The book
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
TIME・NPR・Library Journal・Globe & Mail・Forward Magazine・Lilith・Toronto Star
Anne Berest’s 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 Anne 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.
WINNER OF THE AMERICAN CHOIX GONCOURT PRIZE
WINNER OF THE PRIX RENAUDOT DES LYCÉENS
WINNER OF THE ELLE READERS PRIZE
FINALIST FOR THE GONCOURT PRIZE
FINALIST FOR BOOK CLUB FOR THE NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD
FINALIST FOR FICTION FOR NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD
“Full of suspense and emotion, The Postcard is a quest for origins that plunges us into the darkest hours of European history. A deeply moving book.”—Leïla Slimani, author of The Perfect Nanny
The author
Anne Berest
Anne Berest’s first novel to appear in English, The Postcard (Europa, 2023), was a national bestseller, a Library Journal, NPR, and TIME Best Book of the Year, a Vogue Most Anticipated Book of the Year, winner of the Choix Goncourt Prize, and runner-up for the 2024 Dayton Literary Peace Prize. It was described as “stunning” by Leslie Camhi in The New Yorker, as a “powerful literary work” by Julie Orringer in The New York Times Book Review, and as “intimate, profound, essential” in the pages of ELLE magazine. Her new novel, Gabriële (Europa Editions, 2025) is based on the life of Gabriële Buffet, whose extraordinary impact on 20th century avant-garde art and whose remarkable life have largely been obscured. Berest lives in Paris.
Press
- Apr 27 2024
“I think it's time we get to know this amazing author better.”
— Advanced Reading Copy - Jan 26 2024
“Precise analysis and candid self-disclosure.”
— The Sydney Morning Herald - Dec 6 2023
A Best Book of 2023
— Lilith Magazine - Dec 4 2023
“Best World Literature of 2023.”
— Library Journal - Nov 20 2023
A Best Book of the Year
— NPR - Nov 14 2023
“Must-Read Books of 2023.”
— TIME Magazine