Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay is a New York Times Bestseller and needs no promotion from me. The book is written with two points of view. One is that of a young Jewish child - set in 1940s France. The other view is that of a contemporary American woman married to a French man. I love this technique of two narrators, but it is a complicated approach that needs a skilled writer. Maybe someday, I'd like to try it. I'm going to watch out for this type of writing. Suggestions welcomed.
The other recently read book is Best Friends Forever by Beverly Patt. It's for kids. Again this is a war story. (Why, does that horrible war continue to interest us so much?) It also has two points of view. The publisher, Marshall Cavendish, has done an amazing job with the layout. The book imitates a scrapbook filled with mementos and photos that a young girl collects over the course of a year or so. Letters between the two adolescent girls move the story forward. When one girl is sent to a Japanese detention camp, both struggle to understand why. Their friendship endures and grows. There's a bibliography at the back to continue researching this topic.
Historical fiction is for all age groups. It's a great way to try and understand the incomprehensible. By fictionalizing the past, it becomes personable. I think this is what attracts the readers. Don't we all want to get inside the heads of the people who lived, because of the quirks of time, out-of-the-ordinary lives?
3 comments:
That's my goal too! To write from more than one POV in a book. I just finished Belong to Me (adult) where there are several POVs. Hey, Gabe, have you thought about putting up a My Town Monday post on a regular basis? You could post about Manitoba in general. I think it'd be really interesting!
Thanks for that suggestion, Barrie. I just might try that.
Gabe, I'm hosting My Town Monday tomorrow. If you do put up a post, let me know (in my comments section is probably the easiest way), and I'll link to your post from my blog and from the My Town Monday blog. Personally, I'd love to learn more about Manitoba, and I think you're just the writer to do it. ;)
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