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André
Son of Richard Rainsferd and Sarah Starzynski. When Julia first meets him, William is living in Lucca, Italy, with his wife, Francesca, and their daughters, Stefania and Giustina. William is described as being very handsome and sharing his mother’s eyes, which are “turquoise and slanted.” When she meets with William to discuss Sarah, Julia finds that William knows nothing about his mother’s past. He believes Sarah’s maiden name was Dufaure and that she grew up in Orléans. William becomes extremely angry, telling Julia to keep “the whole story” to herself and ordering her not to contact him again. Eventually, William turns up at Julia’s apartment in Paris. Having discovered his mother’s journal, along with the key to the secret cupboard in which his uncle Michel died, William is finally ready to hear what Julia has to say. By the end of the novel, William, like Julia, is divorced and living in New York City. The novel closes with the image of William and Julia clasping hands and crying together in a coffee shop.
William Rainsferd Quotes in Sarah’s Key
The Sarah’s Key quotes below are all either spoken by William Rainsferd or refer to William Rainsferd. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 62
Quotes
Was it to do with Sarah, with the rue de Saintonge? Or was it just a belated coming-of-age? I could not tell. I only knew that I felt as if I had emerged from a long-lasting, mellow, protective fog. Now my senses were sharpened, keen. There was no fog. There was nothing mellow. There were only facts. Finding this man. Telling him his mother had never been forgotten by the Tézacs, by the Dufaures.
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Chapter 72
Quotes
Somehow he was no stranger to me, and more bizarre still, I felt even less a stranger to him. What had brought us together? My quest, my thirst for truth, my compassion for his mother? He knew nothing of me, knew nothing of my failing marriage, my near miscarriage in Lucca, my job, my life. What did I know of him, of his wife, his children, his career? His present was a mystery. But his past, his mother’s past, had been etched out to me like fiery torches along a dark path. And I longed to show this man that I cared, that what happened to his mother had altered my life.
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Get the entire Sarah’s Key LitChart as a printable PDF.
William Rainsferd Quotes in Sarah’s Key
The Sarah’s Key quotes below are all either spoken by William Rainsferd or refer to William Rainsferd. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 62
Quotes
Was it to do with Sarah, with the rue de Saintonge? Or was it just a belated coming-of-age? I could not tell. I only knew that I felt as if I had emerged from a long-lasting, mellow, protective fog. Now my senses were sharpened, keen. There was no fog. There was nothing mellow. There were only facts. Finding this man. Telling him his mother had never been forgotten by the Tézacs, by the Dufaures.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 72
Quotes
Somehow he was no stranger to me, and more bizarre still, I felt even less a stranger to him. What had brought us together? My quest, my thirst for truth, my compassion for his mother? He knew nothing of me, knew nothing of my failing marriage, my near miscarriage in Lucca, my job, my life. What did I know of him, of his wife, his children, his career? His present was a mystery. But his past, his mother’s past, had been etched out to me like fiery torches along a dark path. And I longed to show this man that I cared, that what happened to his mother had altered my life.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
