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.

This book brought me to tears. It is a very well researched World War Two novel that tugs its readers into a heartbreaking story. I could connect with the characters and sympathize with their struggles. I did find a typo in Louis’ name at the beginning of chapter 8. Overall, a very enjoyable read.

Eva works in a library and studies at the Sorbonne. Joseph, a fellow student, warns her that 20,000 Jews will be round up and urges her to leave with her family. Her parents want to stay and by a stroke of luck only her father is taken but before that he tells Eva what to do in order to leave Paris.

This book engaged me right from page one. It starts off a bit like The Nightingale in that Eva is 86 and living in Florida when she sees an article in the paper about a book that was recovered during the War and she recognizes it as "her" book. It reminds her of business that she didn't finish. She decides to go to Berlin against her son's wishes. He can't imagine why she wants to go but she never told him about her past.

I loved the characters in this book. The mother drove me crazy and I couldn't see her as anything but foolish while everyone else was so brave. The setting was in a small fictional town of Aurignon and the descriptions were such that it made it all seem so real.

I would most definitely recommend this to anyone that enjoys historical fiction.

Thank you for the ecopy of this book. I will be posting a full review on Goodreads, Amazon, and Instagram! Many thanks.

I am not sure that 5 stars is enough! I loevd every minute of this book! I am a HUGE fan of all and evertyhing that I can get my hands on that deals with WWII and the holocaust. This book had everything a reader is looking for... romance, suspence, and twists you were NOT expecting. This book was a super quick read as I devoured it pretty much in a day... with the current covid-19 situation its easy to give a day to reading. You will not be disappointed in this book. I was excited to read it and even learn some new facts that I had never thought of from history!

I have honestly been a fan of this author for a long time so I will read anything she writes. But this book blew me away! I was smiling, I was sad. I was sobbing. The writing is brilliant, the story was refreshing. She took a time period that I generally don’t read about and made it irresistible! And has for the last 4-5 books.
I couldn’t imagine being Eva and going through what her family did. And you felt her connection with Remy immediately even though they come from different places in life. I don’t want to give away anything with the book. Just please read it. It is that great!

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by NetGalley.

I've been on WWII historical fiction kick lately and I'm so glad I was able to read Kristin Harmel's "The Book of Lost Names." This story follows Eva as she becomes a forger to help smuggle children across the border to safety in Switzerland. She gives the children new identities, but doesn't want them to forget who they are, but it's too dangerous to have their real names written on a list somewhere. She ends up using a code to record their names in a book where no one would be able to track them down. Years later, someone finds the book among the artifacts stolen by Nazis in the war. Elderly Eva immediately recognizes it and flies back to Europe to retrieve it. Along the way, we are introduced to her story and what happened during her time as a forger. I really enjoyed this book and kept reading chapter after chapter at night. There is a love interest, and while it definitely seemed a bit too fast in the beginning, it churned into a sweet, slow burn. The relationship with Eva and her mother didn't really sit well with me... there was too much drama with no digestible resolution. Her mother was a certain way for most of the book, and then suddenly she does a 180 when it's too late to really feel a lasting bond between her and Eva. It left a sad imprint on the story rather than adding a bittersweet taste.
All in all, I definitely recommend this book if you are a fan of historical fiction! This is a book where the characters will sit with you long after you turn the last page.

This wonderful book is set in Paris and the French countryside during World War II. Eva, a young woman who has learned an appreciation of precision and exactness, and a love of reading, must save herself and her mother after her father is taken by the French police in the historic roundup of Parisian Jews. With material and information supplied by her father’s former boss she is able to make false identity papers for herself and her mother and slip out of Paris to a small town in the French mountains. Eva quickly discovers that the townspeople include a group of people who are secretly hiding Jews and others who must evade the Nazis and escape to Switzerland. Because of the quality of the false papers Eva created for herself, she is recruited to become one of this network’s forgers.

This is a book filled with love, hate, mystery and fear. It is well written. I have read many books of historical fiction set in Europe during WWII and this one ranks among the best.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy.

This book grabbed me and I couldn't stop reading. I actually read the whole thing in two sittings. It's based on a true story about a woman who saved thousands of Jewish children during WWII. The novel opens when, as an older woman in the U.S., she happens to see a newspaper article that leads to her returning to Europe where she gets some closure on the whole incredible experience. I'll let you learn more about that yourself when you read it. You should. It's truly an amazing novel, well-written and compelling. I was so moved by this story. I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for this honest review and I'm glad I did!

Though there is an abundance of WWII historical fiction in the literary world, The Book of Lost Names caught my eye because it explores a piece of history that I hadn’t read about before. Eva lived with her parents in Paris until the Nazi occupation turned their lives, and the lives of thousands of other Jewish people, upside down. After her father is arrested, Eva flees Paris and finds herself helping the underground resistance by creating false papers for Jewish people escaping to Switzerland. I was immediately taken in by this premise, though the execution fell short for me.

The story is told in dual timelines, most of it taking place in 1942 France, and the rest in 2005. This structure felt a bit clunky, as though the 2005 chapters were added in after the rest of the book was written, and they took me out of the flow of the story. This is a plot-driven novel, and while there were plenty of events that kept moving the story forward, many of them felt predictable, including what were supposed to be some big reveals towards the end. I was absolutely fascinated with Eva’s process of falsifying documents and the network that supported the underground resistance; I really enjoyed reading about those aspects.

Ultimately this book fell flat for me, despite such a promising premise. The structure and writing style took me out of the story too often, and I never felt fully immersed in Eva’s experiences or feelings. I am grateful, though, for authors who are searching out untold stories to share with us; I certainly got a glimpse into something new!

I am an avid fan of historical fiction dealing with WWII and Kristin Harmel's, The Book of Lost Names, did not disappoint. An intriguing and beautifully written novel. Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I want to thank Net Galley and Gallery Books for giving me the privilege to read this amazing book by Kristin Harmel. I have not read her other books but will be running to Amazon to buy them. I am a huge fan of WW2 books and find most of the books fascinating. I started this book three days ago and stayed up until after midnight to finish it. I couldn't stop reading it last night. You WILL NOT be sorry if you purchase this book and transport yourself to France during World War 2 and modern day Florida.

This book starts off prior to a round up of French Jews in Paris. Eva Traube in 1942. Eva is a graduate student with her love of books that made you instantly relate to her. One night, a neighbor asks Eva and her mother to watch two of her children as she has to go see to a sick family member. Earlier that day, a student named Joseph, warned her of the round up of Jews that was coming. Eva's parents thought that they would not be on the list. With Eva watching through a peephole, Eva's father is arrested. Eva's father had told her to see one of his French co-workers if anything happens to him. She visits him the next day and he gives her paperwork so she can create false papers for herself and her mother to travel to Switzerland. Her mother does not want to go as her father is in jail just miles away. Eva forces her mother and they end up in Aurigon, in the free zone of France, living in a boarding house when she is approached by a Priest. The Priest confides in her the work that the resistance is doing for children and Eva wants to not erase their pasts and creates a book of lost names. She meets Remy, the lovable, loyal, and risky resistance fighter who wants to do more than just forgery.

There are twists and turns that happen early on (there are characters that I distrusted and they were the ones that should have been trusted). The last third of the book goes fast and furious and I loved every minute of it.

For fans of Ellen Marie Watson and Christina Baker Kline

I have always loved Kristin Harmel's writing. I am a big historical fiction fan and I can always appreciate when it is obvious how much time and research an author puts into the writing of their novel. It is evident how much effort Harmel spends on her novels, and particularly the Book of Lost Names.

This book is a story of hope, courage, and resilience.

Eve Abrams is enjoying her leisurely semi-retired life as a librarian, when one day at work, she freezes. She recognizes a book she is shelving as "The Book of Lost Names".. thus transporting us into a transfixing and awe-inspiring tale.

Highly detailed and Highly Recommend for Historical Fiction Fans!

I would have given this a solid five stars, but as I closed in on the final chapters, I was disappointed by the climax as feeling too classic a bad guy, so to speak, and I kind of wished that a short epilogue came at the end as I felt like the closing chapter was a bit flat after the build up to it, and I wanted more. Otherwise, another great work by Harmel that takes the reader into yet another aspect of resistance during the war. Instead of the patent references to forged identity documents, we get to see some of their risks and challenges as well as a bit about how they made such convincing forgeries. Excellent book overall. Great romance for us girls 😊

I devoured this book in one day. It was so marvelously written and the story so intriguing that I couldn't put it down. The Book of Lost Names is the story of a young woman who suddenly finds her entire life torn apart. Separated from loved ones and forced on the run for being Jewish, Eva finds herself in a new town under a false alias. The only thing that saved her was being able to forge documents allowing her to travel, a skill which proves useful not only to for her own life. Caught between a desire to save herself and a willingness to help the lives of many innocent people, Eva chooses to stay and help them flee. What I love about Eva, in particular, is how much she matures and discovers the kind of person she wants to be. The scared young lady she was when she first left her home and the brave woman she becomes months later is such a lovely transition to witness.

As someone who has a passion for novels set during the Holocaust/WW2, you can often find yourself a bit bored with the storyline or feeling as though they're a bit redundant. However, this story offered something new and learning about yet another way in which many people were able to escape the Nazi's and imprisonment was genuinely exciting. I loved the twist Kristen Harmel put on this bit of history and would recommend The Book of Lost Names to all!

I don’t need to tell you that we are living in strange times. When first deciding to read this book I was hesitant. Not because I wasn’t interested but I was worried that it would be too “heavy”. However, it isn’t in me to pass up a good historical fiction novel…so I went for it! The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel has all of the ingredients for an attention grabbing story. I loved this book and didn’t want to put it down! The story goes back and forth between WW2 France and 2005. The story centers around Eva, who was a young jewish woman working for the French resistance. Eva is brave, young, and learning who she is. While reading, you get the sense that she is an ordinary girl dealing with extraordinary circumstances. My reasons for being wary of reading this book actually became part of what made it so enjoyable. Not to say we are in an environment anywhere near to the severity of war torn France, but I found comfort in being reminded that there have been uncertain times in our world before. The loss of normalcy and longing for mundane things were major themes throughout the plot. The pages paint a vivid picture of the occupied country, as well as a beautiful romance. You root for the couple the whole time. If you’re looking to get lost in adventure and passion then this is the book for
you.