I flew through this book in two days. I enjoyed the view of WWII through a forger's eyes. There was a sliver of a love story woven through the book, but it did not overtake the whole story. This book gave a glimpse into life for a forger during WWII in Southern France. I would recommend to family and friends.

Thank you to Galley Books and Kristin Harmel for this wonderful read. Only recently have we begun to be exposed to the many women who did their part to fight Nazism during WWII - The Book of Lost Names gives a voice to some of these fighters. Through Eva we see first hand how anyone can do their part - it’s only a matter of how much you’re willing to risk - family, security, and even true love. The part Eva played can be measured in the 100s of lives she saved and the future generations that exist because of her efforts. Mazal Tov Ms. Harmel on a brilliant book.

Move over Kristin Hannah and make way for Kristin Harmel. I’ve read three of Kristin Harmel’s books and, like the others, I absolutely loved her newest novel, The Book of Lost Names. It reminded me a lot of The Nightingale, one of my favorite books and was reminiscent of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code. The Book of Lost Names is chock-full of suspense, romance and treachery. Set in Paris and a small fictional town in Vichy, France, Harmel delivers a fascinating slice of little-known WW II history—the story of Nazi looted books and document forgers whose courageous, but dangerous, work helped save the lives of thousands of children. This page-turner is full of plot twists and it features what might be my new favorite ending of all times. In addition to a well-written, well-researched, compelling story and a formidable cast of characters, the love of books, reading and libraries is a shining theme that pervades the novel.
Marilyn Baron, Immediate past chair Roswell Reads, One City-One Read Program

This is what you want historical fiction to be! Perfectly captures Eva's depth of humanity and hopes as an uncertain world evolves around here, guiding her steps. I was so moved at many points, I had to put the book down. In a good way. Settings came alive, character interactions left me breathless, and I came away with a sense of knowing this character, having hope, knowing that it all can come together. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy of this gem for review. I will read more of Harmel's works, for sure.

Received this book from Net Gallery and by almeans,this was a fantastic read! I learn more and more ever time I read history and this is a very well researched and written book about this certain time in history. During WWII, has a had to be changed to protect people and children,but kept a book on their real names.One woman with help did this but she tells her story of why,what and who of why this book was made,where it is. Listen to her fantastic story of what was done to change people's lives. This was very well researched and you can tell with the wonderful flow of her writing and story! Pay attention as you read,but it's outlined so beautifully! I will be reading more of Kristin Harmel stories. Enjoy and hold on to soon tissues!

I love historical fiction that gives wonderfully accurate accounts of history. This felt so real and raw. I enjoyed that the main character was looking back on the past too instead of living through it in the current moment.

I absolutely loved this book! I feel like many historical fiction books are often the same and this one felt different. I loved the love story aspect but also felt like this showed a different side of WWII heroes that we typically don't see in historical fiction. I was also engaged with the different timelines! I fell in love with Remy!

Five wonderful, emotional., lovely stars to Kristin Harmel’s, The Book of Lost Names! As usual, her books never disappoint and this one was so beautiful written, I couldn’t put it down.

Eva and Remy’s relationship tugged on my heartstrings throughout the novel, and I was hoping against hope that their ending would be happy. I so enjoyed reading about the forger’s job during the war, as it is not written about often as the main subject.

Themes of humanity and love are woven throughout the book, and Harmel’s writing style is so easy to devour. I love all of her books and this one will go right to the top of the list as a favorite.

I recommend this book to everyone that loves this genre of historical fiction set during WWII with an excellent plot and a bit of romance.

The Book of Lost Names is another one of the current plethora of WWII novels featuring women protagonists. Eighty-six-year-old librarian, Eva has secrets and rediscovers a book that she thought was lost forever. She packs up and flies off to Berlin by herself. The story mostly takes place from 1942-1945 in Europe.

Harmel’s writing is straightforward and easy to understand. I did not get emotionally involved with the characters as I have with some of the better books in this genre. Descriptive writing is not overly done and brings in many of the senses. Pseudo suspense is created at the end of chapters. “He disappeared back into the depths of the church, leaving her alone with her racing thoughts.”

The story about creating fake papers and the pacing are very good. I found that Mamusia was too whiny, and Eva was too naïve. The characters were not nuanced enough. Some phrases were too cliché. “There was nothing to do but walk into the fire and hope she wasn’t burned alive.” The book is more like a Hallmark Channel show than a breath-taking movie.

As most books of this ilk, there is a romantic interest. We know from ‘old Eva’ that her love, Remy, did not survive the war. Remy said, "If I die for France, it won’t be a life lost. It will be a country saved. My only regret will be that it will cost me the chance for a future with you.” Saccharine, if you like things extra sweet.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Retired librarian, Eva Traube Abrams is shelving books in a Florida library when she sees an article about a newly discovered book in a German library. Could it be the book from her days in wartime France? Eva is propelled to seek out the truth and flies to Germany Retired librarian to discover if this is her Book of Lost Names.

But that is the present. Kristin Harmel uses a dual timeline to take the reader back to Paris where Eva lived with her parents in the early 1940s. Eva must flee the city as Jews are being rounded up by the Nazis. Her escape to the mountains of Vichy France leads her to develop an unexpected skill – forging of documents for children who are being smuggled into Switzerland. This means the children will be given new identities…..and lose their old Jewish ones. But Eva wants to preserve the names, in case the children can be found after the war and reunited with family.

The book is somewhat slow and predictable in the beginning, but the introduction of other characters builds the drama as Eva becomes more enmeshed and imperiled in her newly found calling. This is a solid addition to wartime French books featuring an intrepid young woman. Better still, it is inspired by a true story. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this title. Recommended.

Thanks for the ARC. I think after this book I'm done with WWII books. There are so many out there now. This was a very interesting read.

I was so happy to see that Kristin Harmel had written another book. I really liked The Winemaker's Wife. She brings to life the dark years of the Nazi occupation of France and the courageous and flawed French Resistance that fought a covert and dangerous war to take back their country.

Eva lives with her Jewish Polish-born parents in Paris. She works at a famous library and loves books. Her father is swept up in the Nazi roundup of Jews and sent to Auschwitz. Eva and her mother manage to escape with the help of the man that her father worked for and Eva's skill as an artist (and she discovers, a forger). They arrive in a tiny village south of Vichy in the Free Zone and Eva is recruited by the local Resistance to create forged documents to allow Jewish children to escape to Switzerland. Eva learns to trust a few of the locals, including the Catholic priest and the landlady of her boarding house. She also learns to trust Remy, another member of the Resistance who teaches her some of the minutiae of forgery. Eva is also reunited with a friend from her days in Paris who is also in the Resistance. At first, Eva can only think of getting her and her Mother to safety, but it's not long before she realizes that she is helping many to escape to safety and life. She is greatly troubled by the fact that her forged documents erase the history and families of the children, some too young to know who they are. Eva comes up with an ingenious way to record the real names of the children as well as their new identities in a Book of Lost Names.

Fast forward 60 years and Eva is an old, retired librarian living in Florida. She has built a new life with a son she loves, but doesn't always understand. She sees a piece in a newspaper about a book with a mysterious code that no one can decipher left on a table at the library she still works at and she knows she is the only person in the world that knows this is the Book of Lost Names. She travels to Berlin and makes a joyful discovery. This story is about the tragedy of the Nazi campaign to exterminate an entire group of people, the work of others the prevent that erasure and the bravery of the people that worked to sabotage and prevent that campaign from being successful.

I'm appreciative to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

I really enjoyed this book. I have been trying to read more historical fiction and this is exactly what I was looking for. I have only cried reading one book in my life and this book brought some tears to my eyes. I am really interested in reading other stories by this author. I felt really connected to the characters, especially Eva. This was a 5 star read for me!

Just so you know, I don't give 5 stars lightly. I enjoy reading stories about WWII and especially about women during that time period, and even more so when it's based on a true story. Ms. Harmel has definitely done her homework on this one, resulting in an engrossing, entertaining, and educational read.

Eva Traube is a young Jewish girl living with her parents in Paris and attending college classes when she is told by a classmate that the Germans will be rounding up Parisian Jews very soon. Eva doesn't completely believe him and is horrified when she sees her own father dragged out of their apartment while she and her mother are visiting a neighbor. Her father had told her to go see his employer if anything ever happened to him, so Eva does that and is told that she and her mother need to leave Paris immediately for a small village far away. She forges documents to get herself and her mother out of Paris and into the small village, where she eventually finds herself working with members of the French Resistance. She discovers new, more efficient ways to forge official documents and saves many Jews this way. Along the way she deals with a bitter mother, a burgeoning romance, and the constant danger of being discovered.

I was not aware of the many forgers who worked during WWII to help Jews escape and I loved learning the ways they foiled the German invaders. The author does a great job of bringing these characters to life and making them believable as well as sympathetic. The tension over possible discovery and the inevitable consequences kept me turning pages.

Kristin Harmel's The Book of Lost Names follows the story of a young Jewish woman Eva, who flees occupied Paris with her mother and escapes to a small village with strong ties to the resistance. Eva has discovered she has a knack for forging official documents—everything from travel papers to library cards—that those trying to avoid the Nazis desperately need. Those she works with are largely Catholic, which sets up the novel's primary struggle. As Eva creates documents to help Jewish children and other escape from France to Switzerland, her world widens, while her mother's grows increasingly narrow. Eva's mother become increasingly critical of her work, claiming that her collaboration with Catholics is a betrayal of her Jewish identity. This criticism intensifies when Eva begins to feel attracted to one of her resistance colleagues.

The novel operates on a dual timeline: a third-person narrative recounting the story of Eva's resistance work and a first-person present-day narrative in which Eva reflects on her life. The juxtaposition of the two narratives makes Eva's story more complex and allows readers to ponder how the Eva of WWII because the aging Eva of the present day.

Occasionally as I read this novel, I was frustrated by Eva's vacillation in response to her mother's criticism. Eva knows the resistance work she does is important, but cannot take a definitive stand that this work is part of her Jewish identity, not a betrayal of it.

This engaging novel, with original elements, is well worth reading—both for lovers of fiction and those interested in WWII history. The author provides and epilogue listing the sources she used and describing some of Eva's real-life counterparts.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title for review purposes. The opinions are my own.

Im getting weary of WWII novels with female resistence fighters so my rating probably is harsher than it would be if id come at the subject fresh. Just seemed a bit predictable and lacking enough substance to keep me fully engaged.

There are so many stories about the Holocaust, each one is unique but also familiar. The Book of Lost Names is commendable for combining a tale of forgery with a love story; a story of human growth with the challenges of family conflict. It’s an engaging story. After her father is arrested by the Nazis, Eva and her mother have a harrowing escape from Paris to the supposedly safer Vichy-controlled south of France. It is there that Eva joins a small group of forgers working to rescue hundreds of Jewish children and resisters from the Nazis. Eva faces conflict between rescuing her father, meeting her mother’s expectations, and following her own instincts. Eva is determined that the children she is helping not lose their original identity and thus initiates The Book of Lost Names. While I thought this was a good read, there are several things that prevented it from being a great read. Eva’s mother was developed as a selfish constantly complaining one-dimensional figures until a rather complete turn-around at the end. Eva often did not seem capable of making well-considered decisions. The ending was unrealistic and unbelievable. [spoiler] I was particularly troubled that Eva exerted so much effort to maintain The Book of Lost Names and yet it takes decades for her to tell anyone about it. That just doesn’t ring true. And, finally, there is another recently excellent novel published entitled The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate. There is no connection between them but it is a shame that the titles are too similar. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love this author and this was a good addition to her books .
I loved the setting and the characters.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book

The Book of Lost Names offers a captivating glimpse of the French Resistance during World War II--particularly those cells dedicated to producing forged documents. The story is told through the eyes of Eva, a Jewish Parisian woman who flees to the South, only to become a forger after the quality of her self-produced documents catches the attention of a local Resistance cell headed by the town priest. The novel is fast-paced and the characters are engaging. While the dialogue is occasionally a bit tinny and overwrought, the overall story is a winner, shedding light on a particular facet of the Resistance seldom addressed in historical fiction. Although I have become tired of authors casting their historical writing as flashbacks framed by the present, the device works well here. The author managed to sustain tension deftly in both the (near) present and the past and I did not find myself skimming the modern chapters to get back to the historical ones. Overall, The Book of Lost Names is readable, interesting, and well worth a few hours on a weekend.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read The Book of Lost Names by Kristsin Harmel. I've read several books about World War II recently and this one was one of the best. Eva is an semi-retired, octegenarian librarian. The people she works with don't value her and see her as little more than a sweet old lady. While working in the library, Eva sees a magazine article about a man who is trying to return books stolen by the Nazis back to their true owners. Eva recognizes a book. As she travels to Berlin, Eva remembers her past. She worked with the French Resistance and saved numerous Jewish children and adults during the war. The book has special memories and is much more meaningful than just a book.