Book Review: Keeper of Lost Children by Sadeqa Johnson

Publisher: Simon and Schuster Canada, February 10, 2026

Format: Paperback

Pages: 464

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Summary (From Goodreads):

In this new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The House of Eve, one American woman’s vision in post WWII Germany will tie together three people in an unexpected way.

Lost in the streets and smoldering rubble of Occupied Germany, Ethel Gathers, the proud wife of an American soldier spots a gaggle of mixed-race children following a nun. Desperate to conceive her own family, she feels compelled to follow them to learn their story.

Ozzie Philips volunteers for the army in 1948, eager to break barriers for Black soldiers. Despite his best efforts, he finds the racism he encountered at home in Philadelphia has followed him overseas. He finds solace in the arms of Jelka, a German woman struggling with the lack of resources and even joy in her destroyed country.

In 1965, Sophia Clark discovers she’s been given an opportunity to integrate a prestigious boarding school in Maryland and leave behind her spiteful parents and the grueling demands. In a chance meeting with a fellow classmate, she discovers a secret that upends her world.

Toggling between the lives of these three individuals, Keeper of Lost Children explores how one woman’s vision will change the course of countless lives, and demonstrates that love in its myriad of forms—familial, parental, and forbidden, even love of self—can be transcendent.

My Review:

Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for the copy of this book!

Read if you like: multiple perspectives, historical mysteries.

The book follows three perspectives: Ozzie, a young Black man who enlists in the US army and is sent to post war Germany. Ethel is married to an American officer stationed in Germany, where she meets a group of mixed race children living in an orphanage. Then there is Sophia, who is given the opportunity to integrate into a fancy boarding school, where she explores her identity.

This was a really interesting story and I loved the topic. The question of how these three characters were connected kept me reading, and I liked reading from all three perspectives. Overall, a beautiful and heartbreaking story!

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