The Book of Lost Names solidifies Kristin Harmel's place as one of the top writers of historic fiction about strong women during WWII. I would give 10 stars to this book if I could. Her book is based on real people and she ties that in with comprehensive research and we have a chance to read a fantastic book that won't soon be forgotten.

Eva, a semi-retired librarian in her 80s is shelving books and sees a newspaper picture of a book that she immediately recognizes. It's a book that she hasn't seen in over 60 years and she refers to it as 'the book of lost names'. Much to her son's disapproval, she immediately books travel to Munich to see the real book. The German librarian who wrote the article discussed that many books had been taken back to Germany by the Nazis and he was trying to find the original owners. He also mentioned that there was some sort of code in the book and he had no idea what it was. But Eva knew what the code was - she had written those codes in that book during the war when she lived in France.

This is a book about love and war, friendship and family and endangering your own life to help other people. The characters are well written and the story line is intriguing. Plus I learned some history that I'd never known. I knew that children were sent to safe places without their parents but not about them changing their names or about the importance of forgeries during the war. This was a wonderful book and is now on my list of favorite books about strong women in WWII. Eva is a character that I won't soon forget.

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.

This was a great read. I will admit that I love WWII historical novels. I learn so much about the horrors and also the heros of war. This book was no different. I cheered Eva on, hoping always for the best. The bravery shown by so many during such a horrific time is astounding. Add this one to your TBR list! I am going to check out the author's other books!

This is a historical fiction masterpiece. For someone who doesn't run to every historical fiction book, I did indeed love this one! I love that it was flipping back and forth between the present and the 1940s. It kept me as a read so entertained and hanging on every word.

What a BEAUTIFUL story! After reading two of Harmel's books, I'm a definite fan. Eva is such a well-written character and an extremely brave person. Knowing how much research the author did and that this story was loosely based on true events makes the story that much more powerful. I loved the dual time lines and experiencing Eva's memory as she's in her late 80s and reflecting back on her time as a young girl in German-occupied France. Honestly, what I disliked the most was her mother, who was a pill to deal with the entire story. Eva's relationship with Remy was captivating, while her friendships with Genevieve and mon Clement were truly special. The ending was perfect.

I liked this book right up until the end. I thought the ending was a bit gimmacky. The story itself was a beautifully told story of the resistance against Hitler's regime. The coding of names and identities was interesting and their work in forgery was a story itself without mentioning the relationships that occurred.

Still, the ending was frustrating. Did they lose their sight? Why couldn't they find each other at their meeting place? It defied their characters' tenacity and determination. I loved the book until the ending.

I got 'The Winemaker's Wife' shortly after it came out, put it on my kindle and forgot about it since I had so many other titles to read. So Kristin Harmel was on my to-read list but I'd not read any of her work until. now.

The story of a student whose life is upended during the Nazi's occupation of France, it switches from the past to present tense seamlessly. After I started it, the author's talent as a storyteller kept me reading well into the wee hours. I found this book to be an extremely good read; my only issue was the very abrupt ending.

I will definitely read more of this author, starting with my own unread copy of 'The Winemaker's Wife'.

My thanks to Kristin Harmel, Gallery Books, and NetGalley for the eARC. in exchange for my review.

Eva was a young Jewish woman with a talent for forgery. Using her talent she helps hundreds of children escape german occupied France. Now, Eva is a semi-retired woman living in Florida with her past securely tucked away. But her past comes rushing to the present when she picks up a newspaper with a long lost book on the front page.

This book! Where do I even start? I absolutely loved this book and I could not put it down. The Book of Lost Names had every thing I love in a historical fiction novel, strong women, bravery, romance, adventure and family. I was crying sad and happy tears. If you like WWII fiction this book is a must read!

A special thank you to NetGalley & Gallery Books for my ARC! The Book of Lost Names will be available for sale July 21, 2020!

Did you ever read a book that when you finish you just have to close your eyes and adjust back to your own reality. This book had me so mesmerized and involved the story.
From the start of this book we meet Eva, a librarian in Florida who, while working one day sees a photo in a magazine of a book she hasn't seen in over 60 years. The article tells her it is being housed in a Berlin library while they try to track down the owner. Eva knows the book well, it is the Book of Lost Names. This book takes Eva back to her 20s and tells us her story of a graduate student, forced to flee Paris with her mother and fake identity papers she made in order to save their lives.
They make it to a small town in the free zone and the people there are more than they seem. Most of them are involved in a network of operations working in forgeries and accompanying Jewish people into Switzerland to save them. They recruit Eva to help them and that's when she meets Remy. Together they use the old religious text to track children's real names in code, in hopes that when the war is over they can use the information to connect them to their real families.
This book, inspired by a true story, had me emotionally attached to these characters and it shed light on the strength and hope that people had during WWII.
Thank you Netgalley Gallery Books and Kristin HARMEL for the chance to read this amazing book.

I always love historical fiction, and this was no exception. The Book of Lost Names tells the story of Eva, an evacuee of Paris during WWII. She finds herself in the middle of a resistance ring, and she becomes a forger of documents to help others escape to freedom. I fell in love with the characters in this book, the entire story was so well done, I highly recommend!

The Book of Lost Names is not just a book about the Nazi invasion of Europe. It is about what heroes of that time did to help others escape to freedom. Eva teams up with a group that is getting children to Switzerland where they can have a chance to live. I hope there is a sequel to this book.

I have read all of Kristin's books along with many other stories about WWII... The stories of what people endured and the courage and history that is brought to light is always fascinating. Its always interesting to learn the history with these imaginary characters especially in light of my own mothers escape from German as things were beginning to go south. The idea that this could not happen to us in our own countries and the rude awakening is often a painful memory. The characters and love story was a bit contrived and predictable but does serve to take away the real sting of the true horrors people survived during the war.

Wow how to even have the words to explain this beautiful book. I love reading WWII books, they don't all live up to expectations, but this one really blew me away.
I didn't love Eva at first, but how she adapted and changed during the war was really amazing. I couldn't stop reading this, I wanted to know what happened to her in both timelines. It was heartbreaking, yet beautiful, and I found myself racing through the pages.
It is still so heartbreaking to read about what was done to the Jews and many others during this time of horrible war. Kristin Harmel's writing flows easily and her little bits of hope sprinkled throughout is really lovely.
This is a book I will be thinking about for a long time to come.

If you like Kristin Hannah's 'The Nightingale' you will probably like this one too.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

This is an incredible book. Dual time line that follows mainly the life of Eva. During WWII, Eva works with several others to help get children and others out of France to the safety of Switzerland. She becomes a master forger and also records the true identities of the children in The Book of Lost Names so these children are not forgotten.

I generally enjoy historical fiction, particularly of the WWII genre, but this read was a letdown. Based on the description and that it was reminiscent of The Alice Network, I expected to read about the personal experiences of individual(s) overcoming fear to resist evil, in this case, Nazi Germany. According to the publisher, the book is inspired by a true story of a woman, our main character Eva, who uses her artistic talents to forge identity documents to facilitate the escape of persecuted Jewish children to neutral Switzerland. She teamed up with a resistance cell that included a priest and another forger/chemist, Remy. While this book is billed as a tale of courage during a dark period, the time frame and forgery played second fiddle to the books' true purpose, the romance of two star-crossed lovers. Eva and Remy fall in love despite Eva's mother's objections, because she is Jewish and he is Catholic (or, as she routinely called him, a "papist"). This was more Nicholas Sparks than a serious WW2 fiction. I am not opposed to a love story intermixed but the development of the relationship quickly took center stage. Beyond that, I didn't like many of the characters. Granted it was an earlier time but were women truly as naive as Eva came across in this story. Her reactions to every situation were that of an inexperienced child or someone cloistered from society, not of a young woman living in Paris. And her mother was a pill. I understand her anger and even her bitterness but the portrayal was over-the-top and she came off as someone unlikeable rather than someone you pity. The climax (the Gerard angle) and ending were far too predictable. It's a shame because I was excited to read a woman-as-hero tale but I would not recommend this book.

I wish to thank Gallery Books and Netgalley for an ARC of this book.

If you've never read any books by Kristin Harmel, now is the time! She is a wonderful author with great stories to tell. The Book of Lost Names is a historical fiction novel, inspired by a true story from WWII. Eva has a talent for forgery, which she uses to help Jewish children escape the Nazi wrath. This book goes back and forth between the past and present, while Eva relives her war time experience from many years ago. I loved reading this beautiful and touching story about a woman's bravery to defeat evil and did not want it to end.

My only experience with Kristin Harmel before this book was with the contemporary novels The Life Intended and Italian for Beginners, and the main takeway I had from those was how addictive her writing style was. The same applies to The Book of Lost Names, which is written with suspense and incredible pacing. It's always great to find a World War II novel with a unique angle, and the forgery angle of this one was so interesting. It also ends with a twist I wasn't expecting, which definitely helps it stand out from other novels with a similar plot. Definitely recommend this for a fast-paced, intriguing historical read!

Wow! This story follows Eva as she faces the darkest and scariest days of her life. She joins the resistance and becomes a master forger to save the lives of children whose parents have been collected in round ups of Jewish people. Eva goes through love and devastation with grace and grit. Beautifully written and researched in a thoughtful way. This author is a star in historical fiction.

There are.so many books about the Holocaust out there. Finding one that deals with a different angle to the story of this shameful time in history is rare. Yet, "The Book of Lost Names", is one of those. Exceptionally well written, this is the spellbinding story of a young woman who defies the Nazis by forging new identities for hundreds of children whose only crime was being born Jewish. It is also a love story that allows us as well as the young woman continue to have hope during a time when the world seems to have gone mad. Kristin Harmel has written a winner!

I absolutely loved this book!!! I read a lot of WWII historical fiction and while it is one of my favorite genres, I have not been wow'ed like I was with this book in some time. The focus of this book is a young woman that fell into the role of forger to help with paperwork for the Resistance when she was exiled from Paris to southern France. The people she meets are so heartwarming, it's wonderful. There is a surprising love story woven throughout. There is very little focus on any German characters, which is the go-to villain for this type of book and having a change from that just makes this book different than the rest of the books in the genre. Instead, there is quite a struggle with her own mother who does a terrible job processing the state they have found themselves in. In the end, I stayed up way to late finishing this book and it was worth it!

I couldn't put this book down. If it hasn't been optioned for a movie already, it should be.
The novel offers a fascinating look at a part of World War II history that I know little about: how the people of France of all faiths and walks of life were affected by the occupation of the Germans.
Eva and her parents are Jewish; she was born in France, but her parents, who were from Poland, had moved to France many years before. As the war progressed, danger lurked around every corner, and one night, when Eva and her mother were at a neighbor's house, the police cam and took her father. Eva, a resourceful young woman, did what she had to do to get herself and her mother (who didn't want to go) out of Paris to the small town of of Aurignon, hoping to get to Switzerland.
But before Eva can convince her mother to leave, a small cell of forgers learns that she has a knack with creating false papers and talks her into helping them. I don’t want to go into much depth on the story since I wouldn’t want to spoil any of it for readers, but it’s one I definitely recommend.