The accompanying article discusses the looting of libraries by the Nazis across Europe during World War II-an experience Eva remembers well-and the search to reunite people with the texts taken from them so long ago. She freezes it’s an image of a book she hasn’t seen in sixty-five years-a book she recognizes as The Book of Lost Names. This book brought tears to my eyes, filled my heart with hope, and will stay with me forever.Eva Traube Abrams, a semi-retired librarian in Florida, is shelving books one morning when her eyes lock on a photograph in a magazine lying open nearby. The Book of Lost Names was initially out of stock, but it’s now available again! I highly recommend it. It’s also one of those books just begging to be made into a movie. If you enjoyed Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale, you’ll likely enjoy Kristin Harmel’s The Book of Lost Names. It’s a reminder that we always have a choice, whether its passive disobedience or fighting hate with hope.

But that is why we must keep reading these stories, fictional and true alike: so we can remember the horror that some people chose, and see the hope that others provided and persevered with. Like any war-set novel, it is at times hard to read. Each character and setting are intricately detailed and believable, to the point that I was surprised to find that Aurignon, the town where Eva hides, is fictional instead of real.

The way Eva thinks about books transcends time and place, and it’s always a big magical to find a character who loves books just as much as you do. Within the heavy content, little gems for fellow book lovers are sprinkled. From the forgery rings to the smuggling of children across the Swiss border, my nerves are absolutely shot after finishing it. This book was engrossing, with a heart-pounding plot full of historically accurate details. As she forms relationships with unexpected people, her worldview is challenged and more difficult choices are on the horizon. As she tries to rescue her family and help save innocent lives, she becomes more deeply embedded in the Resistance. Upon arriving, she learns she has quite the knack for forgery. When the Nazi’s begin mass arrests in Paris, she’s forced to forge documents and flee to the free area of France. This novel focuses on Eva Traube, a student working towards becoming a librarian.

The book of the lost names