The Book of Lost Names
By Kristin Harmel
5 stars
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All of the opinions are my own and this did not affect my review in any way.
World War II books have always been a subject I am very interested in so when I received a copy of this book I knew I had to read it right away because I had never read a book with a similar premise and I was intrigued right away. After reading this book it instantly became one of my favorite reads of the year and probably one of the best WWII books ever.
In The Book of Lost Names we follow Eva, who as a graduate student in 1942, was forced to flee Paris after the arrest of her father, a Polish Jew. Finding refuge in a small mountain town in the Free Zone, she begins forging identity documents for Jewish children fleeing to neutral Switzerland.
Like I mentioned this is one of the best WWII books I have ever read. The Book of Lost Names is told in dual timeline. In one timeline we follow 1942 Eva as she is forging documents for children and on the other timeline we follow Eva 65 years later as she is now living in Florida when she finds a newspaper article about a librarian who has found one of her most precious books, The Book of Lost Names. Both timelines are fantastic and extremely well written, however I have to admit that the 1942 timeline was my favorite, it was crude, honest, heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time.
The main character of this book is Eva and I loved her so much. Eva is such a strong, smart character it was impossible not fall for her. It was heart wrenching to follow her story and it was truly inspiring to read about how he helped all of those innocent children escape a time of oppression and violence. The secondary characters are fantastic as well I fell in love with each and every one of them (except for Eva´s mother) and they added fantastic depth and background to the story.
The writing style is absolutely fantastic, this book is written with so much love, empathy and humanity. The author manages to perfectly portray how life was like at that time and through her powerful words you are able to deeply feel for what the characters are going through. I enjoyed the magical descriptions of the town, Eva´s routine and the process of getting all the children to safety. This is an incredibly and well written historical fiction book talking about one of the worst moments humanity has ever experienced.
Overall I don’t know what else to say about this book other than read it. It was a beautiful story about survival, loss and love that everyone should read. I fell in love with the authors writing and storytelling and I can´t wait to read more of what this author has to offer. Truly one of the best books I read in 2022.
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