Book Notes | A story of war and the valiant persons who risk their lives to help others
During World War II, France was initially divided into a northern, German-occupied area and the Vichy or free area in the south. Jews and others tried to flee from the occupied area to the Vichy area. The story told by author Kristin Harmel in The Book of Lost Names is set in the Vichy area, where there was an underground network to help Jews and children escape to Switzerland.
We first meet Eva Traube Abrams, the book’s main character, when she is working as a semi-retired librarian in Florida. While working at the library one day she sees a photograph in a magazine lying open nearby. It is an image of a book she hasn’t seen in 65 years. As she returns to Germany to reclaim the book, her story is revealed
Eva was a student at the Sorbonne during WWII. She and her Jewish parents felt unsafe in Paris. Before her father was taken by the Germans, he told Eva to go with her mother to the Vichy area and then to Switzerland. This required making or getting forged documents that would hide their Jewish identity. Eva found she had the artistic ability to create forged documents for herself and her mother.
After arriving in Aurigon—a village with a large underground network to help Jews and children escape to Switzerland—Eva finds herself being recruited to work on the making of forged documents to help children escape. This entails giving them forged names. But how could these children be traced after the war ends? Eva and a fellow worker, Remy, devise an elaborate code that is kept in an old book, Epitres et Evangiles, on a church library shelf.
Chapters in The Book of Lost Names take the reader from the 1940s to the present time. The harrowing story keeps the reader immersed in the realities of WWII and the valiant persons who put their lives at great risk to help others.
Overall, members of the UMRA Book Club were engrossed by the book and the heroics of the people who helped Jewish people escape. We pondered how we might have acted if we were in a similar situation, and wished for more information on what happened to the children once they made it to Switzerland.
—Mariah Snyder, UMRA Book Club I member
January selection: ‘The Book of Lost Names’
Fri, Jan 20 2023, 2pm
Mariah Snyder will lead the discussion of The Book of Lost Names by American novelist Kristen Harmel when the UMRA Book Club meets via Zoom at 2 p.m. on Friday, January 20.
Email Pat Tollefson at [email protected] for more information, including suggestions for starting a new book club.
Read a summary of the group’s discussion of their November 2022 selection, West with Giraffes.
Upcoming Events
Our July 15 "hike" is going to be a kayaking adventure on Bde Maka Ska (formerly Lake Calhoun) and Lake of the Isles! If you don't have a kayak (or paddleboard), Wheel Fun Rentals, located next to the new concession stand rents single kayaks at $15 an hour and double kayaks at $25. The second hour is free if we rent before noon. Life jackets are provided with the rental.
Laura Ericksen will lead the discussion of How Stella Learned to Talk by Christina Hunger, a true story by a speech-language pathologist who taught her dog, Stella, to communicate using buttons associated with different words.
Our August 5 hike will be a reprise of our hike last summer at William O'Brien State Park. This is a beautiful park with a winding trail and a great view of the countryside. The hike is about 5.5 to 6 miles and we'll go at a moderate pace with frequent water breaks. After the hike, we will eat lunch at Rustic Roots Winery, a half mile north of the park.
Kathy Cramer will lead the discussion of The Bookbinder by Pip Williams, a book set in 1914 Oxford chronicling the life of Peggy who works in the University bindery, but craves a life beyond binding books but to being a scholar herself.
Enjoy a two-hour cruise on the Jonathan Padelford, leaving from the Harriet Island dock in St. Paul, boarding time at 5:30 p.m. We will have a brief program on board by Patrick Nunnally from the River Life Program of the Institute on the Environment.
August 31 is the due date for annual reports and updates. Annual Reports, Toolkits, web page updates, operating document updates and archives collections are all due each year on this date.
Autumn is a wonderful season in Minnesota so plan to join UMRA at the Andersen Horticultural Library at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Kristen Mastel, head librarian and curator, will reveal its treasure trove of publications and artifacts relating to plant history, horticulture, and natural history. After the tour, those who are interested may stay to eat lunch together, sitting outside if the weather is nice. Later, you are invited to a one-hour tram tour of the entire Arboretum that includes natural areas of flowering shrubs, bogs, and forests, family garden and landscaping showpieces, and the red barn farm
After a summer break the UMRA Photo Club will next meet September 10, 2024 in the meeting room of the Hennepin County St. Anthony Branch Library. For those interested in lunch, meet at the Great Dragon at 11:30 am. For September the THEME will be Curves
We will continue to discuss the pros and cons of Medicare Advantage. You will also hear about notable non-health plan and non-broker resources.