“I mean that I would rather die knowing I tried to do the right thing than live knowing I had turned my back. Do you understand?” A shiver ran through Eva.
Warned by a family friend that the Nazis are coming to round up 20,000 French Jews, Eva wakes in fear when there is a knock on her parents’ door. They didn’t want to leave. It turns out to be a neighbor who needs help watching her children. Eva and her mother go stay but while they are sleeping, Eva’s father is taken by the French police. When Eva seeks help from her father’s boss, all he offers is papers that she can forge so they can get to Switzerland. She works for hours creating the perfect papers, using her artistic skills. Her mother doesn’t want to leave, expecting her husband to come back, but Eva makes her go.
The Book of Lost Names seemed like a fascinating read from its description. I had the book in my library holds for several weeks. It’s a WW2 historical fiction novel, which is one of my favorite genres.
Eva and her mother land in a small town in France not far from the Swiss border. However, her mother refuses to leave the country until they have her husband back. In the meantime, Eva starts working with a priest to forge documents to help others escape. Her coworker Remy ignites feelings she’s never had towards a man before, but he feels called to go fight with the resistance. Eva wonders how long she can keep forging documents until they get caught by the Germans. She uses a code in an old religious text to keep track of the original names of the children that she forges documents for. The story ends with a twist, so I won’t give any more away.
The Book of Lost Names is a good historical fiction book, although a bit predictable. I guessed at the ending but was reminded of how difficult that time must have been for everyone who felt trapped. I would recommend The Book of Lost Names to anyone high school age or older.
Do you enjoy predictable books? Share why in the comments!