Bestselling author hosts virtual book tour July 24
Bestselling author Kristin Harmel said she grew up impacted by “The Diary of Anne Frank.”
“I learned books were not just for entertainment,” she said. “It showed me books have power and could change the world.”
Her grandfather’s death in 2009 drove home the importance of stories, and history.
“He was a Merchant Marine stationed in the Pacific,” she said. “There are so many stories he took with him that were never told. I was too young to think about asking him, and he wasn’t forthcoming with stories. Writing is a way to connect with my grandparents and that generation.”
The former sportswriter and People magazine reporter wrote her first World War II novel in 2012. She said she gravitated toward writing historical fiction to tell the stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
“In a time of darkness, you have the ability to spark the greatest light,” she said. “There are so many stories about people rising up and showing courage they never knew they had. We all have the capacity to be extraordinary.”
Her fifth novel about World War II, and her fourth novel set in France, “The Book of Lost Names,” comes out July 21.
The novel follows the story of a young French Jewish woman who risks her life to forge identity documents for Jewish children fleeing to Switzerland. In the novel, Harmel incorporates factual details about real forgers and documents from the 1940s and the 1732 leather-bound book in which names were encoded during the war.
Harmel said she lived in Paris in her early 20s, so she has a personal attachment to France. Her previous novels, “The Room on Rue Amélie” and “The Winemaker’s Wife” also include people who escaped Nazis using forged documents.
“I developed a deep interest in the subject,” she said. “I thought, who does the forging?”
Harmel said her agent sent her a New York Times article about Nazis looting books during the war.
“I found details that could make a compelling story,” she said. “The framework for a story all clicked into place.”
To research, Harmel read “A Forger’s Life,” about the primary forger for the French Resistance during the Nazi occupation of Paris, as told by his daughter, and “A Good Place to Hide,” the story of a French community that sheltered 3,500 Jews during World War II and an 18-year-old Jewish boy who forged 5,000 false identity papers to save other Jews and Resistance fighters.
“The books covered the methods they used and detailed how it was done,” she said. “But I wanted to know what the documents would feel and look like.”
So, she turned to ebay, where she purchased antique documents from reputable sellers in Europe.
“I bought a travel pass issued by the Nazis in December 1940 in Paris,” she said. “I got to hold that paper in my hand and see what the ink was like. I also got French baptism certificates from the 1940s.”
She also purchased many copies of the Official Gazette of the French Republic, which publishes major legal official information from the French government and Parliament, where many forgers got names to use as false identities.
Harmel’s book tour was canceled due to COVID-19, but the Lewes library partnered with Browseabout Books to host a free virtual book tour and discussion of “The Book of Lost Names” at 5 p.m., Friday, July 24. Participants can register for free at delawarelibraries.com. The book will be available for purchase at Browseabout.
“Bookstores and libraries have figured out a wonderful way to connect with readers,” Harmel said. “At least half the people attending have a relationship with the store or library, and there are others who may not have been able to come otherwise, but are able to virtually.”
Harmel said the virtual tour allows readers to join in the book discussion and help support independent bookstores.
“It’s easy to order on the internet, and that’s fine,” she said. “But, I would ask people to be mindful of these local businesses who rely on you. It may cost you a couple dollars more, but consider that a way of giving back to the community that gives to you.”
