I hesitated to readThe Book of Lost Names because I have read many books in this time period. However, Eva’s was a story that needed to be told. Eva was one of many brave people who not only tried to survive but also unselfishly and at great risk helped so many they didn’t know. She could have fled Paris to safety but instead became a document forger in the Free Zone. She strives to preserve the real identities of the young children she helps and The Book of Lost Names is born. But - what is her fate and does this book survive the war? With a thread to the present The Book of Lost Names is and interesting and captivating must read.

An absolutely amazing story of the terrifying lives in Europe during WWII. It is full of intelligence and insight about women, love, and family loyalty.. This is a powerful and exceptional read that flows so smoothly and artfully that you're amazed when it ends. One of the best books I've read this year!

Another excellent historical fiction read by Kristin Harmel! Kristin Harmel became a favorite of mine when I picked up "When We Meet Again" in summer of 2016. I quickly placed her other titles on hold at my library and devoured them. If you haven't checked out "Sweetness of Forgetting" or "The Life Intended," please do so! Her latest releases have not disappointed either! This book follows Eva, a young Jewish woman, who flees to a small town in France after her father is arrested. Using her talents as an artist, she meets a small group of people and begins forging identity papers for Jewish children to help them to flee to safety. She wants the children's names to be preserved for after the war, so she begins keeping a code in a religious text that becomes "The Book of Lost Names." I love how the book is based on a true story and I appreciate that Harmel always digs into subjects that aren't as familiar to us, like the topic of forgery. The story has alternate timelines, 1940's (Eva in the past) and 2005 (Eva in the present) Like Harmel's previous books, I enjoy this jump back in forth in time. A great book about bravery, heartbreak, war, and even a love story. Highly recommend!

Thank you to Netgalley for my ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Wow! What an amazing book! I've had this one on my radar for most of the year, since I first read a summary of it, and I couldn't be happier that it didn't let me down!

Eva Traub is a young Jewish girl, with Polish parents living in Paris during WWII. Once Jews are rounded up for deportation, Eva finds herself in a position she never trained for, but one that would end up saving her life and the lives of so many during the war. Eva finds refuge in a town and ends up forging documents that help save the lives of Jews trying to avoid deportation. Along the way, she finds love during the most unexpected time while also dealing with losing those she loves.

This book was an absolute delight to read. I found myself staying up late and waking up early just to try and fit in another chapter before or after work. I was hoping it wouldn't be "another WWII story" that I've read over and over again, but this was such a beautiful story, filled with love, bravery, resiliency, and family. Don't skip this book!

What a beautiful historical fiction novel by an incredible author. I was sucked in from page 1, when it starts with Eva and her Jewish family in Paris during WWII. When her father gets taken in the middle of the night, Eva comes up with a plan to save her mother & herself. The lengths she goes to in this novel to stay hidden while helping save others is incredible. The Book Of Lost Names will stick with you for days after you finish, I cannot wait to read more Kristin Harmel.

SPOILER ALERT:

This book was amazing. A huge fan of historical fiction, especially World War II books, I haven't read a book this good since The Nightingale, which as long been a favorite. In The Book of Lost Names, Eva is in present day and sees on the news her book of lost names that she thought she had seen for the last time nearly 60 years ago. A flashback takes us to a young Jewish girl living in Paris, Eva, finds herself fleeing the city after it has been taken over by the Nazis and finding refuge in the remote town of Aurignon. When she arrives, she is quickly recruited by the town priest, Pere Clement, to join a forgery ring helping young children cross the border into free Switzerland. Her excellent forgery skills are used to create false papers, helping hundreds of children escape occupied France for freedom. Along her journey, she meets young Remy, a fellow forger who turns into a smuggler fighting for the resistance. Through their cause, they form a special bond and eventually fall in love, vowing to track the names of the children using a secret code in a religious book from the 1700s. After the war, they promise to find each other on the steps of Eva's favorite library in Paris. Eventually, Eva is at risk of being caught and killed and her and Remy have gone their separate ways, Eva to escape toto Switzerland for her freedom and Remy to continue the fight against the Germans. Eva later returns to Paris after the war to find Remy. To her sadness, she gives up waiting on the steps after 2 years, fearing her realization that he has been killed in the war. Nearly 60 years later, she show up in Berlin to claim the book of lost names that she has seen on the news, only to find that someone else is trying to claim that book as well...could it be her dear Remy? Check out this amazing book based on a true story and follow along with Eva's heroic story.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. I plowed through this book in one day, that’s how captivating it is! As a huge fan of histocial fiction, I was immediately drawn in. However, I was wary of another WWI story. My worries were unfounded. This book drew me in and I could not stop reading until I knew what happened to Eva. The book follows Eva, a Jewish girl living in Paris with her parents. During the Nazi occupation of France, her father is arrested and Eva and her mother are forced to flee south. During this time, Eva begins to forge documents to help children escape France to safety in Switzerland, putting herself at great risk. I simply needed to know how Eva’s story would end, and I would highly recommend this book to anyone!

Could not put down!
This is an excellent book of historical fiction that tells the story of Eva, a Jewish young woman from Paris who is suddenly thrust into the forgery of documents during WWII. This is a topic I did not know much about, and I loved that I was able to learn about this while simultaneously being drawn into a captivating story of love, intrigue, loss, and the will to survive. I highly recommend.

This is a must read for fans of WWII historical fiction. I also appreciated that this book was seemingly well researched by the author as evidenced by author's notes at the end.

Note: I was given an advanced copy of this book with expectation of a review.

I absolutely loved this book! I devoured it once I started it. It reminded me a bit of The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, which is one of my favorite books.

Eva is an only child of Jewish Polish immigrants living in Paris during WW2 attending graduate school when she finds out from a friend that Jews are going to be round up to send to work camps. She immediately warns her parents so they can leave their home, but they don't believe it and wish to stay put. By a stroke of luck, Eva and her mother are gone the night the Nazis come for them in their apartment, but Eva's father is not so lucky. Eva uses what her father left her the night before he was taken to get she and her mother to safety and in doing so, it leads her to be a forger of documents to help Jewish children escape to Switzerland. She finds a way to keep their true identities hidden so she can reunite them with their families once the war is over.

This book has everything! Romance, suspense, and intrigue, mystery.. I could not put it down. I have already recommended this book to friends. I told them they absolutely need to read it once it is released. I had read one other book by this author and I looked her up after reading this. had no idea she lives in a town about 30 mins away from me. Kristin Harmel, you are an amazing author and I will read whatever you write from now on. I am already buying another one of your books to read next. Thank you for this gem!

I have had the privilege of reading several of Kristin Harmel’s books and have really liked each one. The Book With No Names was no exception. It was a well written historical novel that went back and forth between time periods. Part of the story took place in Florida in 2005 and the other part took part in France in the 1940’s. The characters were well developed and the plot was intriguing. Kristin Harmel, brilliantly wrote about the roles of Forgers as part of the Resistance during World War II. I didn’t know a lot about these valuable and brave men and women and so after I finished reading this book I did a little research about them on my own. Forgers played such a key role in helping so many people, especially children, escape from the Nazi’s and survive the Holocaust. Most of the well known forgers became forgers out of necessity and in order to survive. Many of them were Jewish. The Book of Lost Names was based on the lives of real forgers. The research for this book was extensive and thorough.

At 86, Eva Traube was still working in a library part time. Although many thought Eva should retire she had no intentions of doing so any time soon. She lived in Florida near her only son. Eva was a widow. Her job at the library was shelving books. She had always had a love for books so it pleased her to be around so many varied books. One day, Eva was covering the desk when she spotted an article in a magazine. It mentioned that a German man was trying to find the owners of books that had been confiscated by the Nazis during World War II. The name of one of the books that had been found was The Book of Lost Names. Eva started to tremble when she saw the name of that particular book. She knew that book. It was hers. Right before her eyes was the picture of the book Eva believed was lost. She hadn’t seen that book in 65 years. Eva knew what she had to do.

Eva had grown up in Paris. Her parents were observant Jews that had immigrated to Paris from Poland. When the Nazis invaded Paris in 1942, Eva was in the midst of obtaining her doctorate in English literature. One day, a friend of Eva’s who was involved in the Resistace tried warning Eva of a potential roundup by the Nazis. They planned on taking thousands of Jews and putting them in work camps. Sure enough, a few nights later, the roundup occurred. Eva and her mother were not at home. They had been asked to watch a neighbor’s children while the neighbor went to help her elderly mother. The neighbor Eva and her mother were helping was not Jewish so when the Nazis came to their apartment building they did not bang on that door. Eva’s father was taken into custody. Her mother was inconsolable. Eva’ s father had instructed Eva what to do if he and her mother were ever taken into custody. She was to go to his boss. Eva’s father had paid his boss an insurmountable amount of money to guarantee he would make Eva forged documents so she could escape to Switzerland. When Eva arrived at her father’s boss’s office and she explained that now she needed documents not only for herself but also for her mother her father’s boss panicked and told her he could not do that. Instead he gave Eva blank papers and colored pens and told Eva she would have to forge her own documents for her and her mother. That was what Eva did.

Eva and her mother made their way to the train station. They knew they had to get to the Free Zone. Headed east they departed on a train and arrived in a small, quaint village called Aurignon. Eva and her mother found shelter in a boarding house. The documents Eva forged for her and her mother were quite impressive. Little did Eva know that because of necessity she had shown a remarkable talent for forgery. She had not known she possessed this talent.. The town of Aurignon had many residents involved in the resistance. The Catholic priest was not only involved in the resistance but was quite a central figure in its organization in this quiet little town. He convinced Eva to forge documents for them so hundreds of Jewish children could escape to Switzerland. Eva’s mother made Eva feel guilty. Her mother thought Eva was forgetting her religion and her father. She could not understand why Eva was devoting so much time to this effort and putting herself at such a risk for this priest. Eva’s mother only wanted to honor her father’s wishes and get to Switzerland. Her mother never lost hope that Eva’s father would return and find them when the war was over. Eva felt that she was saving lives and that was so important. One thing troubled Eva though. All the Jewish children she was forging false documents for had to take new names. Who would remember who they really were? Eva and her fellow forger, Remy, devised a plan. The real names of the children were secretly coded in a book Eva and Remy named the book The Book of Lost Names. Remy brilliantly devised a system where he used the Fibonacci sequence to code the children’s real names. No one was able to decipher the code so the children’s real identities were safe but not forgotten.

When Eva, now an old lady, living in Florida, saw her book pictured in the magazine article, she knew that she had no choice but to confront her past head on. She called the person in Berlin that had possession of her book and let him know she was coming to Berlin to claim it. Determined to get to Berlin to repossess her treasured book that had been stolen from the secret church library in Aurignon sixty five years ago by the Nazis she boarded the plane without even informing her son of her plans. Eva never dreamed that she would ever see this book again. She had to go and make sure this was her book and to hold it in her own hands.

I had previously read The Winemaker’s Wife and loved it. I didn’t think that Kristin Harmel could top that one but she did. The Book of Lost Names was brilliant. I could not put it down. The characters were likable and endearing for the most part. The story was fast paced and heart-warming. There was so much courage, bravery, love, faith, friendship, sacrifice, caring, deception and pain sprinkled and interwoven throughout the story. If you love historical fiction you will absolutely love The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel. I highly recommend it.

I received a complimentary copy of The Book of Lost Names from Gallery Books through Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. This was a strong five star book for me.

This work of historical fictionis a story about the heroic forgers of WWII who helped many victims of the nazis escape by giving forged identities. I loved the story and applaud Harmel for writing about this topic.

Overall, I enjoyed this but I had issues with a couple of the characters. Eva was obviously a heroic individual but I found her character to be so “good” that it was unrealistic. I had this same issue with Cilka in Cilka’s Journey. Nobody is perfect 100% of the time and I found her to be annoyingly angelic. I wish that her character had a little more depth. And the portrayal of Eva’s mother was the exact opposite. I understand her very harsh circumstances, but what an awful woman! Because of the horrid way she treated her daughter, I felt no sympathy for her whatsoever and I felt like this detracted from the overall point of the plot. In turn, the way Eva reacted to her mother was also incredibly annoying. I wish that she had shown some backbone and stood up to her!

With that said, this was definitely an excellent story that will appeal to many readers and will be extremely popular with book clubs.

Kristen Harmel has written a riveting story about a young Jewish girl and her work in France during World War II. Eva and her parents live in a Paris, and are aware that things are getting precarious for Jews. Eva’s father tells her who to go to for help if something should happen to him, but he turns out to not be too helpful at all. Eva and her mother make a trip to the French countryside, using papers that Eva has forged. Once there, Eva is drawn into working with those who are trying to get people to Switzerland and freedom. Unfortunately, there is a fox in the henhouse, and many lives are in danger. It’s hard to know who is your friend or who is your enemy. Many years after the war is long over Eva, finds herself traveling to Germany, hoping to reclaim a book that is dear to her. She finds more than could have ever hoped for.

Heroes in real life don't wear masks and capes. Sometimes they don't stand out at all. But real heroes can save a life—or many lives—just by answering the call in their heart. ~Victoria Arlen

***
The Book of Lost Names, by Kristin Harmel, is loosely inspired by Adolfo Kaminsky, an Argentinan-Russian Jew who was a member of the French Resistance. Kaminsky specialized in forging identity documents, thereby saving the lives of more than 14,000 Jews.

I say loosely because the book's main character is a woman named Eva Traube, born in Paris to Polish Jews. The only similarities between the two their religion, their age (early 20s), and avoiding deportation to a concentration camp.

This novel opens with Eva Abrams, an elderly librarian in Florida, reading a magazine article about a book she has not seen in 65 years—the Book of Lost Names.

This book, an 18th-century religious tome stolen from France by the Nazis, contains a handwritten code. However, no one knows who inscribed the code or what it means, no one, that is, except Eva.

Flashback to Paris, 1942: Darkness descends over the City of Light. Nazis are rounding up the Paris' Jewish population, sending them to ghettos and concentration camps. Eva, a graduate student, avoids capture and flees her home and her city, taking refuge in a small town in southern France. While there, she joins the Resistance, using her artistic talents to forge identity documents for Jewish children sneaking into Switzerland. However, Eva is concerned about erasing these children's pasts, so she decides to record the children's real names in code so that their true identities are not lost, and the "Book of Lost Names" is born.

A binge-book at its best, The Book of Lost Names is exceptional, evocative, and engaging and is one of my favorite WWII-era historical fictions of the year.

***
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Gallery Books, courtesy of a NetGalley giveaway. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

This is the first book I have read by this author and I now know I need to go back and read more of her work! This historical fiction novel focuses on the work of a young Jewish woman who unexpectedly found herself working as a forger helping Jewish children to escape France. Told from two time periods, modern day Eva is on her way to Berlin to recover the Book of Lost Names, while young Eva is doing her best to survive the war and help others with her forgery talents. I think one of the things I like most about reading period pieces such as this is the opportunity to learn about pieces of history that aren't often mentioned in the history books. While this is a fictional work, the author did base it on actual research she had done concerning the documents that were forged so that refugees could escape the German occupied areas. This was a well told novel that kept me up late several nights reading! Perfect for fans of Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale or Pam Jenoff's Lost Girls of Paris.

Let me start by saying that I originally gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads immediately after finishing. But then, the book stayed with me. I kept thinking about it and even dreamed about it that night. So I changed my review to 5 stars and I believe it truly is a 5 star book.

I used to read a ton of historical fiction, but I took a break from it because the genre is mostly WWII fiction and I got super burnt out on it. Then I found this book on NetGalley and though it’s also set during WWII, there was a different take and perspective so I decided to request. I’m so glad I did because this book wrecked me in the best way possible.

This is a beautiful story of love and loss, of bravery, of courage, of hope. It’s a story of survival. The book bounces back and forth from heartwarming to heart wrenching. It is everything I needed right now and had no idea.

Eva was hands down my favorite character. I loved in the present time as an old woman and I loved her in the flashbacks as a young woman. She was brave, heroic, strong, and stood for what she believed in no matter what. Remy, her love interest and partner in forgery, was the kind of man one can only dream of. But he was torn between the Resistance and his love for Eva. Being the hero that he was, he always chose helping fight the war against the Germans, even if it meant he and Eva couldn’t be together.

I have to admit, I was not a huge fan of Eva’s mother. Yes, I realize that she lost a lot when her husband was taken by the Nazis. But the way she took everything out on Eva was so sad to read. She was controlling and hateful to her throughout most of the book. I believe Eva’s father would have been so proud about what Eva was doing, helping so many children escape to freedom, but her mother just refused to see the good she was doing.

The ending just completely killed me. I was ugly crying for the last half hour of reading. That’s the sign of a good five star book for me. The cry.

Please preorder a copy of this book – you will not be disappointed. Such an amazing story and not the typical WWII historical fiction you’re used to.

Eva is still working at her beloved job at the library at 86 years of age. She sees an article that gets her attention and she is off running. Back in World War 2 she lived in France and circumstances lead her to a situation that will stay with her all of her days. Her father is taking in the night while her and her mom are away assisting a neighbor. They have to leave their home and escape to a small mountain town. While there she is recruited to help forge documents. These documents are so important especially for the children trying to into Switzerland. So that families might find each other some day she forms a coding system in a book. The book of lost names is what the article is about. She travels all the way to Germany to get it back. This book relives her life from the loss of her parents, loss of the love her life, and loss of her identity. This book was emotional and I felt every heartbreak with Eva. The ending was a wonderful surprise.

I read a lot of Historical Fiction with WWII as the topic, and this book is one of the best. It caught my interest from the first page and did not want the story to end. Well written, researched, and executed, this story will stay with you long after reading the last word.

I must say that this is not the novel I expected to read. The title and blurb suggested that the focus of the novel would be how forged papers helped to not only save the lives of Jewish children during WWII, but also to preserve their true identities so that they could eventually be reunited with surviving relatives after the war. Instead, the book is mainly about two young college students who fall in love while they work together forging documents for not only the children, but also resistance fighters, downed Allied pilots, and others who need to escape occupied France.

It is a nice love story. Eve and her mother flee Paris in 1942 after they narrowly escape a Jewish roundup that captured Eve’s father. A tip from her father’s employer points them to a small mountain town that may be helping refugees and with little effort they arrive at Aurignon. By incredible luck, Eve is recruited by the parish priest who is impressed by the identity papers Eve forged for her mother and herself. In a library at the back of the church she meets Remy, a local young man, who is doing the same work. For the next three years, they work, fall in love, and contemplate a future with each other. Eve is conflicted because of their religious beliefs. Her mother keeps berating her for being interested in a Christian when there is a nice Jewish boy in the resistance who seems interested in the girl.

And so the novel goes. There are heroics and betrayals, but very little about the Jewish children being hidden in the town, In fact, there are only three scenes in the novel where children appear. Twice Eve briefly visits a home where she discusses the Wizard of Oz with a little girl and one scene where Eve becomes involved in an escape. That’s it. The coded book does not even feature much, except in the title. It is taken back to Germany by looters and is rediscovered 65 years after the war is over. So it was never actually used for its purpose, to match the new identities on the forged papers to the original names of the children so they could be reunited with surviving family members.

I was hoping for much more information about how the children got to the village. Who transported toddlers there? What were the back stories of their families. I wanted the satisfaction of Eve decoding the names and following the threads through postwar Europe as her efforts placed children back in the arms of loving relatives.

Instead, in 2005 Eve sees a picture of her book on a NY Times story and the very,very sprightly 86-year old boards a plane to Berlin to reclaim the book.

So, a nice love story with lots of history about forgers and how they worked. But maybe the title and blurb are a bit misleading,

One word - Awesome! In this historical fiction novel, the author gives us a glimpse into the life of a young Polish/French woman who begins forging documents to help others. During WW II, when the Nazis are capturing Jewish residents, Eva and her mother are able to escape, but she is forced to create new identities/paperwork to get them out of Paris. Quickly, the resistance identifies her artistic forging abilities and convinces her to work for them, saving countless lives, many of whom are innocent children. The church library becomes her workspace, and Remy becomes her accomplice (and love). From the very beginning, though, she is concerned about the children's pasts - that they will be erased when they change their names; so, she and Remy come up with a coded system for an existing book and call it 'The Book of Lost Names,' linking children's current and changed identities. I was captivated by this story, and the author's rendering of the main characters was so realistic that at times it felt like I was reading an actual historical account. Thank you to NetGalley for providing an e-copy of this book in exchange for a review. This book is scheduled to be released on July 21-2020.

This true story starts in Paris in 1942 and Eva Traube and her parents must escape before being sent off to an internment camp for being Jewish. Eva creates false documents to escape to a small mountain town where she becomes a valuable resource forging documents for adults and children. In the process, she meets Remy, another forger and they work side by side in the library of a church changing the names of children to get them to the Swiss border. Eva doesn’t want the children to forget who they were even though some of them are so young, they’ll never know. To do this, they devise a system to hide the names in an existing book. The storytelling was wonderful and full of suspense. The relationship between Eva and her mother seemed unfair until you thought about what her mother was going through. There is a terrific love story in this one and even though it is about such a tragic time in history, the author gives you a sense of hope. Well done!