Kristin Harmel discovered information about document forgers during WWII and, for the story, tied it in with the thousands of books stolen by the Nazis (organizations are still trying to reunite books with their owners). The Book of Lost Names follows the Jewish Abrams family. Eva Traube's father is arrested in Paris while Eva and her mother are looking after a neighbor's children. In anticipation of such circumstances, Mr. Taube had paid a forger to provide documents for the family to escape both France and their Jewish heritage names. Eva and her mother rush to the southern France Free Zone, using their new documents, and hoping to travel to Switzerland. But although there is little German occupation they remain wary of Nazi sympathizers and French police who are German collaborators. Eva comes across a sympathetic priest who finding Eva has artistic talent, offers her a job forging documents, especially for children. Fearing the children will be lost forever from their families, Eva devises a plan to keep records of the children's new and old names.
