The Book of Lost Names

Based on a true story, this dual timeline book takes us from Eva’s present-day life back to 1942,  when she used her talent for forgery to help hundreds of children escape the Nazis.

Not wanting their true identities to be lost forever, she writes their real names in code in a book. Heart-wrenching at times, this book will ultimately leave you with a smile on your face.

I have been so impressed at the risks ordinary people took to save their Jewish friends and neighbors during WWII. This is one such story.

I love books set in two time periods, and this one takes us from the present to the time of war, with the heroine, now an old woman, who was a forger in Nazi Europe coming across a book of codes, revealing the true names of escaping Jewish children. 

Inspired by an astonishing true story from World War II, a young woman with a talent for forgery helps hundreds of Jewish children flee the Nazis. Author Kristin Harmel includes meticulous research to spotlight the French Resistance figures whose bravery and immeasurable sacrifices must not be lost to history. The act of what the forger needed to turn out identity documents like birth certificates to library cards to ration cards—and the process itself—is fascinating! This is a heartrending page-turner! 

Again, inspired by a true story, The Book of Lost Names is an astonishing novel about a young Polish-French woman who risks her life forging identity documents for Jewish children. I’m a sucker for books about people helping people, and even more so when it has to do with kids. This story will rip your heart to pieces and then sew it back together again. It’s a testament to love and sacrifice. A beautiful page-turner with secrets and turns and all the fixings of a great novel.