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
Silk Parachute, an anthology of essays and the 40th of 44 published books by author John McPhee, will be the topic of discussion when UMRA’s Fourth Friday Book Club meets via Zoom from 2 to 3:30 p.m. CDT on April 26.
We are fortunate to have UMRA member and former Minnesota Landscape Arboretum director Peter Moe to lead this approximately 3.7-mile hike at the Arboretum on Monday, May 6. Plan to have lunch together after the hike at the Eatery café inside the Oswald Visitor Center.
This session will continue the discussion begun in the May 8, 2023 session. See that article for details.
If you currently live in your own home or apartment, have you looked ahead to when you might want to consider a senior living option? Do you have any idea what those options might be? How much they cost? What they provide? UMRA’s May 14 workshop will provide an overview of the world of senior living and the basic information you need.
You’re invited to join the final Family History Interest Group meeting for 2023–24. This will be an opportunity to ask questions related to family history, share insights, talk about recent projects, and suggest topics for next year.
Stephanie Daily will lead the discussion of Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by best-selling author Mary Roach when the UMRA Book Club meets via Zoom at 2 p.m. on Friday, May 17.
The May 20 hike will start at the Historic Lift Bridge in Stillwater and go along the river to the new bridge, cross over and then back on the Wisconsin side, a total of approximately 5 miles. Most of the route is paved. We will eat lunch after at Brian's Bar and Grill in Stillwater. Car pooling will be available.
Climatologist and meteorologist Mark Seeley joined the U of M faculty in 1978 and has been a weekly commentator on Minnesota Public Radio since 1992. We are honored to welcome him as our guest speaker for UMRA’s May Luncheon Forum and 2024 Annual Meeting. He is always entertaining and informative.
UMRA’s Fourth Friday Book Club welcomes back, for the second time, author Julie Schumacher, U of M Regents professor of creative writing and English, for a conversation about her novel The Shakespeare Requirement.
We are in for a treat on June 3! Lynn Anderson, will lead us on trails at two parks near her Monticello home. Bring a bag lunch and we will gather in Lynn's yard along the Mississippi River for eating and socializing after the hike.
Get out to the ballpark with fellow UMRA members for the annual U of M Day at Target Field as the Minnesota Twins take on the Oakland Athletics on June 14 at 7:10 p.m.
Please join us at 9:30 on June 17, 2024 for a walk around Lake Como in St. Paul before attending the UMRA Summer Social and Picnic starting at 11 at the Como Pavilion. A perfect opportunity to get in a walk before we gather to celebrate summer.
Picnic under the covered, open-air Como pavilion, gaze at the water, spy some birds, catch up with friends and former colleagues, and meet new members. We’ll have lunch with plenty of time for visiting and then compete in teams as we are challenged by our Quiz master(s)!
Healthy aging, mindfulness, fighting ageism, and more will be the focus of the third annual Age-Friendly University Day to be held on the U of M Twin Cities campus.