A deeply felt THANK YOU to @europaeditions and @netgalley for a copy of this book.
This book is part history and part fiction that blends together beautifully. I am a huge fan of World War 2 books and enjoyed this one immensely. The beginning of the book contains the names of many characters and can be overwhelming, however a friend of mine who had read it told me not to give up and so, I continued on. I am so glad that I did.
The Postcard is a deeply moving story of family tragedy and loyalties both in the present and during a terribly disturbing time in the history of the world. There are both terrible times and happy family memories.
I LOVED this one!

This novel was a huge hit in France and has now been translated into English by Tina Kover. It follows a woman as she searches throughout France to find out who has sent her a postcard with the names of her relatives that were killed in the Holocaust written on it. What follows is a sweeping account created through the passed on memories of a French Jewish family's fate during the Holocaust. It touches on so many aspects of French history at the time, from the deportation of Jews, to the French Resistance, to the fate of intellectuals. Through one family tree the entirety of France's occupied history finds itself chronicled, in all its infamy and heroism. It also reveals how the past is not anywhere on earth, but inside us, and travels, dropping its mysterious seeds in our psyches, speaking to us from beyond the grave.

Wonderful book, part memoir, part historical fiction. This is the story of the Rabinovitch family, who left Russia and travelled to Poland, Palestine, France and elsewhere. Specifically it is the story of one branch of the family. In 2003, a postcard arrives at the home of Lelia, daughter of Myriam, and addressed to Myriam. It lists 4 names: Miriam’s parents, her brother and sister, all killed in Auschwitz’. For 15 years, the postcard sits in a drawer until, Anne, Myriam’s granddaughter decides to learn the story of her family.

I read a lot of WW2 books. Whether it's fiction, non-fiction, or memoirs, I feel like I've covered so many aspects of the war and the people involved. Reading The Postcard, however, made me realise there will always be new depths, greater heartache, and ongoing generational grief; the subject can never be fully told. 'The uniqueness of this catastrophe lay in the paradox of its insidious slowness and viciousness. Looking back, everyone wondered why they hadn't reacted sooner...'.

After receiving a mysterious postcard, listing the names of four family members who died in Auschwitz, questions begin to be asked. Despite burying the postcard in a drawer, to be forgotten, it was too late to smother the burning question: why? Painstaking research pieces together the life of these four family members, whose journey just began when they were forced to flee their Russian homeland after the Revolution. 'You must understand something. One day, they'll want us all to disappear.

This book is biographical fiction but really more like a saga; stories within stories. Lifetimes. It was cruel, it was heartbreaking, it was mystifying, it was redemptive. Most of all it was educational in the stark reality of what was and what still is. The absolute horror of concentration camps and knowing your neighbour may have betrayed you or, have been complicit in their silence as your relatives were rounded up for transportation is hard to reconcile. Harder still, is knowing that this abomination of history has not resolved, nor even diminished racism and hate. The inter-generational collateral damage persists. It is our collective responsibility to never forget or, 'there will be no one left to remember that they ever existed.' I recommend this book to anyone.

5★
Moscow, April 1919
“Nachman picked up a small pencil and moistened its tip between his lips. His eyes still fixed on his children and grandchildren, he added, ‘Now, I’m going to go around the table. And I want each of you—every one of you, do you hear me?—to give me a destination. I will go and buy steamer tickets for everyone. You must leave the country within the next three months; is that understood? Bella, I’ll begin with you—it’s simple; you’re coming with us. I’ll write it down: Bella, Haifa, Palestine. Ephraïm?’
. . .
Before closing the dining room door, Nachman asked them all to think carefully, concluding, ‘You must understand something. One day, they’ll want us all to disappear.’”

More than 90 years later, an anonymous postcard is delivered to a woman in Paris. There is no return address, but there is a roughly written list of four names printed on the back.

“ Then she read the four names, written in the form of a list. Ephraïm Emma Noémie Jacques They were the names of her maternal grandparents, her aunt, and her uncle. All four had been deported two years before she was born. They died in Auschwitz in 1942. And now, sixty-one years later, they had reappeared in our mailbox. It was Monday, January 6, 2003.”

I’m not sure if there’s a genre called fictional biography or not, but that’s what this is. The author is the daughter of the woman who received the postcard, and while she’s curious about it, it’s not until her little girl asks questions many years later that she feels compelled to follow it up.

The family story begins early in the book as historical fiction, which I was surprised to find less engaging than I expected. The family moved several times, trying to stay ahead of the growing hounding and victimisation of Jews, who were considered ‘the other’ or outsiders, no matter where they’d been born or how long they’d lived there.

If a country or politician needed a scapegoat, Jews were handy and accepted by the rest of the general public. Paris became unsafe, but many in the Jewish community hoped the French would stick by them.

It became more interesting to me as the investigation ramped up and the relationship between mother and daughter was featured. Anne has a six-year-old daughter of her own, Clara, whom her mother picks up from school on Mondays so they can spend some time together.

“ ‘Grandma, are you Jewish?’
‘Yes, I’m Jewish.’
‘And Grandpa, too?’
‘No, he isn’t Jewish.’
‘Oh. Is Maman Jewish?’
‘Yes.’
‘So I am, too?’
‘Yes, you are, too.’
‘Okay, that’s what I thought.’
‘Why are you making that face, sweetheart?’
‘I really don’t like what you just said.’
‘But why?’
‘They don’t like Jews very much at school.’ ”

When Lélia calls her daughter later to tell her of the conversation, she struggles to speak. She is a chain-smoker and all of her movements and speech are interrupted and punctuated by lighting of cigarettes, sometimes stalling for time. When she finally manages to tell Anne of Clara’s questions, Anne is beside herself with anxiety.

“From that moment onward, I was on the case. I wanted to find the author of the anonymous postcard my mother had received sixteen years earlier, whatever it took. The idea of finding the culprit became an obsession. I had to understand why that card had been sent.”

Her mother still has the card. Determined to track down the sender and the reason for the card, Anne leads the hunt, beginning with helping her mother unpack and unpick the childhood memories she has hidden from herself.

My Goodreads review includes a photo of the actual postcard, front and back

Their detective work is amazing – there is so little to go on. They study every mark on the card, the stamp, the postmark, the shapes of the letters, and they contact everyone they can think of who knew or might have known some member of the Rabinovitch family. They travel in person to visit, to question, to compare Lélia’s memories with what they can see today.

Once I was caught up in the story, I was completely hooked. I really thought they were grasping at straws – and whatever other cliché you can think of about a hopeless cause – but never underestimate the power of women like these or a family like theirs.

If you’re a recently reformed smoker, you may have trouble with Lélia’s non-stop chimney effect and the frequent references to needing to unfug the car when they’re driving. [My word – seemed apt].

Terrific biography and fiction and history that deserves the accolades it’s getting. Thanks to NetGalley and Europa Editions for the copy for review.

Below is the source of the photo I used plus an excellent article and a couple of family photos.
https://english.elpais.com/culture/2023-02-01/a-mysterious-card-delivered-in-the-mail-inspires-french-best-seller-the-postcard.html

Even though this book is a novel, I felt like a gained so much information relating to this part of history. Hearing this history from the perspectives of people living through it and their descendants made it more relevant and even more heart-wrenching. I had to keep reminding myself that the book is identified as fiction, and I have no idea what is true and what is not. The mystery of the postcard adds an element that causes this book to be genre bending.

The Postcard – Anne Berest (translated from French by Tina Kover)

Thanks to @europaeditions and @netgalley for a copy of this one!

So, this book went from boring me to being one of my favourite reads of the year, one that I hope people pick up and read. Let me try and explain.

“The Postcard” is a piece of auto-fiction, spawned by the arrival of a postcard in 2003, unsigned with just four names on the back: Ephraïm, Emma, Jacques and Noémie. All of these were members of Anne’s family, the Rabinovitch family, and all were taken to Auschwitz to have their lives extinguished in the Holocaust. The mysterious nature of the arrival, coupled with the author’s dearth of knowledge of her own Jewishness, leads to exploring the origins of the card and her family history.

What follows is split roughly 50-50 between the life of the Rabinovitches and the present. The start focuses on the family moving west from Russia, ending up in France amid rising anti-Semitism. If I’m honest, this part of the book didn’t grab me, as the author’s reconstruction of their lives felt dry and didn’t work for me. I was on the point of not continuing, until…

…we got to Anne in the present (or 2003 at least), and her family living in France amid rising anti-Semitism. Anne remembers racial attacks as a child that she didn't understand, and has to now deal with her daughter being insulted for her race at school. This clashes with Anne’s insecurity over her heritage – there’s an awkward scene with her boyfriend and a family meal, for example – and she seems to feel a sense of loss at this culture that her family gave their lives for.

As she digs deeper into history, I got drawn in, and I came away with a deep admiration for the research and construction that Berest has managed here, a thought-provoking study into the nature of the past, how it ripples through lives in the present and leaves trauma affecting us all. A vivid portrait of years of Jewish life in France, a personal memoir of searching for identity, and a mystery novel all wrapped up into one. Highly recommended, it moved me in ways that I didn’t expect when I started, very happy I stuck with it.

I don't read a lot of WWII books. As a Jewish woman, I feel like often the only time people are exposed to Jews are in Holocaust narratives, but we are still here, and I usually like to use my platform to discuss other narratives. The Postcard, however, is absolutely the best of both these worlds. Especially in this time of rising antisemitism in France and everywhere, it's important to remind everyone of the the complexities of identity and oppression.

I personally love autofiction, and it works so well in this book, as Berest is able to show her own thoughts and feelings as a researcher while also bringing a human element to her ancestors and other figures in the narrative. I did sometimes wonder how much of this was factually correct, but as they say, truth really is stranger than fiction, so it's not so hard to believe.

For me, the power of this book is seeing how Jewish identity has made a resurgence in this family, and that Berest and her daughter are living lives as proud Jews in France, telling this story of horrendous violence and loss but with the knowledge they are still here. As the final line of the novel reads, "I can't forget them. If I do, there will be no one left to remember that they ever existed." Yasher Koach to Myriam, to Lelia, and to Anne, for telling the story of the Rabinovitches so that none of us will ever forget they existed.

A fascinating family story, an intimate view of a deplorable era, and the lasting ramifications for generations still living. The writing is disturbingly flat, however.

This is a really interesting and moving story, but the way it was told didn’t quite do it for me. Anne Berest is grappling with some huge questions about history, identity, and intergenerational trauma, and the dénouement was powerful. I found Anne and Lélia’s investigations the most interesting and poignant; the family history often felt perfunctory and a bit dry. I understand that this is a function of the lack of available information, piecing together information through archival scraps, but nonetheless it did feel uneven to me.

Well written & deeply felt The Postcard will compel readers who enjoy Holocaust fiction & generational stories.

The first 40% constructed of Holocaust recollections describing how four related Russian Jews, ended up in Nazi occupied France to fall victim at Auschwitz, detailed descriptions of authentic horrors included.

Most of the remainder is memoir as Berest reckons with her Jewish History. I was compelled by the process of recovery: identity, property, family connection. A process I’ve spent too little time considering for all my study of the war. How to rebuild a stolen family history when the community collaborates to bury the truth in part because of their complicity. The hidden horror as survivors attempt to move on burdened by the guilt of their survival and the community's indifference. The tragedy of visiting a home, discovering personal family artifacts and legally not having any recourse to claim them.

Reviewing this is hard. As a former teacher of history, autofiction is a struggle for me. I don’t like the edge smearing. I want to know what part is fiction and how much is fiction. This is absolutely a me problem. Also, while the postcard in question is a catalyst for recovering history and family information, I didn’t find it to be the literary thriller some describe it as. It is too personal, too intimate, too visceral to be viewed as a fictional thriller in my opinion.

Thanks to Netgalley.

This is the best book I have read in 2023. I will not go into a lengthy retelling of the novel as so many reviewers do. It begins with a mysterious postcard, but it is not a dual timeline about a female finding a picture or a letter and going in search of its origins. . It is a family story that is told through the search for the author of a mysterious postcard. The story encompasses 5 generations and crosses 2 continents. It tells the effect of the horrors of WW2 and the Holocaust on one family made up of secular and practicing Jews. It is a compelling and powerful read.

A meaty and emotional historical novel - I found myself so invested in the lives of this family, they were characters I really came to care about and sympathise with deeply. Despite the emotionally weighty and serious subject matter, there were moments of joy and hope which came through, and solving the mystery of the postcard sender made me really want to keep reading, even through the more painful scenes.

In January 2003, an unsigned postcard is delivered to the Berest home with a picture of the Opera Garnier in Paris addressed to the author’s late grandmother. Handwritten, on the back of the postcard were four names – Ephraïm, Emma, Jacques, and Noémie – the names of four members of the Rabinovitch family, all of whom lost their lives during the Holocaust at Auschwitz. Ephraïm and Emma were the parents of Anne’s grandmother Myriam who was the only member of the Rabinovitch family who survived the Holocaust. However, that traumatic era in family history was seldom discussed at the Berest home and though Anne and her mother were Jewish, faith did not play a significant role in Anne’s upbringing. In fact, after the postcard arrived, it was filed away without much thought given to it. This novel is inspired by the author’s investigation of her family’s history.

Fifteen years later, after an uncomfortable Passover gathering at a friend's home and an unfortunate incident with her six-year-old daughter at school, Anne begins to ponder over her family history and more importantly her identity as a Jew. She recalls the postcard with the names of her ancestors and decides to use that as a starting point for research realizing that by understanding her painful family history and the struggles her mother and grandmother endured will she be able to begin to understand her legacy and how it has impacted her life. What follows is an in-depth exploration of the history of the Rabinovich family spanning four generations from 1918-19 to the present day. Anne’s research begins with whatever information she can glean from her mother, existing documentation and her mother’s own research into Myriam’s family. Anne’s journey is one of looking backward in an effort to move forward.

Meticulously researched, informative and insightful, thought-provoking and profoundly moving, <b>The Postcard </b>by <b>Anne Berest</b> (translated by <b>Tina Kover</b> from the original French) is the story of a family, the story of war-torn Europe, the Holocaust and the story of survival and generational trauma. The author also explores anti-Semitism both in the context of the Holocaust as well as in contemporary times. The narrative moves between past and present with the past timeline tracing the family history beginning in the pre-WWII years and how Ephraim and Emma moved their family from Russia to Latvia, with a few years in Palestine, and finally, France from where they were deported to Auschwitz, where they perished in 1942. The author vividly describes the oppression of Jews in Nazi-occupied France and the atrocities exacted upon the Jewish population per the dictates of the Nazi regime. Myriam’s story in the later years of the war gives us a glimpse into the Resistance movement in France and the post-war years after the liberation of the concentration camps. Much of what we learn of Myriam's later life is from memories shared by Lelia. The present-day timeline follows Anne and Lelia as they leave no stone unturned in trying to track down the identity of the person who sent the postcard. The author skillfully weaves the different timelines and characters into a gripping and well-paced narrative. Part –memoir, part historical fiction, this is an important book that I would not hesitate to recommend. A must-read for fans of historical fiction who appreciate stories based on true events.

Many thanks to Europa Editions and NetGalley for the digital review copy of this extraordinary novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

The Postcard by Anne Berest was written with love, curiosity, determination, strength, and for the main purpose of discovery. Anne Berest’s novel was based on the true story of her own family. It was one of the most moving and powerful books I have read about the Holocaust in a very long time. The writing was painfully honest and yet exquisite. The Postcard was divided into four parts and alternated between narratives that seamlessly wove the past and present together. Included were authentic reactions and commentary from ordinary citizens of Paris in reference to their reactions when they came face to face with the “deportees” as they returned to Paris after the camps were liberated. Never in all the books that I have read about the Holocaust have I read such brutally raw and frank comments expressed. It was so obvious that the atrocities that the Nazis inflicted upon the “deportees “ were not known or acknowledged until that point. The scene of a young child being reunited with her mother, a “surviving deportee” was heart wrenching. So many scenes like these were included and broke my heart.

Although Anne was the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, her grandmother’s story was never revealed to her or to Anne’s mother, Lelia. Anne’s grandmother, Myriam, carried too much guilt about her own survival to share any details about her life and the family she lost at the hands of the French authorities and the Nazis with anyone. So many aspects of Myriam’s life remained a complete mystery to her family. Myriam kept them bottled deep inside her. When Myriam died, Anne’s mother, Lelia, archived all the pictures and scraps of information she could find about Myriam’s life. Lelia conducted her own research about these family members and when Anne was near the end of her pregnancy and required bed rest she invited Anne to her home on the pretext of taking care of her. It was at that time that Anne learned about the fates of her great grandfather Ephriam, great grandmother Emma, aunt Noemie, and uncle Jacques Rabinovitch. They had all perished at Auschwitz in 1942. Anne had never known about these family members. Gaining this knowledge, triggered a memory in Anne’s mind.

Back in January of 2003, Anne’s family retrieved their mail from there far from new mailbox one day. As the family sat together at the table that day, one piece of mail stood out among all the rest. It was a postcard. On the front of the postcard was a picture of the Opera Garnier in Paris and on the back printed in a very distinctive style of handwriting were four names printed one under the other. The names were Ephriam, Emma, Noemie and Jacques. Perhaps one of the most puzzling things about the postcard was that it was not signed by anyone. Who could have sent this postcard to their family and why? Anne’s mother put the postcard away and no one thought about it for years.

After hearing about the lives and fates of her great grandparents, aunt and uncle, an old memory awoke in Anne. She remembered the postcard and was determined to find out who had sent it to her family and why. It was now 2019 and fifteen years had passed since the postcard had been delivered to them. Anne recruited help from her mother, other family members, friends, a private investigator, a graphologist and others to aid her search. She traveled and visited places where her family members had resided by herself and with their mother. Anne was determined to discover who sent that ominous postcard but also was determined to uncover the fate of her family members during World War II and the Holocaust as they made their way from Russia to Latvia, to Palestine, to Paris.

Anne also explored her “Jewishness “ throughout The Postcard and the rise of antisemitism reawakening right before her eyes. Although Anne was Jewish by birth, her family had never been religious or had they observed Jewish holidays. For all her life, she was more secular than religious. As a granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, religion was not a priority in her life. It wasn’t until Anne was invited to a Passover Seder by the man she was dating that she realized how little she knew about being Jewish. At that time she was both embarrassed and ashamed at her lack of familiarity with the customs and holidays of the Jewish people. Upon further reflection, Anne decided to admit her family’s history to the man she cared deeply about. Once he understood her upbringing and the reasons behind it there was a new feeling of respect between them. As for antisemitism, her young daughter experienced those issues on the playground one day while attending public school. Anne’s young daughter was wise beyond her years. Through a pointed conversation with the person who conveyed those feelings to her daughter, the misunderstanding was remedied. Anne did bring it to the attention of her daughter’s school as well.

The Postcard by Anne Berest was an historical investigation that brought closure and clarity to one family. It was a sweeping family saga and brought with it the guilt and shame survivors of the Holocaust experienced. Vividly portrayed in The Postcard was also the active participation and antisemitism that the Vichy government openly displayed toward the Jews that lived in France during and after WWII. The Postcard was an impressive undertaking. It was captivating and so important. In my opinion, it is an essential read for all. It was about family, memories, loss, guilt, survival, hope, loyalty, love, identity and home. The ending was fitting and hopeful. I cannot recommend this book enough.

Thank you to Europa Editions for allowing me to read The Postcard by Anne Berest through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thank you to the author, Europa Editions and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a powerful and heartbreaking plunge into one family's history, entwined with Vichy France's deeply disturbing and brutal history during WWII and their treatment of the Jewish people. At the same time, it's a personal and intimate story of one secular Jewish woman in the present day, searching for answers about her cultural identity. When the two strands intertwine during the author's search for answers behind a mysterious postcard sent to her mother 20 years ago, it becomes apparent that history truly does repeat itself - the same latent anti-semitism that led to the Holocaust is rearing its head again today. This is at times a harrowing, but extraordinary book. Read it!

An enveloping read about a mysterious sent to a French family with the names of four of their relatives who perished at Auschwitz. Anne, the main character, sets out to solve who sent it and why, leading readers down the paths tracing her family history.
I think it’s a novel, although at times it was like reading non-fiction.
It’s a good story, but there’s lots of sadness.

With THE POSTCARD, Anne Berest shares the story of a postcard with the names of four members of her family who died in Auschwitz. Beautifully written, this powerful story resonates with the power of love, family, loyalty, and home in a world gone crazy. I felt transported to the world she describes in beautiful prose, lyrical descriptions, the simplicity conveying a genuine classic story. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

The Postcard is unlike anything I’ve read before. It’s the translation of the award-winning French autofiction, La carte postale, based on the true story Anne Berest’s ancestors, the Rabinovitch family.

A postcard with no return address arrives to Anne's family home in 2003 baring the names of the four Rabinovitchs who died in the Holocaust; Ephraïm, Emma, Noémie, and Jacques.

Years later, Anne's curiosity about the mysterious postcard is sparked, and she sets out on an epic journey to uncover who could have possibly known her family after the war. With the help of her mother Lélia, a detective, graphologist, and several others, she’s able to piece together the life stories and fates of her ancestors.

It's here she finds out more about Noémie and Jacques, who both died at Auschwitz, the former a promising young writer, and whose notebooks she comes in possession of. She learns more about her grandmother, Myriam, a courageous woman who fled with her husband Vicente Picabia, the son of French resistance member Gabrièle Buffet-Picabia. All the while, Anne is drawing closer to her own identity as a Jewish woman.

With alternating narratives from the 30s to present day, Berest’s latest is a staggering accomplishment. The Postcard is rich with detail, deeply moving, and is an absolute must-read.

What a fantastic book in translation! Overall, I really enjoyed this one. It is part history, part mystery and it was very engaging. I enjoyed the changing points of view as that kept is feeling really fresh. Yes, it is a novel of WWII, but it is so much more than that.