Keeper of Lost Children by Sadeqa Johnson

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.

Kindle Edition, 464 pages

Expected publication February 10, 2026

by Simon & Schuster CA

5/5 stars

The Keeper of Lost Children is a moving historical fiction novel that brings to light a remarkable, largely overlooked chapter of post–World War II history. Given the author's 2 previous books I knew I was in for a captivating read.

Inspired by the life events that explores the aftermath of World War 2 through a couple points of view. One perspective follows an American woman living in Germany with her husband, longing to become a mother but unable to conceive.  Her desire for motherhood becomes inseparable from the children society has abandoned.

Interwoven with this is the perspective of a teenage girl growing up on a farm in Maryland, yearning for more than the life she has been handed. Her coming-of-age story is marked by determination, resilience, and a quiet but powerful sense of purpose. This viewpoint adds depth and hope, showing how ambition and compassion can take root even in the most ordinary of places.

Keeper of Lost Children is a story of family, hope and how one woman decided that these children mattered. It was well written and researched and now weeks after I finished it has stayed with me.

My thanks to Simon & Schuster CA for a digital arc (via Netgalley) in exchange for a honest review.

The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson

From the award-winning author of Yellow Wife, a daring and redemptive novel set in 1950s Philadelphia and Washington, DC, that explores what it means to be a woman and a mother, and how much one is willing to sacrifice to achieve her greatest goal.

1950s Philadelphia: fifteen-year-old Ruby Pearsall is on track to becoming the first in her family to attend college, in spite of having a mother more interested in keeping a man than raising a daughter. But a taboo love affair threatens to pull her back down into the poverty and desperation that has been passed on to her like a birthright.

Eleanor Quarles arrives in Washington, DC, with ambition and secrets. When she meets the handsome William Pride at Howard University, they fall madly in love. But William hails from one of DC’s elite wealthy Black families, and his par­ents don’t let just anyone into their fold. Eleanor hopes that a baby will make her finally feel at home in William’s family and grant her the life she’s been searching for. But having a baby—and fitting in—is easier said than done.

With their stories colliding in the most unexpected of ways, Ruby and Eleanor will both make decisions that shape the trajectory of their lives.

 Paperback, 320 pages

Published February 7, 2023

 by Simon & Schuster Canada

4/5 stars

The author's previous book, Yellow Wife was one of my favorites from 2021, I eagerly awaited her new one The House of Eve.

Told from the POV of 15 year old Ruby who's working hard to be the first person in her family to attend college.  Along with Eleanor who has just started university in Washington. Since both women are teens one would think it’s a YA story but it definitely has an adult feel to it. 

Even though both of these teens come from totally different backgrounds and social classes they do have the same struggles. Each centres around the consequences of actions that society does not approve of and the struggles they face working through them.

The House of Eve is a story about race, prejudice and parts of history that have left a mark.  Namely the Catholic churches home for unwed mothers. It was well written, an authentic story where this reader felt what these young women went though (losses, but also hope and possibilities for the future).

Well, I didn’t love this as much as I did Yellow Wife it was still a well researched story that highlights important historical facts.

This book was part of my 2023 Reading off My Shelf Challenge and is book number 35.

Review: Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson

“Wholly engrossing, exquisitely researched, and so timely. Sadeqa Johnson brings a fresh telling to a story we think we already know, making it beautifully relatable and human. Riveting and suspenseful, I highly recommend this novel.” —Kathleen Grissom New York Times Bestselling author of The Kitchen House

This harrowing story follows an enslaved woman forced to barter love and freedom while living in the most infamous slave jail in Virginia.

Born on a plantation in Charles City Virginia, Pheby Delores Brown has lived a privileged life. Shielded by her mother’s position as the plantation’s medicine woman, and cherished by the Master’s sister, she is set apart from the others on the plantation, belonging to neither world.

Freedom on her eighteenth birthday has been promised to her, but instead of the idyllic life she imagined with her true love, Essex Henry, Pheby is forced to leave the only home she has ever known and unexpectedly finds herself thrust into the bowels of slavery at the infamous “Devil’s Half-Acre,” a jail where the enslaved are broken, tortured, and sold every day in Richmond, Virginia. There Pheby is exposed not just to her Jailor’s cruelty but also to his contradictions. To survive Pheby will have to outwit him but soon faces the ultimate sacrifice.

Paperback, 277 pages

Expected publication: January 12th 2021

 by Simon & Schuster

4/5 stars

New to me author Sadeqa Johnson packs a lot of punch in these 277 pages of Yellow Wife.  This is my first time in what feels like ages to be reading US historical fiction about slavery and what those of color endured.

Just shy of her 18 years, Pheby has been promised her freedom papers but then everything changes and not in a good way.  Pheby told her story beginning with promise, love and hope that changed to despair and heartache.  Needless to say it was a emotional read and honesty given the time period how could it not be.  It was a horrible time in history.

The last few pages of this book contained author notes (a must for HF imho) where the author talked of her inspiration and research.  While the characters were fictional they do revolve around a real jail set on 1/2 an acre where the circumstances were drawn from.  Sometimes hard to read the author didn't always hold back it to what took place. The characters were authentic and it wasn't hard to feel for them.

I liked the ending but I did crave for more.  I would have loved for the story to have continued for a little bit longer.  All in all a great read by an author that I will be on the lookout for her backlist.

My thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada for a print ARC in exchange for an honest review.