The Postcard

This single-chapter section bridges much of Books 1 and 2 and captures the themes of Inherited Trauma and Survivor’s Guilt, as Anne and Claire both feel they embody their lost relatives. Book 1 details the Rabinovitch family’s history along Ephraïm’s line, concluding with the survival of only one heir—Myriam. Book 2 follows Anne and Lélia as they search for answers about their deceased relatives. Finally, in Book 3, Anne acknowledges the trauma, the inherited pain of her great grandparents, and the burden of being a survivor’s heir. She and her sister discuss their place in the lineage, their inheritance as survivor’s offspring, and their burdens.

While Anne hunts for answers, something else is hunting her: Juxtaposed atop the search is a reverse saga in which Anne is followed by her past. She is powerless to change history, and yet the burden is ever-present. She is Myriam in many ways, though she wants desperately to be free of that obligation. She wants to be her own person, not Myriam reincarnated. Likewise, Claire claims that she has finally shed her second skin as Noémie, emerging fully liberated from the burden of living a life that Noémie was deprived of. The sisters both shed this responsibility and burden and find allies in each other, renewing their bond and promises to be more than the legacies of their relatives to each other. This, sadly, was not possible for Myriam and Noémie, who were at odds when Noémie was taken away. Their relationship did not last long enough to be repaired, but Claire and Anne come together. In this way, a wound from the past is finally healed in the contemporary generation, demonstrating some mending of Inherited Trauma.