This is an important art of history. I will say I have read other books where it is written in a more captivating way.

The Forgotten Names is another incredible masterpiece by Mario Escobar about atrocities committed during the Holocaust and WWII. This book is set in 1942 depicting the French resistance and the Butcher of Lyon, Klaus Barbie. Klaus was determined to rid the entire area of any Jew, regardless of age, sex, or disability. Barbie was a ruthless German officer of the Gestapo that was in charge of Vichy, France from 1942-1944, and reading through the thorough historical descriptions depicted by Escobar in this novel, it makes you cringe with disgust to hear that people of such negative character existed to end an entire population of people. The story bounces between two time frames, 1942 and 1992, where a third year law student Valerie Potheret sets out to write her research thesis on Klaus Barbie, but in doing so, identifies there were 108 lost Jewish children of Lyon, and she changes gears to find out what happened to them. Valerie worked for 25 years to find each and every lost and forgotten child on the list of 108 children. She traveled throughout Europe and the Americas and was able to not only find all 108, but also was able to give them back their birth names, for those who could not even remember where they came from before. Such an amazing story of resilience and determination and based on true historical facts! I love these kinds of novels! I learn so much about history and find so much inspiration from reading about the heroes and heroines of the time of WWII. Thank you to Harper Muse for allowing me to listen to the audiobook of The Forgotten Names by Mario Escobar through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you @harpermusebooks for this incredibly moving historical fiction giving the story of Jewish children who were saved from the Nazi's in France.

The dual timeline shares the horrendous decision that French Jews had to make in order to save their children and those who orchestrated this escape, with the law student Valérie Portheret who sought out the names of these children beginning in the 1990's. To hear the statistics is one thing, but to be carried along the steps of the families who lived it is quite another.

I began reading this book when I saw @netgalley offer the audio from @harpercollinsfocus and I was thrilled when I was able to listen as well! Saskia Maarleveld narrates this tale so well. I was pulled in immediately.

For fans of WWII fiction, this will be another stunning portrait of the costs of survival as well as the harrowing risks taken by those who would not look away. At less than 300 pages, this is a faster read with a compelling story.

Wow. Just wow. This was a fantastic listen and I think all fans of historical nonfiction and fiction should listen to this. I of course always recommend to actually read books, but because this takes place in France and also includes some German names it would probably be best to listen to this to hear the proper pronunciations.

This kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time as I couldn’t stop listening, I needed to listen to more. The nature of the time period alone is intense, but the way the author wrote this added to the intensity and suspense in the best way possible. I also appreciated and enjoyed that this is based on real people and their stories and experiences.

I cannot express how much I recommend this to other readers

As thousands of French Jews began to be deported to Germany in August of 1942, social workers attempted to document exemptions for as many as they could. The Germans decided not to accept exemptions for any adults, so the social workers offered the parents a heartbreaking way to keep their children alive and in France. They must be declared unaccompanied. This required parents to sign away their parental rights with the knowledge that they would probably not ever see them again. A harder decision could not be asked of them, yet they realized it was the only way to keep their children alive. These Jewish children were collectively smuggled away to other families through a joint heroic effort by civilians, clergy, French Resistance and social service organizations.

In 1992, a law student, Valérie Portheret, began her doctoral research into the 108 children who disappeared from Vénissieux and escaped deportation. Her research brought her to stowed and forgotten lists of names she began to identify as these same children. She ended up  making this her life’s work to pair these names with the survivors they belonged to. This was no easy task. Her heroic efforts are celebrated in this beautiful story based upon true events.

The audiobook narrated by Saskia Maarleveld is as exceptional as the story itself. Her accent, inflections and portrayal of characters proves to capture the passion that Mario Escobar pens in his stories and bring it to life.

My only misgiving regarding this book is that it contains around five cuss words that, in my opinion, were unnecessary and depicts a closed door scene of an unmarried couple. I received this audiobook from the author/publisher free of charge, with no expectation of a positive review.

As a huge fan of WWII historical fiction books, I have struggled to find books that are written with a new focus on the atrocities that occurred during the Holocaust. I thoroughly enjoyed The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel with a unique view of how innocent children were stripped of their identities during WWII. This book portrays a similar concept. While a sad view into the depravity of humanity, you are also provided a glimpse into the bravery of individuals who were willing to risk everything to save 108 children from the concentration camps. They had to take on new identities, but they were able to survive the atrocities of Hitler’s reign of terror. As a dual time-line book (1942 and 1992), you are also allowed the to get to know Valerie Potheret as she worked tirelessly to complete her doctoral dissertation. Though she initially planned to focus on Klaus Barbie, a truly evil man who inflicted such heinous acts on innocent Jews. The discovery of the box containing 108 names changed the course of her research project and she was determined to locate every child, learning about their story, and giving back their name.

One negative comment is that you do not get an indepth view of the characters, you still can grasp how terror was part of their every waking moment. A story of hope, resilience, and courage, I was touched by the lives of each child who lost their name as well as those who worked hard to save each young person. I continue to be amazed at the strength, resilience, and utter bravery that was demonstrated during the days of WWII. God bless those who were willing to risk everything to save a child.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

For more reviews, please visit my blog at: https://www.msladybugsbookreviews.com/. Over 1000 reviews posted!

Ultimate Sacrifice

Mario Escobar is an excellent author of WWII historical fiction. This is one of those stories he writes. They are all so sad, but they reflect the history as it happened with true events and times as can be in fiction writings. True historical fiction always has some real people and events intertwined with fictional characters and happenings.

This story is of an event which is not so well known but was horrific in its entirety. As the Nazi’s rounded up the foreign Jewish population in France, a town called Lyon resisted. A group of resistance and some catholic priests risked their lives to save 108 Jewish children from certain death.

At the time the Nazi’s were allowing any unattended child to be exempt from the transport to the German Concentration camps. The resistance workers worked well into the night to find all the parents and children in the Venissieux transfer camp. The then had to talk the parents into signing over their parental rights so they could save their children. This was the ultimate sacrifice for these parents. Lose their children forever to save their lives.

Fifty years later a university student Valerie Portheret decides to do her thesis on the life and death of Klaus Barbie “The Butcher of Lyon”. As she is researching and talking to survivors of the war during the holocaust she hears the story of these children which were saved and decides to find every one of these lost children.

It is a sad story, but one which needs to be told. We hear of the horrible deeds of the Nazi’s but not as much of the courageous people who risked their lives to save some of the Jewish population. Many turned their eyes away and some helped the Nazi’s, but there were those few brave souls that knew what was right, moral and saved those they could.

This is the story of the 108 children that were saved in one night from certain death , the people that saved them and the student that was brave enough to tell their story.

I read the book and I listened to the audio book while reading the book. The narrator did a great job, the tempo was right and the voice was easy and pleasant to listen to.

Thanks to Mario Escobar for writing another great story, to Harper Muse for publishing it and to NetGalley for providing me with a copy to read and review.

I received a complimentary copy of this book "The Forgotten Names" and all opinions expressed are my own. I listened to the audiobook. This was interesting and I think for me better listening to it. I like to know more about history and historical times. Overall I liked the book and the narrator was good.

Highly interesting story based on true historical facts and brave, resilient people - and very well researched by the author.

The audio narration was great - the pace, the annunciation and the accents. However, the overall story was a little hard to follow at times - I think due to the choppiness of the short chapters and so many names thrown into the mix.

Thank you to the audio publisher, HarperCollins Focus, for an audio copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I could not stop listening to this to this book. Starting in 1992, law student, Valerie Portheret, researching her thesis, uncovers a list of Jewish children smuggled out from the Nazi's and given new names. The story goes back and forth from 1942 to 1992 which can be a bit confusing, but it was well done. This is a sad and often long told piece of history but one I had never heard before. Parents asked to give up their children to save them from the sure death of a concentration camp to an unknown life. Brave people and their selfless mission to rescue these children make this a must read.
Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy.

The narrator had a very calm, breathy voice. I think they did an excellent job slipping in and out of different accents.

Listening to the audiobook felt a little tricky at times because I would lose track of which POV was happening. Sometimes I noticed the change and others I would think "wait where am I now?"

I think the length of the book was good. Not too long to be exhausting or overwhelming. I will say that while the subject matter is very sad and emotional, I didn't feel as connected as I normally feel when reading books on this topic.

Thank you to NetGalley, Mario Escobar, Saskia Maarleveld, and Harper Collins Focus for the opportunity to listen to The Forgotten Names. I have written this review voluntarily.

This took a little time to get into, but once I had listened a for a few chapters, I was definitely engaged. Heart-wrenching story, based strongly on actual events, of 108 Jewish children who were saved from the Nazi concentration camps by the kindness and sacrifice of others - and the willingness of their parents to relinquish their parental rights, and the people - on both sides of the conflict - who intersected with them. A bit of cursing, and one sexual scene that made me uncomfortable (not explicit), but otherwise, I enjoyed and was wrapped up in the story, though it felt a bit disjointed. I'd never heard of the history behind this, and am so glad I now know, thanks to this story.

Thank you Harper Collins for the #gifted copy to read and review.

For me, if I can’t escape to a fantasy world, I want to read about the hero’s from WW2. This time period always resonates with me, especially if you take me to France.

The Forgotten Names is an incredible, based-on-true-events story of how 108 children were rescued from a concentration camp in 1942.

This story is both heart-warming and devastating. There are so many characters and perspectives. From the clergy to the nazi, the children to the rescuers. Everyone has a story and I was immediately drawn into this book.

The narrator, Saskia Maarleveld, did an incredible job.

4.5 sad but worthy stars! The Forgotten Names was the fourth book that I had the privilege of reading by Mario Escobar. As in his prior books, I learned more about what had occurred during the Holocaust that I had not known about before I read The Forgotten Names. As hard as it was to read about these heart wrenching facts that actually occurred, it is so important. The acts of antisemitism and the determination to permanently eradicate the Jewish people from the face of the earth must never be forgotten or taken lightly. In The Forgotten Names, Mario Escobar, detailed the unselfish acts of the brave citizens of France, local resistance groups, clergy members, social workers and the Red Cross in Vichy, France in August of 1942. Klaus Barbie, better known as the “Butcher of Lyon” was intent on eliminating France of all its Jews regardless of age, gender or any health factors. Barbie was a ruthless German officer of the Gestapo that was in charge of Vichy, France from 1942-1944. No one, not children or the elderly, were safe from his unscrupulous and merciless actions. He was feared by all and for good reasons. Forgotten Names was written in a duel time line alternating between 1942 and 1992. I listened to the audiobook that was narrated by one of my favorite narrators, Saskia Maarleveld. Her performance was amazing and she easily distinguished between the many character's voices.

In 1992, twenty-three year old law student, Valerie Potheret, was trying to decide on her topic for her doctoral thesis. Initially, Valerie settled on researching all the evil that Klaus Barbie inflicted upon the Jewish people that resided in France during World War II. While Valerie was researching all the atrocities that Klaus Barbie inflicted upon the Jews, she discovered a list in a box that contained 108 names. That list piqued Valerie’s curiosity. After seeking out source after source, Valerie finally realized that the list of names belonged to the 108 Jewish children that had simply vanished from the Venissieux internment camp in August of 1942. The French government had kept the names of those innocent children who had been saved from deportation and most probably death hidden for years in the confines of the Chateau de Petrins. They tried to hide those heinous crimes from the world. When Valerie was told whose names were on the list, she knew that she had found the topic for her thesis. Valerie pledged that she would not stop until she located every person on that list. She worked relentlessly for twenty-five years to discover, identify, learn each child’s story and in some instances, give the child back their given name and learn what had become of each of the 108 children who were spared from deportation and most probably death. Valerie traveled tirelessly throughout Europe, Israel and the Americas to locate all of the 108 children.

Back in August 1942, the Jews that remained in Lyon, France had been rounded up and placed in the Venissieux Internment Camp. Klaus Barbie, better known as the “Butcher of Lyon” was intent on deporting all remaining Jews to a camp where they would be exterminated. Klaus Barbie was known to shoot Jews to their deaths and never showed an ounce of remorse. When a group of social workers, members of the local clergy and resistance members found out that the French gendarmes supervised by Klaus Barbie and the Nazis were planning on emptying the internment camp at Venissieux and sending all its prisoners to their death they discovered some “legally recognized exemptions “. The Nazi were not allowed to deport any Jews who were “old, disabled, pregnant, unaccompanied minors and war heroes who had fought in the French army.” Since almost all of the exemptions were being ignored by the French gendarmes, except for unaccompanied children, this brave group of people concentrated on obtaining legal documents for the unaccompanied minors in the hope of getting them out of the internment camp before the deportations started. Social workers tirelessly went from parent to parent begging them to sign documents that would release their rights as parents to their children. Their anguish they must have experienced in doing this must have been the hardest thing they were ever asked to do. There was only two days to accomplish all this. The volunteers designed a document that would legally allow parents to relinquish all their paternal rights and they would plead for the parents to sign it so their child could be saved from a sure death if deported. The children were entrusted to the members of Amitie Chretienne. In all, the volunteers were able to save 108 children.

I can’t even imagine how gut wrenching an act this must have been for each parent as they lost their children that day. When I read some of the exchanges between parent and child as they were about to part from one another, I cried like a baby. That was by far the ultimate sacrifice of a parent. They had to loose their child to save them from death. There were so many brave and courageous people who put their own lives on the line to help save those Jewish children. I admire all that they risked and did to save the lives of those children. Thank goodness that there were kind, loving and brave people who were willing to sacrifice their own safety to take these children into their homes and protect them and grow to love them. The Forgotten Names by Mario Escobar was about hope, resilience, determination, loss of identity, courage and “of the great humanitarian effort” of many. Most of the people mentioned in The Forgotten Names were real. Valerie Portheret really existed and dedicated twenty five years of her life trying to find the children who had vanished from Venissieux. She presented her doctoral thesis after she learned what had happened to all 108 of the children through her research, listening to the stories of the children she found and documenting everything that she learned. What a gift to mankind to have accomplished all that and to have shared her findings with others. Every time I think that I have learned all there is to learn about the Holocaust, a masterful author like Mario Escobar uncovered another atrocity that occurred. The Holocaust was such a tragic time in the history of the world. Stories like The Forgotten Names reminds us that we must remember so that history will never be repeated. I highly recommend The Forgotten Names by Mario Escobar.

Thank you to Harper Muse for allowing me to listen to the audiobook of The Forgotten Names by Mario Escobar through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

1992: Valerie Portheret is working on her thesis and intends to write about “The Butcher of Lyon” Klaus Barbie, who was head of the Gestapo in Vichy, France during their occupation in WWII. Though she knows, his story is morbid and filled with terror and worth remembering if only to insure it never repeats itself, she finds herself drawn the stories of 108 innocent Jewish children who were saved from deportation to Germany one fateful night instead. These children were all given new names and identities and in a matter of hours saved from certain death in concentration camps. Across twenty-five years, one by one, Valerie finds the children to hear their stories, and in some cases inform them of their true identities.

Told in a series of flashbacks to the French resistance members who helped save these children and Klaus Barbie’s own memories as he hunted them across France, we learn about the dangers these men and women encountered to save innocent lives. The details of Barbie’s horrendous acts are hard to hear, but as this story is based on truth, it it’s important to listen. Escobar obviously took great care in his research for this novel, and after several chapters I finally had a handle on the many characters he includes. I’m unsure if it’s because of translation, or if he simply likes to jump right into a story, but I felt there could have been a bit more background on the resistance members to help keep them straight. Once again Saskia Maarleveld does an outstanding job narrating; I could listen to her voice all day.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Collins Focus, and author Mario Escobar for the advanced copy of the audiobook. The Forgotten Names is out now! All opinions are my own.

In 1942, during WWII, mothers were forced to make the most impossible decision, to give up their children in a hope for their survival. 108 children were smuggled from France by the sheer determination and will power of a select few who wanted to save as many lives as they could from the Nazi regime.
In 1992, Valérie Portheret, a law student working on her thesis, stumbled across the 108+ names written in a documentation at Chateau de Peyrins. This event leads Portheret on a 25 year adventure to find all 108 children to right the wrongs that many would like to forget from the Holocaust.
Overall rating 5/5
The dual timeline is an exquisite way to give voices to the victims of such atrocities. This book is a reminder of how a few who fight for what is right can lead to a lasting impact that can span for decades. Thank you to writers like Escobar who remind us of these historical events and the suh brave individuals.

*Thank you Mario Escobar, Netgalley and HarperCollins Focus | Harper Muse for the ARC copy. I am freely leaving my honest review.

I knew a bit about the topic of hiding Jewish children but not this particular event. Valerie is a law student doing research originally on Klaus Barbie but she stumbles upon a list of 108 names of children that were taken from a prison camp and hidden within plain sight by foster families. She makes it her goal to find all of the children whose lives were saved and hear and record their stories. This is a dual storyline with Valerie in 1992 and France in 1942 as told by those adults who risked their lives to save the Jewish children from extermination. Overall I really enjoyed this one!

*4.25 stars*

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollinsFocus and HarperMuse for an ARC of the audiobook.

One thing I know I can count on with a Mario Escobar historical fiction is that it will be thoroughly researched. The Forgotten Names is no exception as Escobar unfolds a story where past characters try to save children born to foreign born Jewish families in France and a present day student tries to locate them under their new names and identities. Based on a real story, The Forgotten Names will leave your heart on the floor on more than one occasion as you can't help but wonder how people could become so cruel.

Narrator Saskia Maarleveld does a fantastic job telling this story with just the right amount of emotional pull in her voice. The accents and characters were masterfully reenacted as she brought The Forgotten Names to life.

Thank you HarperCollins Focus for the gifted ALC.

What a fascinating topic to explore. There is a huge amount of World War II historical fiction out there, and after reading many I've stepped back from the genre somewhat, waiting for something original. I think Mario Escobar has tapped into a fascinating true story of a woman researching what has happened to some of the Jewish children smuggled out of France during the occupation. I loved the fact that many Protestants, Catholics and Jews alike came together united in their efforts to rescue and save these souls. Just more ordinary people doing extraordinary things in the midst of trials and danger. They were truly sacrificial of their own lives and peace.
Other reviewers have mentioned a choppy plot presentation, but I am not sure they realize this is likely due to the translation. I had the opportunity to listen to the audiobook and didn't feel that way at all. It was very well done with a narrator masterful at a French accent and pronunciations as well.
Although I know it must be historical fiction since dialogue was added, I feel this was well-researched and was perhaps mostly nonfiction. Auschwitz Lullaby has been on my TBR list for some time, and now that I've read this Escobar book, I'll head to that one next.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Muse for this ARC.

This book was so heartbreaking. As a mother, it's hard to fathom what these families went through and the strength it took to make the hard decisions. As a human, I can't comprehend the cruelty to one's fellow man. The determination and heart of the main players on this book is awe inspiring.