Anne Berest

Anne Berest is the bestselling co-author of How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are and the writer of Sagan, Paris, 1954, a novel based on the life of French writer Françoise Sagan. With her sister Claire, she is also the author of Gabriële, a critically acclaimed biography of her great-grandmother, Gabriële Buffet-Picabia, Marcel Duchamp’s lover and muse. Berest is the great-granddaughter of the painter Francis Picabia. For her work as a writer and prize-winning showrunner, she has been profiled in publications such as French Vogue and Haaretz newspaper. The recipient of numerous literary awards, The Postcard was a finalist for the Goncourt Prize and has been a long-selling bestseller in France.

Instagram: @anneberest

FESTIVAL BOOK

The Postcard

<blockquote>Full of suspense and emotion, The Postcard is a quest for origins that plunges us deep into the darkest hours of European history. A deeply moving book.” – Leila Slimani</blockquote>
The Postcard is among the most acclaimed and beloved French novels of recent years. Luminous and gripping to the very last page, it is an enthralling investigation into family secrets, a poignant tale of mothers and daughters, and a vivid portrait of twentieth-century Parisian intellectual and artistic life.

January, 2003. Together with the usual holiday cards, an anonymous postcard is delivered to the Berest family home. On the front, a photo of the Opéra Garnier in Paris. On the back, the names of Berest’s maternal great-grandparents, Ephraïm and Emma, and their children, Noémie and Jacques – all killed at Auschwitz.

Fifteen years after the postcard is delivered, Anne, the heroine of this novel, is moved to discover who sent it and why. Aided by her chain-smoking mother, family members, friends, associates, a private detective, a graphologist, and many others, she embarks on a journey to discover the fate of the Rabinovitch family: their flight from Russia following the revolution, their journey to Latvia, Palestine, and Paris. What emerges is a moving saga of a family devastated by the Holocaust and partly restored through the power of storytelling that shatters long-held certainties about Anne’s family, her country, and herself.

GET THE BOOK

<a href="https://store.shelflifebooks.ca/item/Pj45Rc-0JmOtL__fszO6Vg">Shelf Life Books</a> | <a href="https://calgary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S95C1513366">Calgary Public Library</a> | <a href="https://www.audible.ca/pd/The-Postcard-Audiobook/B0C2JCWW5V?qid=1689971854&sr=1-2&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_2&pf_rd_p=b278ed0a-c3b2-4491-808c-7cb2190a487c&pf_rd_r=09EY3B64AWYH4HPE9GN5&pageLoadId=fzHE1B0EGQroPQip&creativeId=0d6f6720-f41c-457e-a42b-8c8dceb62f2c">Audible</a>

BE CURIOUSER
<ul>
<li>Podcast: Anne Berest on diving into her history for The Postcard – <a href="https://lithub.com/anne-berest-on-diving-into-her-history-for-the-postcard/">The Literary Life with Mitchell Kaplan</a></li>
<li>Radio: Anne Berest's novel traces her family history and leads back to the Holocaust – <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/05/13/1176001764/anne-berests-novel-traces-her-family-history-and-leads-back-to-the-holocaust">NPR</a></li>
<li>The Anonymous Postcard That Inspired a French Best-Seller – <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/persons-of-interest/the-anonymous-postcard-that-inspired-a-french-best-seller">The New Yorker</a></li>
<li>An Autobiographical Novel Reclaims a Jewish History in Occupied France – <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/16/books/review/anne-berest-the-postcard.html">The New York Times</a></li>
<li>An eerie piece of mail leads to a family mystery – <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/05/16/postcard-anne-berest-review/">The Washington Post</a></li>
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