I give this 3.75 the topic was very interesting and the writing was well done. My only reason for not giving a higher rating is just because the writing wasn’t entirely to my taste and I feel it was too short.

Dual timeline novel focused in France during World War II and the response to Hitler dictations. 1942, French parents were faced with a horrible choice: watch their children die, or abandon them forever. To save them, Jewish mothers of Vénissieux were asked to make the ultimate sacrifice of abandoning them forever. The result of a coordinated effort by clergy, civilians, the French Resistance and members of other humanitarian organizations 108 children somehow managed to escape deportation and certain death in the German concentration camps. Current time line, student Valérie Portheret in the midst of doing her doctoral research into the 108 children who disappeared from Vénissieux fifty years earlier made it her mission to match the abandoned names with the people they belong to. It took her a twenty-five year journey to allow the children to reclaim their heritage and remember their forgotten names. The first half of this book read almost like a textbook, with many names, dates, and facts to keep straigh. The reflections back on how children were saved and the people behind those stories was well done and had much to say about the timing and the strength to defy the masses, *Thank you to Mario Escobar, HarperCollins Focus, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.* #TheForgottenNames #NetGalley

The Forgotten Names tells of the harrowing true story of social workers and catholic priests who rescued over a hundred children from deportation from Vichy France during World War II. This is a very tough read. It is one of those novels that have a lot of emotional and intense scenes. These scenes are even more magnified by the fact that almost all of the characters of the story are based one real historical figure. I will also say that the historical figures and events are presented with a lot of care and respect to the actual figures behind the characters in the novel. This is also just well written book. My only issue with the book came from the 1992 storyline. I want to make it clear that what Valerie did was extremely impressive and should definitely be celebrated for the achievement that it is, but in the context of the story it was very underdeveloped and would halt the momentum of the story when it is included sporadically amongst the main narrative. I would have loved to have seen her journey as she gathered the names. Only seeing snippets of what she did just made her story feel underutilized and hindered the flow of the 1940s storyline. Despite that I think this is an excellent World War II novel celebrating the brave men and women who stood up the Nazis and risked their lives!

Thank You to NetGalley and Harper Muse of a Copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review!

"The Forgotten Names" by Mario Escobar is a historical fiction novel based on the true story of Valérie Portheret, a law student who embarks on a mission to reunite Jewish children with their original identities. The audiobook brings this emotional and powerful tale to life.

The story is set in France, where Valérie stumbles upon a list of 108 names—Jewish children who were smuggled out of Nazi-occupied territories and given new identities to survive. As she investigates, she faces opposition from those who wish to forget or deny the Holocaust, but she remains determined to uncover the truth.

Listeners have praised the audiobook for its gripping narrative and the compelling narration, which enhances the emotional depth of the story. If you're interested in historical fiction that sheds light on forgotten stories of heroism, this audiobook might be worth exploring.

Mario Escobar’s The Forgotten Names is a deeply moving novel that highlights the resilience of the human spirit amidst unimaginable adversity. Based on true events, the story takes place during the Holocaust, following the harrowing journeys of several characters who seek to preserve their dignity and identity in the face of unimaginable cruelty. The narrative beautifully intertwines the stories of Rosa, a young Jewish woman trying to reunite with her family, and a group of children hidden in a convent, each carrying the burden of memories and loss. Escobar masterfully captures their fears, hopes, and moments of courage, bringing to life the brutal realities of their experiences while also emphasizing themes of compassion and perseverance. What I appreciated most was how the novel sheds light on the often-overlooked efforts of those who risked everything to save others, including the nuns and ordinary citizens who defied orders to protect their charges. The writing is evocative and heartfelt, and the storyline is both heartbreaking and inspiring. While some moments are difficult to read, the story ultimately celebrates the enduring power of hope and human kindness. The Forgotten Names is a compelling reminder of history’s darkest hours and the light that can emerge even in the bleakest times. Highly recommended for readers interested in Holocaust history and stories of resilience.

A historical novel based on facts. In 1942 families made heartbreaking decisions to try and save their children. They signed them over to strangers to protect them from deportation to camps. Valérie Portheret spent years trying to find 108 children saved from Vénissieux and researched how they were helped and protected. Heroes suffered for helping them and should be remembered.

Very well written and well narrated novel (I listened to the audiobook). People gave their time, their love and their hopes to save as many children as possible during WWII. They put themselves in danger to help. Many children would lose their families and identities to stay alive.

I read this last year. It was a very captivating and moving story. The audio was well done.
Highly recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley for a complementary copy.

This was such a powerful and emotional read. Forgotten Names is a dual timeline novel based on real events—set in 1942 France during WWII and in 1992—following Valérie, a student researching Klaus Barbie for her thesis. While digging into his crimes, she uncovers the heartbreaking mystery of 108 missing children who seem to have disappeared without a trace during the war.

As the story shifts between the war-torn past and the present-day investigation, we learn about the unthinkable decisions Jewish families were forced to make. With Nazi orders demanding mass deportations, there was one small loophole—unaccompanied minors were exempt. A brave group of social workers and French citizens came together to do the unimaginable: convince parents to legally abandon their children in the hope of saving them from the horrors of the concentration camps.

I was completely unaware of this piece of history, and I’m so grateful this story shed light on it. It was both heartbreaking and heartwarming. The author did a beautiful job transitioning between timelines and capturing the weight of the emotions, especially the impossible choices these families faced and the courage of those who helped.

I gave this 4 stars only because I wanted just a bit more depth in the 1992 storyline—it felt slightly rushed in places—but overall, this was a moving, eye-opening read. A story of sacrifice, bravery, and the enduring strength of humanity in the face of evil.

Highly recommend for fans of historical fiction that teaches you something while breaking your heart just a little.

The Forgotten Names tells the story of a young woman who discovers a list of names and her quest to reunite those children with their original identities. This historical fiction novel focuses on Jewish children whose identities were changed in an attempt to save them from the Nazis during WWII. Valerie's quest to find the children who are now adults is heart warming and a great reminder that 1 person can accomplish great things.

This was a heart-wrenching book that caught my attention from the beginning. I have always been interested in the WWII, and this book taught me some interesting facts.

We must never forget the people that gave their lives to help others, some whose names will never be known or what they did to save them. Thank goodness for Valerie Portheret who spent 25 years looking for the 108 children who had their names changed so that they could tell their story and find out their real names.

Listening to the story as an audio really made it more real, there were many parts that had me in tears. The narrator, Saskia Maarleveld was brilliant, she made the story come alive.

This story is told between two eras, present day and WWII. Jewish French citizens gave up their parental rights to save their children from being sent to German death camps. Many French citizens took the children in and gave them new identities. A graduate student in present day made it her mission to locate these children who were now adults and reunite them with their rightful names.

Didn’t make it very far into this one. Did not hold my interest whatsoever. There were also certain themes and elements that I am not interested in reading about and a disclaimer for those would have been nice.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Muse for letting me listen to this book for an honest review.

I thought that this book sounded interesting and it’s written by Mario Escobar who has a master’s degree is modern history so I figured it would be an accurate depiction of what was happening. In The Forgotten names we follow Valérie Portheret (who is a real person) as she tries to find 108 children that disappeared from Vénissieux while managing to escape deportation to concentration camps thanks to the coordinated efforts of clergy, civilians and the French resistance. And amazingly Valèrie was able to reunite 98 of those children with their families years later.

He his fictional account based on real events and real people was really interesting to read because I didn’t realize that Nazi power was reaching so far outside of Germany just to bring Jewish people to concentration camps. It’s horrifically mind boggling.

I recommend that everyone keeps educating themselves on what happened and is currently happening because it affects us all.

I love historical fiction, however I think with this one, I learned I personally cannot absorb it through audiobooks. The constant starting and stopping due to my own time constraints made it very difficult to follow along with the story, even after I started back at the beginning again. The multitude of characters also made this one hard to follow- again I think due to me not being able to listen for long periods of time.

I think the story concept itself is great, and what I did absorb was heart wrenching. I do wish however we would've heard more about the characters in the very end as I though there would've been more of a reunion.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* This was such an amazing read! oh wow i LOVED it would buy and recommend for sure!

The Forgotten Names by Mario Escobar is a deeply moving historical novel based on true events. It follows Valérie Portheret, a law student in 1992 France, as she stumbles upon a list of 108 Jewish children who were hidden under false names to escape the Nazi regime during WWII. Valérie's discovery propels her on a 25-year quest to uncover their real identities and reunite them with their lost heritage.

Escobar weaves together two timelines, capturing the heartbreaking choices Jewish parents faced in 1942 and Valérie's relentless pursuit to bring their stories to light. The novel dives into the acts of bravery and sacrifice made by ordinary people—clergy, civilians, and members of the French Resistance—who risked everything to save these children.

Blending real historical figures with fictional elements, the author's meticulous research shines through, creating a story that is both educational and emotionally charged. The horrors faced by the children and their families are hard to digest, but Escobar’s writing ensures their bravery isn’t forgotten. It’s an intense, yet uplifting tale of hope, courage, and the resilience of the human spirit.

Valérie’s journey is a reminder of the power one person has to honor the past, even in the face of denial and opposition. This book is a powerful tribute to those who refused to let history bury these children’s names.

Occasionally, the translation from the original Spanish doesn’t work, but I highly recommended this for readers who appreciate historical fiction with depth and heart. And by the way, the audiobook is narrated by Saskia Maarleveld. None better! 4 stars.

** Thanks to the publisher for a review copy of this book for an honest review.

It's an intense, yet uplifting tale of hope, courage, and the resilience of the human spirit. Valérie's journey is a reminder of the power one person has to honor the past, even in the face of denial and opposition. This book is a powerful tribute to those who refused to let history bury these children's names.

Told in alternating time frames, The Forgotten Names tells the history of part of the French Resistance not often written about - saving the lives of Jewish children in France as their families were being sent to camps. As Valerie Portheret works on her thesis, she discovers a list of 108 names, all children whose parents had signed off on guardianship in a last-ditch effort to save their lives. She begins to investigate and is determined to find each of the 108 now-grown adults. The story, told with strong narration, goes back and forth between current day and the time of WWII. Readers who enjoy historical fiction of this time period, as I do, will be fascinated by this story. With the large number of characters and alternating time frames, reading the text would have been a better option for me than an audiobook.

Narrated by Saskia Maarleveld


<B> “Human beings aren’t naturally good, but neither are we irrationally evil. It’s just that our hearts house evil and selfishness. I’ve heard some say that the Nazis are cruel because they aren’t human. But turning them into wild animals or beasts doesn’t help undo the horror they cause. That’s what the Nazis have done against the Jews: attributed to one nation the ills of the entire world. The truth is that all of us are prisoners of egocentrism and all of us are capable of horrible wickedness.”</B>


The Forgotten Names is the story of a heroic act without precedent in Nazi-occupied Europe. A network of institutions and people of different ideologies and beliefs came together to carry out one of the largest rescue operations organized during World War II.

In Mario Escobar's own words —Writing a historical novel implies describing a part of the world that no longer exists, a part that has disappeared little by little and given way to something else. Someday the impetuous winds of time will buffet us until we, too, are history. The images engraved on our pupils, the sum of emotions and experiences that we all represent, will disappear forever. That futility of life makes us simultaneously giants and pygmies, believing the only way to prolong our existence is to perch atop the shoulders of the next generation and whisper a few phrases into their ears.

Today, some four thousand French men and women are recognized by the international community as Righteous Among the Nations. Thanks to these Righteous, three-fourths of the Jews in occupied France did not die. The majority of these were children.

At the peak of world war II , Germany had ordered France to hand over all the Jews which counted to about 60000 people including kids in that group too. When it didn't feel right, a group of people came together to rescue these kids, because rescuing others was not an option but they had found an exemption that could help them save these kids.

<B> The danger was constant, death was around every corner, and it was enough to know that the primary interest of the other was survival. Yet no one could pull it off without other people’s help. The individualism from before the war—that sense that a person’s life mattered to only the one who lived it—was a daydream from the past. The only way to survive in the world they now lived in was, simply, to trust others.</B>

At the age of twenty-three, Valérie began her riveting research into the rescue of the children of Vénissieux. After discovering a box with the children’s files, her research became a twenty-five-year journey to find those lost children and give them back their true identities.

The story of the forgotten names alternates between the main story of how a group of people saved 108 children from the clutches of death and Valerie's journey of finding out how did it happen and who these children were.

<B> The hundreds of exemption requests on the table were much more than paper forms for him. They were people’s lives, families who would disappear forever if they crossed the Rhine and reached Germany.</B>

What Hitler did to jews is unfathomable... No matter how many books I have read about holocaust, every time I read a new one I experience the horrors again. <I> Jews were like rats. They could outlast almost anything. So they had to be treated like the infectious animals that they were. There could be no mercy or compassion. Though the Nazis’ victims at times could look like innocent women, children, and older people, in actuality they were a dangerous plague that corrupted entire nations.</I>

<b> Genocidal tyrants like Adolf Hitler had always existed, but they only triumphed when an entire people became willing accomplices to their crimes. The world I grew up in was kinder than this one. We fought in the Great War and faced crises and plagues, but human beings still had souls. I’ve seen so much, madame. I wish I could drive it all out of my mind and heart. These people don’t know the hell they’re about to be taken to. The Nazis are devils with no souls.”</B>

The forgotten names had my attention from the first page and it didn't let it waver till the end. The narration is too good, enjoyed every bit of it.

Thank you Harper Muse| HarperCollins and Netgalley for this wonderful Audiobook which I highly recommend to everyone.

This book is sure gonna stay with me for a very long time.

Audiobook rating : 5 stars
Book rating : 4.5 stars

Dual timeline usually doesn't bother me, but this one was a bit hard to follow. Well written overall.