The Book of Lost Names

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Eva Traube is a Jewish girl living in Paris and working in a library during WWII. After seeing her father taken by the SS, she uses her artistic ability to forge papers for her and her mother so that they can escape to a fictional village in rural France. While this town may have just been a stop on their journey out of France, Eva feels it is her duty to stay and forge papers for Jewish children fleeing France into Switzerland.

To preserve the children's Jewish identities, Eva and one of her forging partners come up with a code for saving the child's given name and their fake names, so that they may be one day reunited with their families. Using a code based on the Fibonacci sequence, they record the names in an old book in the church library. Eva is separated from the book, only to find it again as an old woman.

In a sea of WWII fiction, I found this book to be really enjoyable. I might be a bit biased because I’m a librarian and it’s more book-centric than other stories I’ve read. Kristin Harmel's story centers around the titular book, in which Eva keeps track of the real names of all the Jewish children being assigned new identities and smuggled out of France.

I found the characters compelling and the story contained a good mix of hope and despair for a war story. There is an element of romance, but it didn't take away from the action or overpower the book either. I definitely wasn’t expecting the ending! That's about the point in time where the tears started flowing. It was an experience I haven't had with a book in a long time. All around enjoyable read.

Highly recommended to historical fiction fans, especially those who like WWII fiction. Readers who enjoy adventure, espionage, and romance will also find something to love here.

Kristin Harmel is a former sportswriter, magazine journalist, and TV reporter who has written several bestselling novels. She graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in journalism and lives in Orlando.

Publisher: Gallery Books

Length: 388 pages

Release Date: July 21, 2020

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I received an electronic galley from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.