Wow! Kristin Harmel has taken me on such an emotional roller coaster with The Book of Lost Names. So many times I caught myself jumping to the end of a page to get a glimpse of what was going to happen in order to brace myself as the story unfolded. Historical fiction and WWII are both favorites of mine, so I was drawn to this book that follows Eva Traube and her work as a forger for the Resistance. Harmel does a beautiful job of balancing love, fear, bravery, and adventure into a story that sweeps the reader away. The characters are ones that I will continue to think about.
Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced readers copy of this book.

Captivating read! Based on a true story, The Book of Lost Names are names of children that were changed to protect and save them so they could be safely and quickly relocated to a safe country during the war. Definitely worth another read!

First, let me say that I’d put this right up there as one of the best historical novels that I’ve read. The timeline goes between 2005 and the early 1940s. The latter is what the majority of the story is about, Germany’s occupation of France.

The story begins in 2005 in Florida where Eva Traube, 86, works at the local library. When she sees a newspaper story about a man in Germany who is returning rare books looted by the Nazis to WWII survivors. It nearly takes her breath away when she reads about it.

And with a bang, the story takes off.

Eva, the child of Polish-Jewish parents, was born in France. So when things start looking bad concerning Germany’s treatment of Jewish people, her parents hope Eva’s home country will make a difference.

As I mentioned, my interest was piqued immediately. In fact, I started reading in the evening and I wasn’t sure I would ever be able to shut the book.

Yet later, when I replayed the very first part of the book, the story was how the family was reacting to their fear regarding Germans. It felt familiar to other stories that we’ve all heard and read about. So my excitement about the beginning had to be due to Kristin Harmel’s incredible talent as an author. She was able to take this well-known history to new levels in order to create suspense, empathy, and interest.

The book will touch your heart and be a story that you are sure to remember. It flows with both fiction and historical facts intermingled beautifully. If you are interested in Women’s’ Fiction, WWII Historical Fiction, or Romance, I don’t think it’s possible to go wrong with this book.

What Concerned Me
Not a thing.

What I Liked
Harmel created characters that I understood through their actions, not because of her descriptions. They were believable and I was empathetic to what they were experiencing.

This is yet another author I will be following.

My thanks to Gallery Books and NetGalley for an ARC and the ability to post a review of my opinion regarding the book.

A beautiful story set in France, WWII, following a network of forgers helping smuggle people to safety.

There are a lot of historical fiction books written about WWII and I would definitely put this on your list to read. I thought it was very well written and very engaging. There are a few inconsequential flash-forwards to Eva, present-day, but it was very minimal and mostly there for the culmination at the end. This was not a hard-hitting, gritty WWII book as Eva was mostly on the fringes, removed from the worst of it. But nonetheless she was not spared from danger or heartbreak.

Also true to most good historical fiction, it makes you admire the bravery and ingenuity of the resistors- in this particular story, the forgers who figured out a way to produce false papers to smuggle people to and through borders to safety.

I loved the added element of Eva's coded book and namesake for this story that allowed her to record the true names of those whose identities had to be erased. Though not the intention of the author, I couldn't help but think about how, as Christians, we recognize that our true identity is found in Christ and that when we have found Him, our names are also written in a Book- the Book of Life. And what a beautiful confidence that is to know that your true self is known and kept and waiting for you to come Home.

Follow Eva and the Book of Lost Names on their journey through danger, love, and betrayal. You won't regret it.

**I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

Give me a WWII historical fiction and I won't be able to resist. This premise was a slightly new spin for me and I really enjoyed it.

i loved all of the characters, though I did get frustrated often with Eva's mother. It was easy to overlook that though as the story progressed. I loved the love story of this, but how it didn't take away from the action. I read this with a racing heart, dying to know how it would end and I wasn't dissapointed.

I found this to be a good book, but not great. It’s a Holocaust book but rather slooooow. It would have been more appealing without pages and pages of repetition. The main story is of a Jewish family in Paris when it was first occupied by the Nazis. The daughter is very artistic and a good forger. Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book and review it.

I give The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel 5 total stars! Other than The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, this is one of the most beautiful WW2 historical fiction books I have ever read. To say that this book will stick with me for quite some time is an understatement. We follow late twenty-something Eva during 1944 German invaded France. The efforts that Eva make to not only try to save her family by trying to escape, but also to save the lives of children she has never met by means of an old Catholic religious text book, donned, The Book of Lost Names had me glued to every page. There is a well developed male lead character, Remy, who enters Eva's life, and I absolutely completely fell for him. Eva not only struggles with daily fear of the Germans, a bitter and broken hearted mother, but also with whether to follow her heart while trying to find her true self and break possibly break out of her families well cherished Jewish traditions to end up with the love of her life. I did not want this book to end. I wanted more. I was very pleased with the ending, but I just wish the love that was planted in such a harsh time would have had the opportunity to have been lived to the fullest instead of just a brief precious time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

There are a lot of historical fiction books surrounding WWII and most of them follow male characters that are fighting in the war. Kristin Harmel’s The Book of Lost Names takes a WWII historical fiction book and turns it into something incredibly unique for a genre that can often seem overdone. Harmel takes aspects of a true story to create an incredible tale filled with action, passion, and love during one of the darkest times in human history. Eva Traube is a French born Jewish woman living with her parents who left Poland years before to hopefully start a new life in France. As the Nazi’s begin invading Paris, Eva and her mother flee and end up in a small town in what was called the Free Zone. Eva finds herself helping a network of underground people forge documents for Jewish children so that they can smuggle them into Switzerland where they will be able to live a free life. In the process of doing so, Eva creates a book with a code alongside her partner, the handsome Rémy, where they are able to preserve the real names of the children. Sixty years later after Eva thought that the book was stolen by the Nazi’s and gone forever, she sees an article with her book and hops on the next plane to be able to reclaim it.

Harmel has created a slew of characters that at times can have different names because of the forgery that Eva and Rémy are doing to protect children. Even though some characters names change a few times throughout the story, Harmel manages to keep the reader in the loop of what is going on without causing confusion and without missing a beat. Each of the characters in The Book of Lost Names is well developed with solid storylines and keeps the reader guessing what’s going to happen next. Eva and Rémy have a close connection throughout the story and Harmel does an excellent job at pulling at the reader’s heartstrings as the potential love story evolves throughout The Book of Lost Names. Eva’s story has been written in both the “now” and the “then”, with Eva’s “now” being in the first person and Eva’s “then” being in the third person. Eva’s character is written this way so that the older and younger versions of Eva are clearly the same person shown from two perspectives; it is excellent.

Harmel has written a brilliant historical fiction novel that is based on actual events from WWII. It is clear to the reader that a lot of research has been conducted, which in turn has made for a wonderful piece of historical fiction with facts sewn in. The Book of Lost Names shines light on a part of WWII that is not normal focused on and because of that it becomes and incredibly engaging story that will keep the reader engrossed until the very end. Harmel’s writing is near flawless and because of that there is no redundancy and words and sentences flow together effortlessly. Historical fiction, particularly fiction about WWII seems to be overdone and retold over and over. The reader is shown that there are parts of history that have yet to be told and a story about forgery and saving innocent children’s lives can be just as action packed as a story based on the front lines.

I was left weeping and celebrating all at the same time! “The Book of Lost Names” pulled out emotions in me that were so intense I felt a true desire to do better, be better….Like Eva!!

When such raw beauty & awe resonates from the pages of a novel, it is because authors like Kristin Harmel can take a character like Eva and make her feel so real to us that we want to reach out and hug her in gratitude!

With the most tender kind of writing for a time in our history where the suffering was intensely exquisite, Kristin Hormel writes with delicacy and in such a warm way that this entire story leaves you breathless, closing the book grateful for knowing this part of history.

I am very grateful for all that I learned! Not only about history, but humanity and it’s desire to rise above darkness and truly be a bright light!

Eva and “The Book of Lost Names” is forever imprinted upon my heart. Like a tattoo! As I am sure the true forgers had imprinted themselves on the hearts of so many children.

Bravo, Kristin Harmel! You took a cold, dark time and made it feel warm because of the hope of the people!

Any Child with a Lost Name would be proud to read this novel and keep it close!

I received a copy of this book from the publishers through Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Did you like a book if you cried your eyes out for the last 10% of it? The answer is "Yes". I stayed up way past my bedtime finishing this one!

I really enjoyed Kristin Harmel's latest WWII novel. This time around it centers around Eva Traube, a young woman in Nazi-occupied Paris, who has to flee the city with her mother, days after the Parisian Jews (Eva's father included) were rounded up by Nazis. She finds herself enthralled in the Underground organization as a forger, forging for the fleeing refugees trying to get out of France. Meanwhile, she finds herself falling in love with another in the organization. Torn between respecting her parent's marital expectations and following her heart, she must navigate all those stresses whilst turning around false documents.

Harmel's writing is so easy to read! She is able to establish the most beloved characters...and wow, she loves a tragic love story.



SPOILERS:
The only thing that irked me with this is the fact that she lived her whole life without REMY & that just absolutely broke my heart. I get that was the point but how incredibly tragic. All that time they missed together!

“Who will remember us? Who will care?”

The Book of Lost Names is a heart-wrenching take of courage and love in unimaginable circumstances.

Eva Traube and her mother have no choice but to flee Paris in 1942 after the arrest of Eva’s father during the mass Jewish roundup by the French police and Nazis. Both mother and daughter flee to the Free Zone and the town of Aurignon under false identification that Eva herself forged. Once arrived in the Free Zone, Eva and her mother are both taken in by strangers who are willing to risk their lives in order to save the lives of others. Early on wise members of the French Resistance discover that Eva is a true artist that has an eye to create forged documents, and is brought into their fold by a kind Catholic priest that becomes a stand-in father figure for Eva as she struggles with her life during the war.

From there, Eva begins to help by forging documentation as fast as she can for Jewish children, resistance members, downed pilots and more in order to help save lives. Eva feels that by giving the Jewish children new identities she is in fact erasing their heritage, and finds herself constantly asking, “Who will remember them?” In order to hopefully preserve something of their previous lives before the Nazi occupation, Eva and co-forger Remy develop a secret code to document the true names of each child and place their true identities in an ancient religious book…aptly nicknamed The Book of Lost Names.

I truly loved following this story and following Eva through all the twists, turns and inner conflict she had to not only endure, but endure as a very young woman risking her life. Harmel writes realistic characters that have flaws and face real personal challenges. I was drawn to each characters fullness and complexity. You could feel the humanity and love that was put into writing each character, and this brought life and breath into the book itself. In general, I found myself lost and fully immersed in each character as I cried for them, wished their death, or even just wanted to reach into the pages of the book to hold their hand in support.

Harmel also gives the reader an accurate picture of what life was like and some of the challenges a master forger had to overcome during the Nazi occupation of France in order to create documents that would help save thousands of lives. You could tell that a lot of research was done in order to create accurate descriptions of the all the documentation one needed during this time period in order to just survive under the Nazis.
This was a riveting story that told the tale of several forgers, members of the French Resistance and common citizens who were there to help protect those in need during a time when common decency seemed lost. Harmel was able to highlight those who still had heart, bravery, faith and strength in order to create a heartwarming story that will have you turning the pages without feeling bogged down.

If you enjoyed The Paris Children, The Nightingale, or are looking for an excellent book club read, please pick this book up and dive into the pages of a beautifully written story.

Thank you Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for this advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Otto Kuhn, a librarian in Berlin has made it his mission to return books looted by the Nazis. When 86 year old Eva Abrams sees a photograph of a book in the New York Times, a book that is truly special to her, she makes a split second decision to fly to Berlin to retrieve it. From there the story is told in two time frames, 1942 through the end of WWII, and in 2005, present day. When Germany takes over France in 1942, Eva’s father is taken in a nightly roundup, leaving Eva and her mother behind. Eva then must follow his advice and meet with his employer, who in turn gives her the means to escape the Nazis. When they travel to the small town of Aurignon, little else is on Eva’s mind except plotting to save her father. When Eva meets a kindly priest she is soon using her artistic talents to forge identification documents that help hundreds of children safely cross the border into Switzerland, but Eva does not want them to lose their real names and with the help of her colleague, Remy, comes up with a code entered in a book in hopes that at the end of the war she will be able to reunite them with their families. A story of heartbreak, love, betrayal and hope, this beautifully written book is based on a true story of a young woman who defies the odds. A heart touching story about a remarkable young women that you won’t soon forget❣️

What an absolutely stunning novel. I was so close to getting through it without a tear... and then the floodgates opened as Kristin Harmel added her final beautiful touch. As the description notes, this novel was inspired by a true story during World War II - and what an incredible job the author did of weaving in a heartfelt tale amid the harsh reality. As I often muse, well-written historical fiction can pack a punch, and this novel does just that. This is Ms. Harmel's 5th novel about World War II, and I am impressed at how she is able to find little-known facts to shed light on despite the genre being so saturated.

Eva is a young lady who discovers that her artistic talent can be of great use in the resistance. Finding solace in her knowledge that she is helping Jewish children escape to Switzerland, Eva risks her own safety and well-being. Her main goal is to do what she can to not only save the children's lives, but preserve their true identity. Along the way, she finds true love, discovers her own strength, and comes face to face with the two extremes of human nature.

Harmel's characters are endearing and incredibly well fleshed out. I finished the book with an ache in my heart for sweet Eva and beloved Remy, who felt like dear friends to me by the end. Bravo Kristin Harmel - you have a new fan!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for gifting me with this advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review. Release date is July 21st!

Check out more of my reviews at mamasgottaread.blogspot.com or follow me on Instagram @mamasgottaread

The book of lost names is the perfect combination of the love of books and a well written and gripping story.
It is a captivating story about loss and injustice, and heartbreak. Nevertheless, it is also a story about love, courage, and strength.
Eva’s story is one of struggle. She has lost many things but she tries to do some good by helping those in need, by using the talent she was given. The story about forgery and the passing of children somewhere safe is one I did not know of before and I was glad to find interesting facts and some based-in-a-true-story part that was accurate. All of that intertwined with a story about hope. The author certainly knew how to add the right elements in the right combination. Her words trap you inside of the story and they guide you through moments full of heartbreak and full of sweetness as well.
It breaks your heart to think about the need to forge papers to keep people safe, the need to hide and save kids who lost their families. As I have said before, historical fiction (although, and unfortunately, it is on rare occasions just fiction) is one of my favorite genres because we get to see some silver lining. WWII was a terrible moment, one of the worst events in history, but there were still good people out there and it is nice to see that side too.
I loved so many quotes and passages of the book that I would not finish writing them. I liked the characters, especially Eva and Rémy. The ending had me in tears and the author’s note was just the right way to complement the story (and it has increased my reading pile with Kristin Harmel’s suggestions).
I have to confess it is the first book by Kristin Harmel that I read; although I have all of her other books on my wishlist, and now I cannot understand why I have not read them yet. I will have to fix that soon and keep an eye on her upcoming books.

Another amazing historical fiction written by Kristin Harmel! I read so many books based during WWII and this one definitely stands out from the crowd.

Kristin Harmel is a skilled writer when it comes to novels about the Holocaust, and The Book of Lost Names is further proof of this, ranking up there with The Sweetness of Forgetting and The Room on Rue Amelie.

It was fascinating to learn how the forgers worked. They had such interesting tricks, even though one of them involved a bad odor as a result. Kristin did a great job researching for this novel and providing so many details. I would have liked to see pictures of how the printing materials worked, but Kristin gave us some great imagery so that I could guess what everything looked like. I also felt like I was right there with all of the characters.

The story was sad at times and uplifting, as well. I felt frustrated for Eva when her mom was giving her a lot of push back for every decision she made. It was a bit hard for me to invest in Eva's love for Remy when we were told at the beginning that she ended up with someone else. I was also focused on Eva finding her father and getting everyone to safety. While one aspect of the story felt predictable to me, I also did not expect some parts to happen at all.

This was an extremely memorable Holocaust story about something that I didn't know before. I enjoyed getting to know Eva during her journey and hope you will too.

Movie casting suggestions:
Eva: Garance Marillier
Mamusia: Bianca Kajlich
Remy: Stanley Weber
Joseph: Ronen Rubinstein
Pere Clement: Sebastian Roché
Genevieve: Elizabeth Debicki
Madame Barbier: Catherine Deneuve

This was not a fast read for me. But the characters are well developed and lend themselves to a involved story. I was drawn into the plot and very interested to see where it would go. For historical fiction this fills a lot of lists and I will definitely be recommending it to my book club.

Based loosely on the true stories of forgers during WWII, this historical fiction novel follows Eva Traube, a Parisian Jew who flees south to with her mother when her father is arrested & deported. Using some of her artistic talents, she manages to make them convincing forged documents to aid their journey which pulls her into a role with the Resistance she never expected.⁣
⁣
I went into this with a bit of trepidation because I love WWII historical fiction, but the genre is a bit saturated. I was pleased that this book ended up feeling gripping and new and not trite. I particularly enjoyed it having recently read The Woman of No Importance which gave me a bunch of context for Free Zone France during the war. The characters are dynamic and believable and the plot moves at a steady clip. ⁣
⁣
My only two critiques: I found the “twist” pretty predictable and the tension with Eva’s mother really wore on me. I wanted even a brief moment of familial reprieve for them both! Otherwise, I found it enjoyable and would recommend. ⁣

✔️ Read this one if you:⁣
- Like stories based in historical true stories, especially around Resistance in WWII⁣
- Appreciate principled but human characters ⁣
- Enjoy books with a then-and-now back-and-forth structure ⁣
⁣
〰️ Skip it if you:⁣
- Have had your fill of WWII fiction ⁣
- Would be disappointed if a book twist wasn’t particularly shocking⁣

5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. If I could give this book more than 5 stars I would! I never thought I’d be such a fan of historical fiction but after reading The Nightingale, Tattooist of Auschwitz, Cilka’s Journey and They Went Left (just to name a few), it’s become my new favorite genre. Today I think Kristin Harmel’s, The Book Of Lost Names, has taken the top spot in my list of favorites. I absolutely adored everything about this book: the cover, the characters, the story, the writing...EVERYTHING!! It was so good that I finished it in less than 2 days. It was so hard to put down and when I did put it down it was only because I didn’t want to rush reading it and for it be over. I loved Eva’s character and Remy. There is so much that I want to say about the story and how it unfolds but I hate spoilers in reviews so I’m just going to say that if you love historical fiction/WWII books, and you are a fan of any that I mentioned above, then you NEED to read this one! You will not be sorry! This one will be staying with me for a very long time. It was my first Kristin Harmel book but will definitely not be my last!

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

To see more of my reviews, check out my Goodreads and Instagram profiles:
*Goodreads - Cherihy808
*Instagram - bookworm_traveler808

I'm a sucker for historical fiction, especially WWII era. The more basis in fact, the better. I'm not sure how much of The Book of Lost Names is fact, and how much of it has been lost to tell the story. The ending in particular seemed like such a fantastic coincidence that it couldn't possibly be true. I have no idea whether it was.

That said, this is a fabulous story spotlighting some of the lesser known heroes of WWII: the forgers of identity papers. It shows how Eva fell into the work and her ambivalence over continuing in the face of her mother's disapproval. Many books like these are so dry they are a chore to read. I fairly raced though the pages of The Book because I couldn't wait to see what happened next. Characters felt like people I might have known had I lived in that time.

This is one I wouldn't hesitate to recommend.

*My thanks to Gallery Books and Netgalley; ARC provided in exchange for agreement to review. As always, my opinions are my own!*