"Mudbound" written by Hillary Jordan

Life in the Mississippi delta circa the late 1940s was not an easy one - especially for the McAllan and Jackson families. The Jacksons are sharecroppers on farm property recently purchased by the McAllans. There is a symbiotic relationship between the families - they need each other to survive. Farming in the delta is a harsh life for Laura McAllan who is college educated and used to more genteel surroundings. World War II has just ended and prejudice (between the races, between the sexes, between the classes) is abundant in the delta. The Jackson's oldest son, Ronsel, returns home after fighting on the German front only to find the war of prejudice he left behind still raging. Ronsel and his family come to realize that sometimes we simply have to fight against injustice and that sometimes, we have to do something "wrong" to make things right.

Hillary Jordan creates memorable characters that are very believable and transforms their individual stories into something larger than themselves. It is a bittersweet tale about the human condition and our capacity to love and to hate. It is about the transforming power of love and as Laura tells us in the second chapter, "The truth isn't so simple. Death may be inevitable, but love is not. Love, you have to choose". We have the power of free will to choose how to live our lives - whether to hate or to love, to fight or walk away, to cheat or be faithful. Part of the human condition is making those choices and living (or dying) with them.

I personally enjoy hearing the same story told from different viewpoints and thought that Hillary Jordan used this convention very successfully. Each of the characters has a distinct and interesting voice- I looked forward to hearing from every one of them. I found Mudbound to be a compelling read and highly recommend it for a great book club discussion.

"Sarah's Key" written by Tatiana DeRosnay

When a friend suggested I read Sarah’s Key by Tatiana DeRosnay, my initial response was (simply because I have read so many books about this topic) oh no, not another book about WWII and the holocaust. But, despite my initial reaction I read it and am very glad I did. What truly impresses me is that with every book of this genre that I read, I can honestly say that I learn something new about that period of history that I didn’t know. From the opening sentence “The girl [Sarah] was the first to hear the loud pounding on the door” I couldn’t put Sarah's Key down.

The novel is set in WWII France and explores yet another unfathomable atrocity of the holocaust – the Vel’d’hiver. On July 16th, 1942 the French police (yes, the local French gendarme) conducted a well thought out round-up of French Jewish families in the middle of Paris. The round-up was conducted by the French authorities and it was the first time they took entire families including women, infants and children. The fact that this atrocity was conducted by their local police brought the moral dilemma of the holocaust to the hearts and minds of ordinary Parisians for the first time. I won’t give the horrific details of what happened – suffice it to say that if you had no knowledge of history you just wouldn't believe it could happen.

DeRosnay engages the reader with some very likable characters and very a compelling story. She cleverly interweaves of the stories of Sarah, her family and the Vel’d’hiver with the story of Julie, an American expatriate journalist married to a French man and living in modern day Paris. Although the parallel plot is a bit contrived, the convergence of the story lines makes for a very compelling read and an interesting group discussion. Overall, I enjoyed Sarah's Key for a fast read and a great book club pick.