Review - The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel

The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm not really one for reading what might be considered a book about World War II, but when this book was proposed at my bookclub, I really liked the premise. It's about a forger who provided new identities for those trying to escape occupied France, and also about a book taken during a nazi raid from a library in a church that had coded within its pages the original names of the Jewish children that this particular forger created new identities for.

It's historical fiction in that some elements are true and based off events that did happen during the war, but not any one person or event specifically. It is written in two timelines: 2005 with the main character, Eva, in persent day at the age of 85, and in 1942 when she escaped occupied France with her mother and became a forger.

It's a story about identities stolen, lost and forgotten. The writer touches on all aspects of this through multiple characters, with a backdrop of the war and how it traumatised so many, and led them to do things they never would have thought to do. There are also a few twists in this book, which caught me by surprise and and gave it a compelling edge as I keep turning the page to find out more.

The characters are well developed and engaging. I quickly become attached and cared about them, often feeling sad, shocked and shed tears about the things they had to go through. There is also a love story too, in some ways more than one. It evoked emotions at every step. A brilliant book I highly recommend, giving a view of the war that I'd never seen before.

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