When Anne Berest started work on "The Postcard," she didn't know how the book would end. In fact, she didn't know if there was an end to the secret based on her own household's investigation into the origin of an unusual postcard.

" I was anxious," the French author confesses over a video call throughout her current stay in Los Angeles.

" The investigation took me four years," Berest discusses. "In the book, it's 4 months, however, in truth, it's almost four years."

Related: Sign up for our free newsletter about books, authors, reading and more

The award-winning work of autofiction, initially published in France in 2021 as "La Carte Postale" and recently equated into English by Tina Kover and released by means of Europa Editions on May 16, starts in 2003 with the arrival of a postcard. On it are the names Ephraïm, Emma, Noémi and Jacques, the moms and dads and siblings of Berest's maternal granny, who were killed during the Holocaust. Years later, Berest and her mom, Lélia, embark on a mission to track down who sent out the postcard.

Berest, author of "How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are," composed and investigated "The Postcard" while she and her mother were in the middle of fixing that mystery. "I was thinking to myself, if I do not find the resolution, the readers, they will be furious," Berest recalls.

Berest speculates that not understanding the author of the postcard as she composed is part of what makes the unique work. "It develops something unique in the book," she states.

In seeking out the origins of the postcard, Berest also digs deep into French history, her Jewish origins and how the 2 have intertwined. As "The Postcard" jumps back and forth through time, Berest explores antisemitism in Europe from the early 20th century through the present day and France's role in the Holocaust.

" I'm an author, but I'm not a historian," states Berest. "So, before I wrote the book, I knew what everybody knows."

She checked out books and seen documentaries about the Holocaust. When she discovered something brand-new, she figured that the information might also be brand-new to readers.

" I needed to know how it took place, day after day, in my nation," she states.

The procedure of composing and researching "The Postcard" was likewise a method for Berest to connect with a household history that she previously did not understand well.

" While I was working on my family history, I discovered some unusual coincidences," she states.

For instance, she notes, Berest lives on the very same street as a relative from a previous generation. She describes these coincidences as "undetectable transmissions," things that are unconsciously passed down in between generations.

" It's truly amazing due to the fact that every person I have met who has actually worked on their family tree has actually experienced comparable coincidences. That's why I describe these coincidences as undetectable transmissions and this idea of unnoticeable transmission is among the primary styles of the book."

She adds, "I look into the principle of how forefathers endure within us, even when we have no knowledge about them and even when do not even know their first names."

Berest dealt with the examination that drives the plot with her mother, who is likewise a major character in the novel. "I couldn't have composed the book without all the research study that she made," she states, adding that her mommy had actually invested about two decades developing an archive of papers and info about her household.

" That's why I desired her to be the main character of the book, due to the fact that the book could not exist without her. She was my heroine."

She includes, "It was funny because we made the examination together and we went on like two really bad investigators in the motion pictures, constantly arguing with each other."

During the advertising project in France, Berest's mother joined her for interviews and for talks at schools.

" It was so great since, you understand, it's rarely that you fulfill a character. People are so pleased to meet her since she is so funny and she always wants to smoke cigarettes," she states. "I think, for her, it would have been too difficult in the U.S.A. due to the fact that you can't smoke anywhere."

"I was so moved," Berest states of the discovery. I was so delighted to find the individual."

Underneath the appealing mystery and the wealth of historical info that's packed into "The Postcard," there is a story about maintaining the memory of forefathers.

" When you forget your relatives, they die two times. If you have memories about them, you make them keep alive," states Berest.

" Ancestral cultures teach us how to cope with the dead members of our households. We, the modern-day world, or so-called modern-day world, have actually detached ourselves from our forefathers," Berest includes. "I think it's a very good thing to reconnect with our ghosts."