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The Book of Lost Names

Kristin Harmel (Goodreads Author)

4.36 · Rating details · 24,592 ratings · 3,472 reviews

Eva Traube Abrams, a semi-retired librarian in Florida, is shelving books one morning when her eyes lock on a photograph in a magazine lying open nearby. She freezes; it’s an image of a book she hasn’t seen in sixty-five years—a book she recognizes as The Book of Lost Names.

The accompanying article discusses the looting of libraries by the Nazis across Europe during World ...more

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Hardcover, 400 pages

Published July 21st 2020 by Gallery Books

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And They Called It Camelot by Stephanie Marie Thornton

Historical Fiction 2020

361 books — 501 voters

WW2 Era Fiction published in 2020

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Average rating 4.36 ·

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· 24,592 ratings · 3,472 reviews

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Jul 17, 2020 Lindsay - Traveling Sisters Book Reviews rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley

Happy Publication Day to The Book Of Lost Names!

3.5 stars. The tearful ending made me round up to 4 instead of down to 3.

An eye-opening and informative, lighter WWII story.

Eva and her mother are forced to flee their apartment in Paris after being added to the list of Jews in the round up. Before Eva’s father is captured, he provided a plan for Eva and her mother to flee to Switzerland. Eva takes charge and leads her mother to a small, hidden town at the Swiss border. There she and her mother ble Happy Publication Day to The Book Of Lost Names!

3.5 stars. The tearful ending made me round up to 4 instead of down to 3.

An eye-opening and informative, lighter WWII story.

Eva and her mother are forced to flee their apartment in Paris after being added to the list of Jews in the round up. Before Eva’s father is captured, he provided a plan for Eva and her mother to flee to Switzerland. Eva takes charge and leads her mother to a small, hidden town at the Swiss border. There she and her mother blend in and become part of the small town Resistance where Eva learns the intricate art of forgery, aiding hundreds of young Jewish children in making their way to safety.

This book was a mix of things for me. I enjoyed it and loved the main character, Eva. Eva’s mother, on the other hand, irritated me from start to finish. Her constant negativity was a frustration to endure and I found she distracted me from the story.

I enjoyed learning about the Resistance group who worked so hard to save the Jewish children. However, the majority of the novel lacked the emotional pull and connection I had expected. I didn’t feel any of the true grit and darkness of these wartime atrocities.

Eva’s story in becoming a forger for the Resistance was very interesting and I loved learning about that, however, I wanted more focus on the children the Resistance was saving. I wanted to be fully immersed within the underground children’s rescue mission and hoped for more detail surrounding that underground Resistance network. Had the novel focused more on the underground Resistance network and less on the romance, it would have been much more enjoyable.

A recurring issue I had with the storyline was how many times Eva had faced a “close call”. There were too many convenient instances of officers looking the other way or yawning while checking paperwork which took away from my investment in the story and made it a predictable, lighter, less intense read.

The ending had a great twist that kicked my enjoyment up a notch. After feeling less than emotionally invested for the first 80%, I shed a few tears at the end which was a pleasant surprise.

Overall, it was a well-written, interesting and entertaining read with some wonderful characters, but lacked the emotional depth and grit I crave with historical fiction reads.

Loved this quote: “She doesn’t understand what it means to love books so passionately that you would die without them, that you would simply stop breathing, stop existing.” ...more

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Sep 10, 2020 Angela M rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2020-favorites, edelweiss-reviews

Holocaust stories are never easy to read and they shouldn’t be. While we never see the horrors of the death camps in this novel, we see the heartbreaking impact on so many, especially children, whose mothers and fathers were rounded up by the Nazis sent to those camps, killed there or before they get there. It tells of the brave and good people of the French Resistance who risked their lives, some of whom lost family of their own, forging documents and transporting Jewish children to safety. The Holocaust stories are never easy to read and they shouldn’t be. While we never see the horrors of the death camps in this novel, we see the heartbreaking impact on so many, especially children, whose mothers and fathers were rounded up by the Nazis sent to those camps, killed there or before they get there. It tells of the brave and good people of the French Resistance who risked their lives, some of whom lost family of their own, forging documents and transporting Jewish children to safety. The narrative follows a pattern that I’ve seen in so many recent novels, alternating the past and present, tying the two together and this is so well done here. While the characters are imagined, they represent some real people and their courageous acts to save the lives of so many. This is discussed by the author in her notes at the end to put the imagined story in context with the history.

Eva Traube Abrams, an eighty six year old semi retired librarian has shut out her past, kept it from her family. When she sees a newspaper article about a librarian in Berlin trying to connect people with books that might have been theirs before the Nazis looted libraries in Europe, she knows she can no longer shut out her story. The photo of a book Epitres et Evangiles (Epistles and Gospels), called The Book of Lost Names by Eva and others who forged documents to save Jewish children is more than just a Catholic Church text. It contains secret codes that preserved the given names of some of the children saved. “I want to keep a list of the children we are falsifying documents for. They belong to someone, all of them... Because someone should remember.” Eva’s desire in this beautiful way reflects my belief as well as so many others, that it is so very important to remember these victims.

The novel is filled with tension and intrigue and it’s also a love story. I thought it was such a worthwhile story to read, but I took off a star since the ending, while touching, was predictable and didn’t strike me as realistic. Having said that, I highly recommend it to historical fiction fans, especially those who are as compelled as I am to read these stories and to insure that the victims of the Holocaust, both those who died and those who survived, are not forgotten.

I received a copy of this book from Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster through Edelweiss. ...more

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Apr 28, 2020 Tina rated it it was amazing

Shelves: arc-copy, read-in-2020, netgalley-2020, my-kindle-books, hard-hitting-topics

This book is a historical fiction that goes between 2005 (Eva in the present) and the 1940's (Eva in the past). This book is all about WWII when Germany takes over Paris, France. Eva is a Jewish girl that lived in Paris. This book will stay with me for so long. It will touch your heart. Eva is a girl that loves book that after the war become a librarian, but during the war she helped Jewish kids escape France to safe their life. She used The Book of Lost Name to help her remember all the kids re ...more

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Dec 22, 2020 Danielle rated it it was amazing

Shelves: vernal-virtual-book-club

Everyone should just accept that any book from this time period is going to be gut wrenching. 💔 It is a horrific time in our world history, that should never be forgotten. This book had all those feels 😭😢🤧 I loved Eva and her tenacity and strength. She was such a strong character. The idea of there being a book out there with real names just gives me goosebumps. This was a great book, that I’ll be thinking about for a while. ❤️

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Nov 25, 2020 Tina rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: war-time, historical-fiction

This is my first Kristin Harmel book. She's a good writer and the story flows well. I did not know much about the French resistance in WWII and it was interesting to read about it.

I liked Eva the main character. She was a strong and passionate woman. She was forging documents for the French resistance and along with her love interest Remy, helped to save many Jewish children by smuggling them into Switzerland. I do however wish the story had focused more on the children and less on the forgery ...more

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May 13, 2020 Karren Sandercock rated it it was amazing

Shelves: edelweiss-above-the-tree-line

May 2005, Eva Traube is in her 80’s and she enjoys working part time at her local library and she spends most of her time shelving books. One day she is shocked to see an article in a magazine, it’s about how the Nazis stole or destroyed priceless books from Berlin libraries during WW II, in the article was a photo of a book that was precious to Eva 65 years ago and she never thought she would ever see it again.

Paris 1942, Eva lives happily with her mother Faiga and father Tatus, once the Germa May 2005, Eva Traube is in her 80’s and she enjoys working part time at her local library and she spends most of her time shelving books. One day she is shocked to see an article in a magazine, it’s about how the Nazis stole or destroyed priceless books from Berlin libraries during WW II, in the article was a photo of a book that was precious to Eva 65 years ago and she never thought she would ever see it again.

Paris 1942, Eva lives happily with her mother Faiga and father Tatus, once the German’s arrive every day life is made more difficult for Jewish citizens and living in Paris is very hard. Despite being warned about a roundup of Jewish people Eva’s parents believe they are safe and one night during a raid only Tatus is taken into custody. Tatus has told Eva what to do if something ever happens to him, she’s to contact a man her father has organized to help her, he’s nervous, and he gives her some papers and makes her quickly leave.

Eva and her mother escape to a little town called Aurignon in the free zone, using their new identity papers she altered and they find a place to stay at a small boarding house. Eva discovers from her desperation to save her mother and leave Paris, she’s has a talent for forgery and she can help others and the French resistance. Her years of watching her father repair type writers, she has learnt to type and she has a unique skill. Give her the correct paper, ink and pens, Eva can easily create fake identity papers, birth certificates, ration cards, travel documents and copy signatures.

Eva's sweet mother has changed by the loss of her husband and she is now an angry, bitter, difficult women and she thinks Eva should be concentrating on trying to save her father. If she helps the resistance group, her mother has a place to stay and she feels like she is doing her part to get back at the Germans and she can’t do anything to help her father.
Eva spends her time at the local church with Pere Clement a priest, Remy a fellow forger and together they create new identities for hundreds of Jewish people escaping to Switzerland. Eva notices that many of the new identities are for young Jewish children who are not escaping with their parents, they are too young to remember their real names and how will anyone find them when the war ends? Eva comes up with the idea to use a secret code called Fibonacci Sequence that only she and Remy understand, they use an eighteenth century religious book to keep a record of the children’s names and they refer to it as The book Of Lost Names.

Sixty five years later, Eva must face her past to be reunited with her precious book that was taken from a church library during the end of the Second World War and she thought she would never see it again. The Book of Lost Names, has a dual time line that’s very easy to follow, the story is a about family, sacrifice, duty, friendship, honor, betrayal and lost love.
What a brilliant book, five stars from me and if you like to read historical WW II fiction I highly recommend The Book of Lost Names. I have shared my review on Goodreads, Twitter, Amazon Australia, Edelweiss, Kobo and my blog. https://karrenreadsbooks.blogspot.com/ ...more

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Dec 27, 2020 Debbie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: literature-jewish, literature-west-european, wwii-holocaust, audio-book, historical-fiction, books-about-books

Another well-written book about WWII and the tenacious women who fought, usually indirectly, against the Nazis!

Why I liked this story:
1. the premise of this story about Eva, a young woman working with the French Resistance forging identity documents to assist people, especially Jewish children, escape to Switzerland, is quite intriguing! This underground activity felt exhilarating and frightening at the same time;
2. I found this story a little reminiscent of the book THE LOST LETTER by Jill Cant ...more

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Sep 01, 2020 Ingrid rated it liked it

As always I'm trying to find books about WWII that are interesting to read and have a fair bit of reality in them. This book is too much of a romance for me with characters that are magnified in a way that isn't very likely. Big change of character too during the story, from nasty to nice and the other way around. I loved the present part of it with the 85 year old protagonist whom I immediately liked. The history part of the stolen books is very interesting and the explanation at the end of the ...more

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Jun 13, 2020 Elisheva rated it it was ok

Shelves: jewish-fiction, giveaway-winner

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I really wanted to like this book, the premise was really intriguing, but I did not like the execution. The book's summary starts, "Inspired by an astonishing true story," which I feel is misleading. Yes there were forgers in Nazi-occupied France but Eva, the cast of characters around her, and even the town, are all fictional. There was no Jewish female forger who served as the basis for Eva. Historical fiction novels run the gamut from fictionalized accounts of real people to fictional stories I really wanted to like this book, the premise was really intriguing, but I did not like the execution. The book's summary starts, "Inspired by an astonishing true story," which I feel is misleading. Yes there were forgers in Nazi-occupied France but Eva, the cast of characters around her, and even the town, are all fictional. There was no Jewish female forger who served as the basis for Eva. Historical fiction novels run the gamut from fictionalized accounts of real people to fictional stories set in historically accurate settings. This book is the later. But that has more to do with the publisher's marketing strategy than the author.

My reactions to Eva, her characterization, and the plot, ranged from disinterested to anger. First, the author cannot seem to decide who Eva is - is she an observant/religious Jewish woman from a religious family that prides their religious observance (as implied by the juxtaposition of Eva to Joseph on p.7), an unaffiliated Jewish woman from a family that is somewhat observant, non-practicing from a non-practicing family, a woman of faith who loses her connection to Judaism as time goes on, a woman who struggles with her Jewish identity, or a woman who is completely disinterested and the only reason why she is nominally Jewish is because the story is set in WWII France, a good Catholic girl? The author cannot seem to decide. Eva is Jewish and observant, when convenient, Eva is not observant and not Jewish when convenient. If Eva is an observant Jew from an observant family, she certainly doesn't act like it. Not a single internal monologue about how she has to change her practice, keep her practice hidden, does not feel connected to Judaism, or anything. I forgot Eva was Jewish until one of the side characters mentions it.

For a novel primarily written in the first person, Eva does not tell us anything about her actions. The reader only discovers it because other characters comment on her behavior. Eva became Catholic and began practicing Catholicism - we learn this from her mother, not from Eva herself. And even then, Eva doesn't address it.

Eva is also terrible at keeping secrets and staying under the radar. Makes false identity cards for herself and her mother so that they can pass as non-Jews, immediately reveals her true indentity to everyone she meets. Gets a new fake identity, immediately reveals it again. Meets Joseph under a pseudonym and told to not use his real name around people. Eva and her mother IMMEDIATELY call Joseph by his true name in front of the boardinghouse proprietress, the exact person they were told to NOT reveal his name to. Similar incidents happen with Genevieve. Either Eva is terrible at keeping secrets or the author got confused and put the wrong names in the text.

The romance between Eva and Remy felt forced and was uninteresting. Why can't female protagonists doing cool stuff - forgery for the resistance and saving children and others from the Nazis, stand on their own? Why shoehorn a problematic romance into the story. Eva's story should have been interesting on its own.

Random fictionalized Nazi with a heart of gold - ugh hard pass. Why is this here?

The author also used poor choice of phrases. Once is a mistake. Three or more times is intentional. The author describes Eva as choosing to walk into the fire, a Jewish child with grief tattooed on her, and Eva states that the Catholic priest "redeemed her." Incredibly problematic language to use for a Jewish character during the Holocaust.

The book left me wondering if the author is Jewish or if the author is a random person who decided to make a Jewish character just for kicks but then didn't want to commit to actually writing an observant Jewish protagonist as a heroine in a WWII but not Holocaust story.

The summary on the back of the book promised me a story about a resistance member who worked as a forger to save children, recorded their identities, and then resurfaces after the war to track down the children and the fight to reclaim them and their identities (as many people who hid Jewish children during the war refused to return them to their families and erased their Jewish identities). Instead, I got a half-baked story with a protagonist who refused to share information with the reader about anything other than a crush she has on the hot Catholic boy working with her with a side of boo-hoo-the-poor-Jewish-children and oh this one Nazi is actually a good guy don't be so judgmental Eva.

I got a free copy as part of a goodreads giveaway.
...more

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Nov 14, 2020 Suzanne Leopold (Suzy Approved Book Reviews) rated it it was amazing

In 1942, Eva Traube was a happy graduate student working with her favorite things in the world - books. However, her quiet life in Paris is quickly turned on its head when her father is arrested along with thousands of other Jewish people living in France. This sudden turn of events forces Eva and her mother to flee to the French countryside seeking shelter from the expanding Nazi forces. In the quaint village of Aurignon, Eva finds herself becoming involved in an underground resistance movement ...more

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May 18, 2020 Annette rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction-1900s, wwii-historical-fiction

During WWII, forgers played important role in the Resistance. It was a network of “brave people who used their artistic ability and scientific ingenuity to produce convincing documents that allowed innocent people to survive.”

Florida, 2005. Eva Traube, librarian, comes across an article talking about a book, which she thought had vanished forever.

Paris, 1942. Eva is pursuing her doctorate in English literature. Her father, Polish-born Jew, is arrested. But before that he arranged with his employ During WWII, forgers played important role in the Resistance. It was a network of “brave people who used their artistic ability and scientific ingenuity to produce convincing documents that allowed innocent people to survive.”

Florida, 2005. Eva Traube, librarian, comes across an article talking about a book, which she thought had vanished forever.

Paris, 1942. Eva is pursuing her doctorate in English literature. Her father, Polish-born Jew, is arrested. But before that he arranged with his employer for fake documents for Eva in order for her to escape to the free zone in Switzerland. Since she has to escape with her mother now, she is given blank documents and supplies to forge their own documents. From Paris, they travel east, toward the Alps and make a stop in Aurignon. Where, even though their papers are very legible looking, there is something else that gives them away. Now, a Catholic priest asks Eva for help in forging papers for Jewish children. He convinces her to do this “artistic endeavors” in order “to move toward a life of freedom.” Her mother wants to continue toward the free zone. Eva is torn. With her work materializing on a page in front of her, “hope floats up within her.” She feels it within her that she is doing a good work and the right one. Her father’s words “Who will remember us?” bring up a concern. Who will remember the real names of the Jewish children for whom she is forging the documents and who are too young to remember later their real names. Her partner in forgery, Remy, comes up with a brilliant idea. His love for math and the Fibonacci sequence give him an idea how to code real names without putting any one in danger.

Written with so much humanity. There is so much love and caring breathed into the characters, making it one of the most endearing and beautiful stories. You can also feel the pain of those who lost the love ones. You can sense Eva’s hesitation. She wants to do the right thing by her mother and the right thing dictated by her heart. But her mother’s different thinking doesn’t make it easy for her. Helping the children makes Eva feel like she “can bring some light to the world, even in the midst of all the darkness.”

The description of the town brings so much of visible charm. I was also enchanted by the invisible charm of the closeness of people working together, being part of a network which helps hundreds of innocent children, who some lost their parents, to escape the injustice inflicted upon them.

I enjoyed the magical description of the town so much that I wanted to locate it on a map. As it turns out, it’s a fictional town. I understand it gives any writer more freedom, who doesn’t have to worry about town’s accuracy. But setting it in a real town makes it a more credible story. That’s the only thing I wished was different about this book.

This spellbinding page-turner doesn’t bring atrocity of WWII and despite the horror and injustice of the war, the author manages to create such heart-warming story of network of people who risk their own lives to save others. The story brings such characters one cares deeply for and who take a reader on an extraordinary journey of courage, faith and bravery.

Source: ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ...more

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Jun 15, 2020 Lisa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5-star-reviews, kindle, netgalley, 2020, netgally-2020

A captivating historical fiction story full of bravery and resilience.

SUMMARY
Eva Traube was forced to flee Paris in 1942 with her mother after the arrest of her father, a Polish Jew. She finds a refuge in a church in a small mountain town in the Free Zone. There she begins forging identity documents for Jewish children fleeing to Switzerland.

In erasing these children’s identity Eva knows she must find a way to preserve the real names of the children who are perhaps too young to remember who the A captivating historical fiction story full of bravery and resilience.

SUMMARY
Eva Traube was forced to flee Paris in 1942 with her mother after the arrest of her father, a Polish Jew. She finds a refuge in a church in a small mountain town in the Free Zone. There she begins forging identity documents for Jewish children fleeing to Switzerland.

In erasing these children’s identity Eva knows she must find a way to preserve the real names of the children who are perhaps too young to remember who they really are. She and Remy, her forging partner, keep records of the children secretly coded in a eighteenth century religious book she now calls The Book of Lost Names.

Eva survives the war and now over 65 years later, She is a semi-retired librarian in Florida. It is at the Library that she spies a photograph of her book from 1942, The Book of Lost Names along with thousands of other valuable books had been looted by the Germans in the final days of the war and it is now housed in a Berlin library. At 86, Eva questions whether she has the strength to revisit old memories And see the book again.

REVIEW
THE BOOK OF LOST NAMES is a tension-filled and thought-proving World War II historical fiction drama. Eva’s character is a strong, smart and resilient woman, who is the pillar of the story. Her character is well-developed and the dialog is delightful.

This riveting story is as smartly structured as the code in Eva’s secret book. The writing is engaging and evocative and transports us to Paris and the fictional town of Aurignon, South of Vichy during the height of the war. You can’t go wrong with this engaging story of bravery and perseverance. If you liked The Lilac Girls or The Alice Network you will love this one

Author Kristen Harmel is a international best selling author of numerous books including The Winemaker’s Wife and The Room on Rue Amélie. Kristin was born just outside Boston, Massachusetts. After graduating with a degree in journalism from the University of Florida, she spent time living in Paris and Los Angeles and now lives in Orlando, with her family.

Thanks to Netgalley and Gallery Books for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Publisher Gallery Books
Published July 21, 2020
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com

...more

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Jul 20, 2020 Astrid - The Bookish Sweet Tooth rated it it was amazing

Shelves: arc

TITLE: THE BOOK OF LOST NAMES
AUTHOR: Kristin Harmel
RELEASE DATE: July 21, 2020
GENRE: Historical Fiction
THEMES & TROPES: WW II, Holocaust
RATING: 4.5 STARS
CLIFFHANGER: No

READ MY REVIEW ON THE BLOG

Word War II is without a doubt one of the darkest times of mankind and war stories set in that era are often unsettling because they force us to take a hard look at our heritage and our own position towards race and racism. THE BOOK OF LOST NAMES showcases how harrowing times and great adversity ca ...more

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Jan 13, 2021 Kerrin P rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2021-12-4-challenge

The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel is a World War II historical fiction novel. It starts in 1985 when 85-year-old Eva Traube Abrams is shelving books at the Florida library where she works. She sees a magazine article with a picture of a German librarian holding a book that had been confiscated by the Nazis. The article explains the library is trying to return as many stolen books as possible. Eva immediately recognizes what she had called The Book of Lost Names.

During World War II Eva rel The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel is a World War II historical fiction novel. It starts in 1985 when 85-year-old Eva Traube Abrams is shelving books at the Florida library where she works. She sees a magazine article with a picture of a German librarian holding a book that had been confiscated by the Nazis. The article explains the library is trying to return as many stolen books as possible. Eva immediately recognizes what she had called The Book of Lost Names.

During World War II Eva reluctantly becomes a document forger in Aurignon, a small French mountain town in the free zone. Eva’s first partner, Remy, created a code for entering the names of the Jewish children that are being smuggled into Switzerland using the false identities they created. Eva carefully wrote the coded names into the pages of the 18th-century religious text that is pictured in the magazine article.

The story tells of sacrifice, love of country, mother-daughter relationships, heroism, romance, and betrayals. Eva falls in love with Remy, but they are separated when he goes to work for the underground. There is a constant tension in Eva’s life due to the threat of discovery and the safety of the children. We know that Eva survived the war, but what about those she loved?

I really thought I was going to love this book, but I only liked it. It has a 4.36 Goodreads rating, with many five star reviews. It was also one of the Books of the Month on the Simon & Schuster Book Club favorites Facebook page. The reason I didn’t love it was because there was too much inner monologue by Eva. She constantly regretted decisions and repeatedly asked herself “Am I a good Jew?”, “Am I a good daughter?”, “Am I wrong to fall in love with a Catholic?”, and “Why didn’t I say certain things?” etc. On the positive side, the book was well researched, and I learned about how documents were forged. There were some good dramatic scenes, and the ending surprised me.

3-stars for me. This could be a good Book Club book especially when it comes to discussing Eva’s relationship with her parents. ...more

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Apr 21, 2020 Kristie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audible, historical_fiction, 2020, netgalley, gcac_2021, wwii

This was the the first book that I read by Kristin Harmel and I thought it was excellent. Several of her other books have sounded interesting to me and made it onto my TBR, but it took a NetGalley deadline to get me to actually read one. I am so glad I finally did and I look forward to reading more of her work soon.

I thought young Ava started out a bit naive. She made a couple of decisions that made me think that she was going to be one of those main characters that was foolish and I wouldn't b ...more

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Aug 11, 2020 Sarah rated it it was ok

Shelves: a, got, e, historical-fiction

Oh dear! I truly wanted to love this novel because the story sounded so intriguing but, my goodness, did I struggle to get to the end! I may as well pat myself on the back for making that effort, for the journey was paved with soporific pathos and whining internal monologue.

What could have been a really wonderful story was spoilt for me by the way it was told. (view spoiler) ...more

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Sep 24, 2020 Susan Phillips rated it it was amazing

This wonderful book explores a whole new aspect of the French resistance. A real page turner. I can't remember the last time I read a book in one day. ...more

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Jun 28, 2020 Elizabeth of Silver's Reviews rated it it was amazing

Was Eva seeing correctly? Did this newspaper article actually show the book she had used during the war to put children's names in that they had to change to protect their identity?

Eva had to go to Berlin immediately to claim it.

We now move from present day to 1942 where Eva and her Mother escape from Paris with documents she forged the morning after her father was arrested and taken to a prison camp.

Eva and her mother travel to Aurignon, France, on the advice of a friend where they found lodgin ...more

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Aug 09, 2020 Ink_Drinker added it

Wow!!! What a book! It gives me all the feels. I love historical fiction taking place during WWII and have read many fiction and non-fiction books regarding this subject. Kristin Harmel's research and dedication are reflected in this book. She is one of my favorite authors so I was excited, but a little anxious, to see if she could, yet again, write another best seller. Guess what? She did!! Doing it among many good authors writing about this time period.

The first thing that caught my eye was th ...more

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Aug 06, 2020 Mary Monroe rated it it was amazing

THE BOOK OF LOST NAMES takes place in WWII France. The story reveals how we find moments of joy in times of hardship. It is the perfect book for this summer, eh?

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Oct 18, 2020 Deborah rated it really liked it

Shelves: france, florida

Another book about World War II. Yet, I still love them. The time and place draws me in especially when inspired by real events. Eva Traube Abrams, an 86-year-old Florida librarian, is hurled back into the past when she recognizes a stolen book that a German librarian is trying to restore to its rightful owner. Eva knew the religious work as The Book of Lost Names where she had recorded and encoded the real names of young Jewish children decades earlier. In 1942 she and her mother fled Paris aft ...more

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Jun 29, 2020 MicheleReader rated it it was amazing

I love historical fiction. And I gravitate to books that take place during WWII. But I’m always concerned that the book will be too emotional. Yet here I am, feeling gutted but so happy that I read The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel.

This engrossing story is set mostly in the past during the 1940s in France and in 2005 where 86 year-old Eva is going to confront her past. Widowed and living in Florida as a semi-retired librarian, she reads an article in The New York Times about a library in I love historical fiction. And I gravitate to books that take place during WWII. But I’m always concerned that the book will be too emotional. Yet here I am, feeling gutted but so happy that I read The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel.

This engrossing story is set mostly in the past during the 1940s in France and in 2005 where 86 year-old Eva is going to confront her past. Widowed and living in Florida as a semi-retired librarian, she reads an article in The New York Times about a library in Berlin that has a large collection of books that were looted by the Nazis during the war and the effort being undertaken to find the true owners. Eva immediately recognizes the book she had called The Book of Lost Names. Her book.

In 1942, Eva and her mother had to flee Paris after her father was arrested. As Jews, they were no longer safe. They went to a small town in France to hide with the hopes of escaping to Switzerland. Eva soon became an integral part of the resistance using her artist skills creating new identities for Jewish children by forging official documents for them. Working secretly in a church, she takes an old religious text and encodes the pages with the real and new names of the children. Her hope was that one day the children would be able to learn of their true identities. Together with Remy, they made it possible for many children to escape through ingenious forging methods. But the Nazis are about to uncover their operation.

Based on true events, The Book of Lost Names will bring you into the horrors of the war and the dilemma of whether to try to save yourself or try to save others. And as Eva becomes more integrated into the Catholic community that is working to save the lives of Jewish children, is she losing her own Jewish identity as she erases the children’s identities on their records?

This is a beautiful yet heartbreaking story of bravery, determination and love. If you too enjoy books of this genre, this one should be at the top of your list. And as with other books that draw from history, be sure to read the Epilogue which details the brave people who inspired this book.

Now, please pass the Kleenex.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Edelweiss, Gallery Books and Kristin Harmel for an advance copy of this unforgettable book which will be published on July 21, 2020.

Review posted on MicheleReader.com. ...more

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Jun 19, 2020 Karen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: adult, romance, arc, historical, war

I flew through most of this book in a single sitting and then spent the last 10-15% absolutely sobbing, so that should give you a good indication of how much I loved this book.

I am a huge fan of historical fiction, and a book set during WW2 can hardly ever go wrong. This book started a bit slow but really picks up once the main character, Eva, is forced to flee Paris with her mother after the arrest of her father and the larger roundup of Jews by the Nazis. She finds eventual refuge in an underg ...more

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Aug 14, 2020 Tammy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: summer-2020-tbr, release-2020

I finished this several days ago and am still thinking about it. I can’t begin to give Kristin Harmel all the credit she deserves for writing this. It’s inspired by a true story that I took to heart while reading.
The Book of Lost Names is about the very little written subject of Resistance Forgers during WWll. This is the first novel I’ve read surrounding this subject. These forgers were unknown hero’s during the war, risking their own safety to stay in enemy territory to produce various docume ...more

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Oct 01, 2020 Lindsey Gandhi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: other-book-club-books, books-i-own, e-books, netgalley-2020, 2020-ng-reading-challenge, 2020-popsugar-reading-challenge

"Books are magic."

I love historical fiction books, I really love them when it's a brand new storyline I haven't read before (and that's a tough feat with a book about WWII) and I especially love them when there is the most amazing hook at the beginning of the book. This book immediately sucks you in from page one and you won't let out your breathe until the very last page.

The writing is as smooth as silk. The character development is simply phenomenal! Eva is one of many heroes you will read a ...more

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Jul 13, 2020 Laurie • The Baking Bookworm rated it liked it

Shelves: hist-fic-wwii, arc-netgalley

The Book of Lost Names is my second book by Kristin Harmel and like The Winemaker's Wife (which I read two weeks ago and reviewed recently), it is set during WWII, uses two time frames and is inspired by a true story.

The focus of this story is set in France during WWII while the current-day time frame remains quite secondary. The older story line follows Eva, a young Parisian Jewish woman who,suddenly finds herself (and her mother) in a small French village. There, Eva uses her artistic talents ...more

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Jun 21, 2020 Marilyn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: marilyn-s-challenge

I have had the privilege of reading several of Kristin Harmel’s books and have really liked each one. The Book With No Names is no exception. It was a well written historical novel that went back and forth between time periods. Part of the story took place in Florida in 2005 and the other part took part in France in the 1940’s. The characters were well developed and the plot was intriguing. Kristin Harmel, brilliantly wrote about the roles of Forgers as part of the Resistance during World War II I have had the privilege of reading several of Kristin Harmel’s books and have really liked each one. The Book With No Names is no exception. It was a well written historical novel that went back and forth between time periods. Part of the story took place in Florida in 2005 and the other part took part in France in the 1940’s. The characters were well developed and the plot was intriguing. Kristin Harmel, brilliantly wrote about the roles of Forgers as part of the Resistance during World War II. I didn’t know a lot about these valuable and brave men and women and so after I finished this book I did a little research about them on my own. Forgers played such a key role in helping so many people, especially children, escape from the Nazi’s and survive the Holocaust. Most of the well known forgers became forgers out of necessity and to survive. Many of the forgers were Jewish. The Book of Lost Names was based on the lives of real forgers. The research for this book was extensive and thorough.

At 86, Eva Traube was still working in a library part time. Although many thought Eva should retire she had no intentions of doing so any time soon. She lived in Florida near her only her son. Eva was a widow. Her job at the library was shelving books. She had always had a love for books so it pleased her to be around so many varied books. One day, Eva was covering the desk when she spotted an article in a magazine. It mentioned that a German man was trying to find the owners of books that had been confiscated by the Nazis during World War II. The name of one of the books that had been found was The Book of Lost Names. Eva started to tremble when she saw the name of that particular book. She knew that book. It was hers. Right before her eyes was the picture of the book Eva believed was lost. She hadn’t seen that book for 65 years. Eva knew what she had to do.

Eva had grown up in Paris. Her parents were observant Jews that had immigrated to Paris from Poland. When the Nazis invaded Paris in 1942, Eva was in the midst of obtaining her doctorate in English literature. One day, a friend of Eva’s who was involved in the Resistance tried warning Eva of a potential roundup by the Nazis. They planned on taking thousands of Jews and putting them in work camps. Sure enough, a few nights later, the roundup occurred. Eva and her mother were not at home. They had been asked to watch a neighbor’s children while the neighbor went to help her elderly mother. The neighbor Eva and her mother were helping was not Jewish so when the Nazis came to their apartment building they did not bang on that door. Eva’s father was taken into custody. Her mother was inconsolable. Eva’s father had instructed Eva what to if he and her mother were ever taken into custody. She was to go to his boss. Eva’s father had paid his boss an insurmountable amount of money to guarantee he would make Eva forged documents so she could escape to Switzerland. When Eva arrived at her father’s boss’s office and she explained that now she needed documents not only for herself but also for her mother her father’s boss panicked and told her he could not do that. Instead he gave Eva blank papers and colored pens and told Eva she would have to forge her own documents for her and her mother. That was what Eva did.

Eva and her mother made their way to the train station. They knew they had to get to the Free Zone. Headed east they departed on a train and arrived in a small, quaint village called Aurignon. Eva and her mother found shelter in a boarding house. The documents Eva forged for her and her mother were quite impressive. Little did Eva know that because of necessity she had shown a remarkable talent for forgery. She had not known she possessed this talent. The town of Aurignon had many residents involved in the resistance. The Catholic priest was not only involved in the resistance but was quite a central figure in its organization in this quiet little town. He convinced Eva to forge documents for them so hundreds of Jewish children could escape to Switzerland. Eva’s mother made Eva feel guilty. Her mother thought Eva was forgetting her religion and her father. She could not understand why Eva was devoting so much time to this effort and putting herself at such a risk for this priest. Eva’s mother only wanted to honor her father’s wishes and get to Switzerland. Her mother never lost hope that Eva’s father would return and find them when the war was over. Eva felt that she was saving lives and that that was so important. One thing troubled Eva, though. All the Jewish children she was forging false documents for had to take new names. Who would remember who they really were? Eva and her fellow forger, Remy, devised a plan. The real names of the children were secretly coded in a book Eva and Remy named The Book of Lost Names. Remy brilliantly devised a system where he used the Fibonacci sequence to code the children’s real names. No one was able to decipher the code so the children’s real identities were safe but not forgotten.

When Eva, now an old lady, living in Florida, saw her book pictured in the magazine article, she knew that she had no choice but to confront her past head on. She called the person in Berlin that had possession of her book and let him know she was coming to Berlin to claim it. Determined to get to Berlin to repossess her treasured book that had been stolen from the secret church library in Aurignon sixty five years ago by the Nazis, she boarded the plane without even informing her son of her plans. Eva never dreamed that she would ever see this book again. She had to go and make sure this was her book and to hold it in her own hands.

I had previously read The Winemaker’s Wife and loved it. I didn’t think that Kristin Harmel could top that one but she did. The Book of Lost Names was brilliant. I could not put it down. The characters were likable and endearing for the most part. The story was fast paced and heart-warming. There was so much courage, bravery, love, faith, friendship, sacrifice, caring, deception and pain sprinkled and interwoven throughout the story. If you love historical fiction you will absolutely love The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel. I highly recommend it.

I received a complimentary copy of The Book of Lost Names from Gallery Books through Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. This was a strong five star book for me. ...more

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Dec 27, 2020 Skip rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: e-books, historical

As a graduate student in 1942 Paris, Eva Traube and her mother was forced to flee Paris after the arrest of her father, a Polish Jew. They make their way to a small mountain town Aurignon, in the Free Zone, where Eva finds she has a talent forging documents for Jewish children fleeing to neutral Switzerland, with the support of a local Catholic priest. Eva falls hard for a mysterious, handsome forger named Rémy, whose desire to help France is his raison d'etre. Meanwhile, Eva decides she must pr ...more

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Nov 04, 2020 Leanne Whistance-Smith rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

Absolutely SPEECHLESS 😭❤️

Hands down one of the best books I’ve ever read.

The Book of Lost Names gave me all the feels and I am not exaggerating when I say I could not put it down. It captured my heart and brought me to tears many times.

Inspired by a true story during WWII, Eva, a young Jewish woman with a talent for forgery helps hundreds of children flee the Nazi’s by making false documents for them to reach safety.

Harmel takes us on a captivating journey filled with resilience, love, misund ...more

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Apr 24, 2020 Pam rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: net-galley, 2020-netgalley

Once again, Ms Harmel has hit a home run with this WWII historical fiction!

We begin this story meeting an elderly librarian in Florida as she sees an image of a book that she has not seen in decades! The image and article is of a book that our librarian used to log the names of Jewish children that had been smuggled out of France. The story takes off from there...

The story is told in alternating timelines and it is easy to follow. When we are in our current time period, I kept thinking, "Let's ...more

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About Kristin Harmel

Kristin Harmel

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Kristin Harmel is the New York Times bestselling and #1 international bestselling author of THE BOOK OF LOST NAMES, THE WINEMAKER'S WIFE, and a dozen other novels that have been translated into numerous languages and sold all over the world.

A former reporter for PEOPLE magazine, Kristin has been writing professionally since the age of 16, when she began her career as a sportswriter, covering Major Kristin Harmel is the New York Times bestselling and #1 international bestselling author of THE BOOK OF LOST NAMES, THE WINEMAKER'S WIFE, and a dozen other novels that have been translated into numerous languages and sold all over the world.

A former reporter for PEOPLE magazine, Kristin has been writing professionally since the age of 16, when she began her career as a sportswriter, covering Major League Baseball and NHL hockey for a local magazine in Tampa Bay, Florida in the late 1990s. After stints covering health and lifestyle for American Baby, Men’s Health, and Woman’s Day, she became a reporter for PEOPLE and spent more than a decade working for the publication, covering everything from the Super Bowl to high-profile murders to celebrity interviews with the likes of Ben Affleck, Matthew McConaughey, OutKast, Justin Timberlake, and Patrick Dempsey. Her favorite stories at PEOPLE, however, were the “Heroes Among Us” features—tales of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. One of those features—the story of Holocaust-survivor-turned-philanthropist Henri Landwirth (whom both Walter Cronkite and John Glenn told Kristin was the most amazing person they’d ever known)—partially inspired Kristin’s 2012 novel, The Sweetness of Forgetting, which was a bestseller all over the world.

In addition to a long magazine writing career (which also included articles published in Travel + Leisure, Glamour, Ladies’ Home Journal, Every Day with Rachael Ray, and more), Kristin was also a frequent contributor to the national television morning show The Daily Buzz—where her assignments included flying to London three times to interview the cast of the Harry Potter films. She has appeared on Good Morning America and numerous local television morning shows--and even stumbled into a role as an extra in the 2003 American Idol movie while awaiting an interview with Kelly Clarkson.

Kristin was born just outside Boston, Massachusetts and spent her childhood there, as well as in Columbus, Ohio, and St. Petersburg, Florida. After graduating with a degree in journalism (with a minor in Spanish) from the University of Florida, she spent time living in Paris and Los Angeles and now lives in Orlando, with her husband and young son. She travels frequently to France for book research (and—let’s be honest—for the pastries and wine) and writes a book a year for Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster.

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“He had taught her to love reading, one of the greatest gifts a parent could give a child, and in doing so, he had opened the world to her.” — 9 likes

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