The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel

 During WWII, forgers played important role in the Resistance. It was a network of “brave people who used their artistic ability and scientific ingenuity to produce convincing documents that allowed innocent people to survive.”

Florida, 2005. Eva Traube, librarian, comes across an article talking about a book, which she thought had vanished forever.

Paris, 1942. Eva is pursuing her doctorate in English literature. Her father, Polish-born Jew, is arrested. But before that he arranged with his employer for fake documents for Eva in order for her to escape to the free zone in Switzerland. Since she has to escape with her mother now, she is given blank documents and supplies to forge their own documents. From Paris, they travel east, toward the Alps and make a stop in Aurignon. Where, even though their papers are very legible looking, there is something else that gives them away. Now, a Catholic priest asks Eva for help in forging papers for Jewish children. He convinces her to do this “artistic endeavors” in order “to move toward a life of freedom.” Her mother wants to continue toward the free zone. Eva is torn. With her work materializing on a page in front of her, “hope floats up within her.” She feels it within her that she is doing a good work and the right one. Her father’s words “Who will remember us?” bring up a concern. Who will remember the real names of the Jewish children for whom she is forging the documents and who are too young to remember later their real names. Her partner in forgery, Remy, comes up with a brilliant idea. His love for math and the Fibonacci sequence give him an idea how to code real names without putting any one in danger.

Written with so much humanity. There is so much love and caring breathed into the characters, making it one of the most endearing and beautiful stories. You can also feel the pain of those who lost the love ones. You can sense Eva’s hesitation. She wants to do the right thing by her mother and the right thing dictated by her heart. But her mother’s different thinking doesn’t make it easy for her. Helping the children makes Eva feel like she “can bring some light to the world, even in the midst of all the darkness.”

The description of the town brings so much of visible charm. I was also enchanted by the invisible charm of the closeness of people working together, being part of a network which helps hundreds of innocent children, who some lost their parents, to escape the injustice inflicted upon them.

I enjoyed the magical description of the town so much that I wanted to locate it on a map. As it turns out, it’s a fictional town. I understand it gives any writer more freedom, who doesn’t have to worry about town’s accuracy. But setting it in a real town makes it a more credible story. That’s the only thing I wished was different about this book.

This spellbinding page-turner doesn’t bring atrocity of WWII and despite the horror and injustice of the war, the author manages to create such heart-warming story of network of people who risk their own lives to save others. The story brings such characters one cares deeply for and who take a reader on an extraordinary journey of courage, faith and bravery.

Release date: 21 July 2020

Source: Gallery Books