took me one year to research it, two years to write it, and two years to get it published !

What sort of research did you do to write Sarah’s Key? I read everything I could concerning the round-up. (That book list is at the back of Sarah’s Key in its French version, or on the Sarah’s Key Blog.)  I went to Beaune la Rolande and Drancy, several times. And I met Vel d’Hiv survivors, which were unforgettable moments.

How is the movie coming along ? Serge Joncour has finished writing the script and now director Gilles Paquet Brenner is working on the casting and financial aspects. Kristin Scott-Thomas will play Julia Jarmond. I'm thrilled !

What language did you originally write Sarah’s Key in and why  ? I wrote it in English. I felt that writing about such a sensitive French subject would somehow be easier for me if I used my “English” side, which gave me a certain distance. My father is French and my mother is British and I grew up  in France, USA and UK, learning both languages at the same time. All my previous published work is in French, but since Sarah’s Key, I now write in English.

 How many languages has Sarah’s Key been translated into ? I believe it is now 32, which never ceases to amaze me.

 What is your next book about and when will it be published ? Boomerang will be published in 2009, and I wrote it in English. It is the story of a modern man confronted with a dark family truth, and who will meet love in an very unexpected way. It is about love (a first for me !) , death, parents, children and secrets…

Français : Foire aux questions : ‘Elle s’appelait Sarah’

Sarah et sa famille sont-elles basées sur des personnes qui ont vraiment existé en 1942 ? Non, ces personnages sortent tout droit de mon imagination. Mais ma fille Charlotte, qui avait 10 ans au moment où j’ai écrit ce roman, a été mon inspiration principale pour  me permettre de façonner ce personnage.

Est-ce que la petite fille sur la couverture est une enfant du Vel d'Hiv ? Non, il s'agit d'une photographie datant des années 80, prise par une photographe espagnole, Ouka Leele, de l'Agence VU. La petite fille en question, qui est maintenant une jeune femme, s'appelle Ana et vit en Espagne, et n'a rien à voir avec l'histoire du livre. Mais elle a donné son accord pour cette couverture.

Etes vous Julia Jarmond ? Non ! Même si beaucoup de mes lecteurs sont persuadés du contraire ! Julia est Américaine et je suis Franco-Anglaise. J’ai un mari merveilleux qui n’a rien à voir avec l’arrogant Bertrand Tézac, le mari de Julia ! Je n’ai pas de fille qui s’appelle Zoe, mais un fils de 19 ans, Louis, et Charlotte, 16 ans. Le seule chose que j’ai en commun avec Julia c’est que nous avons le même âge et que nous sommes toutes deux journalistes.

 Combien de temps avez-vous mis pour écrire ce roman ? Un an pour les recherches, deux ans d’écriture et deux ans pour le faire publier.

 Comment avez-vous fait vos recherches ?  J’ai lu tout ce que j’ai pu trouver concernant la rafle. (Cette liste de livres est à la fin de mon roman). Je suis allée plusieurs fois à Drancy et à Beaune la Rolande. Et j’ai rencontré des rescapés de la rafle, des moments inoubliables.

Où en est le film ?  Serge Joncour a écrit le scénario avec  Gilles Paquet Brenner, le réalisateur. Le film sera tourné en 2009 avec Kristin Scott Thomas dans le rôle de Julia Jarmond !

Pourquoi avez-vous écrit Elle s’appelait Sarah en anglais ?   Mon père est français, ma mère anglaise, et j’ai appris les deux langues en même temps. J’ai été élevée en France, aux USA et en Angleterre. Tous mes romans précédents sont en français. Mais pour écrire sur ces pages sombres de l’histoire française, je me suis en quelque sorte servie de la distance que me donnait la langue anglaise.  Je ne l'ai pas traduit moi même, car je ne suis pas traductrice, même si je suis bilingue,  et je pense qu'il faut un certain recul sur son propre travail pour  pouvoir se traduire soi même. 

 Elle s’appelait Sarah a été traduit dans combien de langues ? 32, ce qui ne cesse de m’émerveiller.

 De quoi parle votre prochain roman et quand sera-t-il publié ? Boomerang sera publié en 2009. Je l’ai écrit en anglais. C’est l’histoire d’un homme d’aujourd’hui confronté à un sombre secret de famille. Il va rencontrer l’amour d’une façon totalement inattendue. C’est un livre qui parle d’amour (mon premier !) de mort, de parents, d’enfants, et de secrets…

 Tatiana de Rosnay was born on September 28th, 1961 in the suburbs of Paris. She is of English, French and Russian descent.  Her father is French scientist Joël de Rosnay, her grandfather was painter Gaëtan de Rosnay.  Tatiana’s paternal great-grandmother was Russian actress Natalia Rachewskïa, director of the Leningrad Pushkin Theatre from 1925 to 1949.  Tatiana’s mother is English, Stella Jebb, daughter of diplomat Gladwyn Jebb, and  great-great-granddaughter of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the British engineer. Tatiana is also the niece of historian Hugh Thomas.  Tatiana was raised in Paris and then in Boston, when her father taught at MIT in the 70’s. She moved to England in the early 80’s and obtained a Bachelor’s degree in English literature at the University of East Anglia, in Norwich. Returning to Paris in 1984, Tatiana became press attaché for Christie’s and then Paris Editor for Vanity Fair magazine till 1993. Since 1992, Tatiana has published ten novels in France (published at Fayard, Plon and EHO).  Sarah’s Key is her first novel written in her mother tongue, English. Sarah’s Key is to be published in 38 countries and has sold over three million copies worldwide. Kristin Scott-Thomas stars in the movie adaptation by Gilles Paquet-Brenner (2010).  
Tatiana published "A Secret Kept" in September 2010 in the USA. Called "Boomerang" in Europe, this book, written in English, is also an international besteller  published in 15 countries and movie rights have been sold.
Tatiana works as a journalist for French ELLE and the Journal du Dimanche.  She is married and has two children. She lives in Paris with her family. She is France's number one European writer, at number three between Dan Brown and Stephenie Meyer.

Tatiana's website is here : link

A bestseller in Europe, Tatiana de Rosnay's Sarah's Key* opens in Paris, July 1942. Thinking she would be home in a few hours, ten year-old Sarah locks her younger brother in their secret hiding place as the police round up Jews for Stadium Vlodrome d'Hiver, en route to Auschwitz. Sixty years later, American journalist Julia Jarmond is in Paris to investigate the round-up and stumbles onto a trail of family secrets that link her to Sarah.

Book groups all over the world have posted their discussion questions at the Sarah's Key blog site to share. The film rights have been sold to French producer Stéphane Marsil. Tatiana de Rosnay writes for French ELLE. Since 1992, she has published eight novels in French. Sarah's Key is the first written in English.

This "shocking, profoundly moving, and morally challenging story" is highly recommended for book groups that have enjoyed Suite Française. For information on this time period, try Vichy France and the Jews.


Source :
http://www.aadl.org/node/10867

Publication de "Sarah's" Key aux USA chez Saint Martin's Griffin