The Forgotten Names is one of the most engrossing books I've ever read (and I read at least 150 books a year.) I was born two weeks before the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the event that forced the United States to enter World War II. One of my first memories is that of my father and uncles returning from the war, so the chaos of life during WWII has always held great fascination for me. The recovery from that war provided the context of my childhood.

This story brings to light one amazing example of the heroism of good people who band together to save the most vulnerable from the unchecked power of evil. There are so many stories of good conquering evil, but this is one of the most memorable. It is a story of redemption, selflessness, and eternal good. It is a story that shows how ordinary people often show extraordinary courage and creativity when they are faced with seemingly unconquerable odds. Simultaneous to the horrifying and edifying story unfolding in 1942, the author tells of a modern-day heroine who determines to give back to those rescued children their heritage and their names that were lost in 1942 to save their lives.

This story is so remarkable it would likely touch readers even if told badly; but, thankfully, a very skilled writer spent the time and energy needed to research and write, revise, edit, and polish a profoundly evocative account of this amazing side-story of World War II.

I received an e-arc of this book through Netgalley. I have read several of Mario Escobar's books and have found them to be well-researched and well-written as well as hard to put down. I read this in one afternoon, mostly because it was an emotional read for me as a mother to read about the transports to work camps and the likely deaths of the Jewish children. The parents sign away their rights to the children in an attempt to get exemptions for their children to be left behind in France and not be sent out of the country. It's really a heartbreaking read that the Nazis were willing to murder children on top of the other atrocities they committed. The bright light and hope in this book are the adults who risked their own lives to save these 108 children.

When I see Mario Escobar has a new book available I simply have to get it, he never missed a beat and has always giving us historical facts mixed into a good story. Again he didn’t fail...

The story in a few words:

August 1942

French parents were faced with a horrible choice: watch their children die, or abandon them forever. To save them, Jewish mothers of Vénissieux were asked to make the ultimate sacrifice of abandoning them forever. The result of a coordinated effort by clergy, civilians, the French Resistance and members of other humanitarian organizations 108 children somehow managed to escape deportation and certain death in the German concentration camps.

Early 1990’s

Student Valérie Portheret in the midst of doing her doctoral research into the 108 children who disappeared from Vénissieux fifty years earlier made it her mission to match the abandoned names with the people they belong to. It took her a twenty-five year journey to allow the children to reclaim their heritage and remember their forgotten names.

My thoughts:

Told in dual timelines this account of true events is both sad and captivating. It is very well-said to keep our interest at its peak and us pushing on. It is chilling story that places us in the zone where Klaus Barbie was the German commander who ruled Lyon, France with an iron fist and did not hesitated to torture anyone. We do have graphic scenes to make the point. Of course this story is not fun to read, seeing the Jewish population hunted and shipped to concentration and children taken from their parents in order to save them is heartbreaking.

Although the conversation is fictionalized and the timeline may be out of sync, the characters are real and the events well documented. The timeline for those who hate this, the back and forth is on occasion and I felt it did not interfered with the flow. The chapters are short and the narration active. “The Forgotten Names” is well-said and well-done.

This is the rare historical novel that emphasizes the history but also works on the narrative through lines. There are two: the time around 1942 and the rise of Nazi control of the area around Lyon France, and the efforts of some very otherwise ordinary people to protect about 100 children from being exported to the death camps. These 100 form the basis of the novel's title and the second time period of the current era when a French law student takes it upon herself to document who was involved and to try to reconnect with them and recognize what they went through. The book documents how everyday people performed heroic acts but were lost to the sands of time and shifting circumstances. Most of us are familiar with the actions of Schindler in Poland to save hundreds of Jews but the efforts of the Venissieux neighbors who managed to convince parents to relinquish their rights as they were being rounded up by the Nazi deserves to be told. The parents knew that many of them would never see their kids every again, although a few did survive the death camps and were eventually reunited. The book's power is in its verisimilitude and the very real people -- although of course the dialogue and some of the events have been created to fit the narrative. If you are a fan of historical fiction, or WWII-era stories, this book is a must read.

The story is based on the heroic French citizens who saved the Jewish children from transport and Klaus Barbie's ongoing hunt to find the children and the ultimate torture of the few adults he was able to find to obtain information.

The flow of the story is a bit choppy and I kept thinking it needed more editing, but it may be the translation from the original Spanish. It provides the facts but I felt like I was reading a school report of events at times. I hope that it will be edited before final printing.

The story is amazing and left me with more questions and I'll be reading more accounts about these events.

The Forgotten Names is a story of compassion and determination set against one of history’s darkest hours. Compassion for the innocent and determination to save as many possible fueled some heroic acts in France during WWII. This is one of those stories.

When graduate student Valerie begins work on her doctoral thesis, she dedicates herself to uncovering the names of 108 children who were saved from deportation when the German’s implemented their plans to rid Europe of the Jewish population. She learns of a small group of resistance workers who raced against the clock to get parents to sign away their parental rights in an effort to save their children from deportation and certain death. Valerie spends years trying to find these children and have their story told.

This story will keep you on the edge of your seat from the very first page. It reminds you that not everyone in Nazi occupied Europe was bad, in fact so much good took place albeit in secrecy because the consequences could have been deadly. It’s stories like this that remain with you long after you read it. The unsung heroes and the innocent lives that were saved because of their efforts need to be recognized. It’s amazing how through works of fiction, they can be!

Thank you so much to Mario Escobar, Harper Muse and NetGalley for early access to this amazing story!

This is a true historical account of members of the French Resistance hiding and aidindg 108 children who were scheduled to be deported from Lyon France in August 1942. This occurred during when Klaus Barbie was the German commander in the area. This was in the interment camp near Lhon France where families were waiting their fate. By using a French law members were able to obtain signatures from the parents absolving their parental rights and therefore letting the children be orphans.
How we know about this is due to Valerie Porthret who at first wanted to base her thesis about the trial of Klaus Barbie which had occurred in the late 1980s. However, after she found out about the children she decided to change her thesis and write about the children and vowed to find them and give them their real names.

Mario Escobar does research about Valerie and the members of the Resistance. He gives a detailed account on what happened on August 1942 and what hat happened to the children.

I highly recommend this book . I would hope the reader would go beyond the Epilogue and find out more information about Valerie Portheret, the children, and the other members of the team that saved these children

I had a really hard time getting into this book. I was excited to get to read it. Historical fiction is my favorite genre. I think where this book failed me was the changing of characters with each chapter... I just wanted to read the story. I didn't want to have to keep track like that. It became overwhelming trying to keep all the characters separated.

I received a free ARC from Netgalley to give an honest review.

This book is heartbreaking to read, but it is so important that the true history this is based on not be forgotten! The agonies of the Jews being hunted by the Nazis and shipped off to concentration camps is not fun reading. This book centers on Lyon, France, and children who were rescued because their parents gave up their parental rights in order to save their children. The conversations are fictionalized, but many of the characters really lived through that period of World War II. The hope and miraculous deliverances are the bright spots in the story, along with the tale of finding the children who survived. If you can handle reading about the atrocities of the Nazis, the book is well worth reading.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own." #TheForgottenNames #NetGalley

“Maybe war will teach us a lesson. We can’t learn any other way: the lesson that killing one another for our ideas, beliefs, or flags is absurd, because we all belong to the only human race there is, and we’re all brothers and sisters of one another.”

This historical fiction is set in France with a dual timeline. In August of 1942, any Jewish person that had not lived in France before 1936 was to be deported by order of the Third Reich. Vénissieux, an old army artillery, became an internment camp in France for Jewish women, children, and the elderly before being sent to concentration camps in Germany and Poland. In 1942 you meet a cast of characters, all from different backgrounds, all with different beliefs, becoming the Resistance- their one purpose- to save as many people as they could. In 1992 you meet Valérie, she wrote her research project on 108 children that were rescued on one night in August of 1942. The work of the Resistance was tireless and dangerous. In just a couple days time they found a way to save these 108 children. Their fathers, mothers, aunts, uncles, older siblings, grandparents would not be saved.

Although a work of historical fiction, most of the characters are real people who lived this nightmare. As a mother, wife, and human my heart broke reading these stories. Their resolve, conviction, determination, and bravery in the face of tyranny and evil is the definition of heroism.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I typically read a lot of historical fiction, and while topic and plot of this story were interesting and I enjoyed the story itself, the style fell a bit flat for me. The short chapters helped keep the story moving, but there were so many characters that it was a sometimes hard to keep up with. Labeling the points of view would have been nice in addition to the time frame. The characters weren’t too well-developed so there wasn’t much of a personal connection to the individual characters, but the connection to the overall story was still there. Overall this was a good read, and I will continue to read books and stories about the events that occurred during WWII.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This was my first time reading a book from the author but I am delighted to say I thoroughly enjoyed the story and I look forward to reading more books from the writer in the future.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Many thanks to NetGalley, the author and Harper Muse for letting me have a early copy of this book and for letting me give my honest review of this book.

The Forgotten Names is a World War 2 historical fiction book that has been inspired by true events where in August 1942, French parents were faced to either watch their children die or to give them their parental rights to let these children have a chance at life. 108 children managed to escape deportation and death from the German concentration camps. It shows the results of a number of individuals such as clergy, civilians and humanitarian organisations and the French Resistance who risked their lives to save these children. This book shows what these individuals did to save these children where their lives were often on the line. Furthermore, this book also focuses on a law student called Valeire Portheret who looks into these children for her thesis five years after the trial of Klaus Barbie. Valerie strived to help find these children to reclaim their heritage and remember their forgotten names.

When I first started this book, I had no idea about this in World War 2 and was super interested to learn what happened to these children. It is always things like this that are left out of history and is something everyone should know. This book was really hard to put down as you really want to find out what happened to the children. This book really brought some many emotions especially the things that the children and adults did to escape from the work camp. The way the Red Cross allowed this to happen made me so mad but at the same time the French Resistance were only able to do so much themselves.

Unfornately despite it being an interesting topic for the story, it did fall flat for me. The short chapters really kept you engaged but there were so many characters that it was really hard to keep up with. It would have been helpful if the author had labelled who's point of view it was instead of including multiple ones. Multiple times, there were a lot of children being introduced in one chapter. I feel like if a few of the children were focused on it would have made it less confusing. The short chapters also meant that you were not able to connect with the characters. As a result, it felt quite choppy and abrupt because as soon as you finished one point of view you were quickly whisked to another after three pages. In some cases, personally I did not feel that some of the point of views were needed.

Some of the characters did not feel as important and were only mentioned maybe once or twice in the book. Despite them not being important, the author included a lot of history about characters which really felt journalistic. It felt like it was a history lesson. It could have been a lot less and made it flow a lot better. This was especially the case for the ones who helped the children. Despite Valerie helping to locate these children, she is only seen in the book a handful of times to do some research and seminars. I really felt like you do not get to know this character at all despite being the main character. This made the ending super disappointing and out of the many characters introduced you only knew what happened to a few of them.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! Just when I thought the atrocities committed by the nazis couldn’t get any worse, I read another novel which highlights yet another of their policies which sicken me. The Forgotten Names by Mario Escobar brings to light another of these senseless, heartbreaking policies-Jewish deportation quotas. Yes, you read that right. It’s not only sickening, it’s also heartbreaking. The story centers around a policy in which a quota of deportees needed to be met by the French government in order to be able to maintain their free zone. However, the church, as well as several members of the resistance, just couldn’t accept that. They took it upon themselves to have parents relinquish their parental rights in order to save their children’s lives. It was both surreal and heartbreaking. To think that one man had the power to lead others to blindly follow his orders out of fear for their own lives as well as their families. I found the parallels the author drew between the deportation of the Jewish people and the Old Testament to be very eye opening. Overall, an incredible true story about courageous people who risked their lives to save the children of Vénissieux.

The topic and plot of this story were amazing. I’m not sure if it was the characters or the writing style but I couldn’t get into this one. The storyline structure was kind of all over the place and didn’t seem to flow well. I got the basic priming I wish it was easier to flow and gain relationships with. It was a really promising story but just fell short.

I did enjoy the book. I found some parts hard to get thru tho, sometimes I had to go back to who was who. To understand where I was. But the story itself was very interesting. Understanding and caring about everyone who was willing to help the children escape the nazi prison. I couldn’t imagine how the moms had to sign away their children to know they have a chance to survive.
Thank you NetGalley for the advance copy

I am a firm believer that we can never learn too much about the Holocaust. Read this book, savor it. Educate yourself, ask the hard questions, empathize with these people (while they may be fictional- all they endured is not) Eye opening, necessary to confront. Historical Fiction’ will never not be something we must read and soak in.

The Forgotten Names by Mario Escobar is an appalling, yet redemptive story about children during World War II. I have read tons of books on World War II, and every story appears to be a little different. Showing the good and horrors of humanity. As the story is written, there are a number of viewpoints from a good chunk of the rescuers to the children to a priest to a Nazi solder. For a while, it was hard to follow the story. But then I didn’t worry about whose point of view the section was in, I just focused on the time period. Made it so much easier to follow the plot. Again, as someone who reads about these dreadful events, I would hope that if I was put in the same situation that I would stand up for the Jewish people no matter the cost. Escobar does a wonderful job at creating empathy for the characters as he shares their plight with the Nazi’s. Even though the creation of the characters are not really that three-dimensional by learning their backgrounds or what makes them tick, readers can still feel horrified with the terrors that does occur to another human by the hand of another who believes he is superior. There are a number of cuss words. A couple of scenes that allude to horrible situations, so be careful when allowing less mature younger children to read this novel. Overall, The Forgotten Names by Mario Escobar brings to light the saving grace of 108 children who were saved from having to go to the concentration camps even though they had to take on new identities. A wonderful story to read.

I received a complimentary copy of The Forgotten Names by Mario Escobar from Harper Muse Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

I really enjoy stories of strength and hope that came out of the war. I appreciated the topic of this book and found it super interesting! Although it didn’t draw me in as much as some other historical fiction I’ve read, I still really enjoyed this one.

The triumphant story of the French men and women who did everything they could against incredible odds to save the lives of Jewish children from the Nazi Extermination camps.