Robin’s Rave Reviews 2026

KEEPER OF LOST CHILDREN by Sadeqa Johnson will give you all the feels. This WWII historical fiction covers a mix of topics from family drama, prejudice/desegregation, adoption, infertility, army wife life, and the haves/have nots.</span> Sadeqa expertly immerses you into the world of several characters from the late 1940s in Occupied Germany to the mid-1960s in America. The three storylines are easy to follow without confusion as you weave in and out of them.

Book Summary

Ethel Gathers lives in Occupied Germany on an American Army base in the 1950s. She struggles with the emotional pain of infertility and loneliness as a military wife in a foreign country. When she gets lost walking around the city, she stumbles upon a local orphanage. The children here are babies of German women and Black American GI’s. German society shunned these single mothers due to their bi-racial children, and the women cannot financially care for them. Ethel’s purpose in life becomes finding these children loving homes in America, and her “Brown Babies Program” is born.

Ozzie Phillips, born and raised in Philadelphia, volunteers for the Army in 1948. He wants to show what the Black man is capable of in the newly desegregated Army. While serving in Germany, he forms a relationship with Jelka, a local woman, and they have a child together. He loves this child more than anything, but the military upends their arrangement with orders he must follow.

In the mid-1960s, Sophia Clark’s high test score gains her an opportunity to be part of desegregating a prestigious all-white boarding school in Maryland. It’s an opportunity for a better education to overcome a life of poverty, as well as escaping tough life on the farm and her cold, demanding parents. At the new school, she struggles with both class and race issues. Sophia makes friends with other students who, like her, are breaking down walls. One of these friendships leads her to uncovering truths about herself and her family.

My Thoughts

Reader, you will love these characters. You will sympathize with Ethel’s desperate desire to be a mother and attempts at adjusting to life on the Army base so far from home. You will love Ethel’s heart in finding Black American families who want these children and her persistence in breaking through the red tape to get them from Germany to America. Author notes that will be in the published version weren’t included in my Advance Readers Copy (ARC). I expect Sadeqa will talk about her research on these children and the woman who arranged the adoptions. Some quick research points to Ethel’s character being based on a real-life woman, Mabel Grammer. She was responsible for successfully relocating over 500 children in her “Brown Baby Program.”

We meet Ozzie in Philadelphia before he joins the military. You will connect with his personality and goals. You will feel for the sacrifice he makes to join the Army. Once there, hIs story sheds light on what it was like for a Black man to have his ability overlooked by the military simply because of his skin color. You’ll applaud his drive to improve his position and prove himself. You’ll appreciate his tender side in his relationship with Jelka, a German woman, and the child they have together. The devotion this man has for his child is adorable which makes your heart break for his circumstances. You will cheer on Ozzie and Jelka to overcome the problems associated with the demands of the Army and societal bigotry.

Jumping forward in time, your heart will go out to Sophia, a sweet, smart girl living in poverty with unloving parents. As much as you’ll want to see her get out by going to this prestigious school, you’ll feel her stress at leaving her brothers behind in those conditions. You will feel concern knowing the probable issues she will face being one of the first Black students at an all-white school with children from wealthy families. You will tense as she encounters prejudice, and you’ll recognize typical teenage scenarios with friendship and first love.

Although you will predict how the three stories will eventually tie in, you will be invested in seeing it all play out.

5 Star Recommendation

I have seen excellent reviews of other Sadeqa Johnson novels (THE HOUSE OF EVE and YELLOW WIFE), but this is my first book by her. When I saw the ARC was available, I jumped at the chance to read it. I’m so glad I did. I highly recommend KEEPER OF LOST CHILDREN by Sadeqa Johnson. It is well written, the characters are endearing, and the story was an excellent lesson of WWII history I didn’t know about.

The book comes out February 10, 2026. You can preorder it now . Here’s a link to purchase at Bookshop.org. My thanks to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC of KEEPER OF LOST CHILDREN by Sadeqa Johnson. All of my thoughts on this novel are my own opinions.

About the Author

From Sadeqa Johnson’s website: Sadeqa is the author of six novels. The House of Eve was an instant New York Times Best Seller, Reese’s Book Club selection, Target Book Club pick, nominated for a NAACP Image Award and a 2023 Goodreads Choice award finalist.

Yellow Wife, was named by Oprah Magazine as “27 of 2021 Most Anticipated Winter Historical Fiction books.” Yellow Wife was also a 2021 Goodreads Choice Award finalist for historical fiction, a 2022 Hurston/Wright Foundation Legacy finalist, a BCALA Literary Honoree, the Library of Virginia’s Literary People’s Choice Award winner, and a Barnes & Noble book club pick in paperback.

The book tour dates and locations for KEEPER OF LOST CHILDREN is on her website here. I plan on meeting her in February when she comes to the South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch of the Cuyahoga County Library (Cleveland area) on her book tour. Does your book club plans on reading her newest book? Keep an eye on her website for book club extras.

If You Like…

If KEEPER OF LOST CHILDREN sounds interesting to you, take a look at these past reviews I’ve done. Click on the links. Maybe one of these books will also piqué your interest: THE BOOK OF LOST NAMES or THE PARIS DAUGHTER by Kristin Harmel, THE SECRET BOOK OF FLORA LEA by Patti Callahan Henry, and THE CLOCKMAKER’S WIFE by Daisy Wood.

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Robin’s Rave Reviews 2024

Yes! Another perfect book for your beach bag this summer! A HAPPIER LIFE by Kristy Woodson Harvey, part historical fiction, part mystery, part women’s fiction, part romance, is told in a dual timeline: present day with Keaton Smith, and in 1976 with her grandparents Rebecca “Becks” and Townsend St. James.

Summary

Keaton, a young professional in NYC, has lost her job and her condo. While she figures out her next move, her mother asks her to clear out Keaton’s grandparents’ house in Beaufort so it can be sold. Keaton knew they died in a car accident before she was born, but this is the first she’s heard of the historic house on the North Carolina seaside. Her mother and uncle have held onto the house for nearly fifty years. Keaton agrees and takes her dog Salt along for the trip. (Who doesn’t love a story with a dog? And this dog is based on Kristy’s own dog named Salt!)

Keaton isn’t prepared to walk into a 1970s time-warp. It looks like Becks and Townsend just stepped away, including dishes left on the dining room table from one of Becks’ famous dinner parties. As Keaton is adjusting to the shock, Anderson, a ten-year-old, boy pops in. He lives next door with his divorced, grumpy, hot dad, Bowen.

While Keaton struggles with the enormous cleaning job, she connects more deeply with the locals. Keaton learns that everyone knows everything in a small town, so different from NYC. She becomes friends with the Dockside Dames, a group of older women who get together every morning for coffee and gossip. Their stories of her grandparents help Keaton connect with family she never knew. Keaton sees what life could be like here. She’s faced with comparing her fast-paced, workaholic life in NYC to what small town life on the ocean with Bowen and his son could be like.

The story of her grandparents dying in a car accident begins to have some holes. Although her grandparents’ car was found submerged in the water, their bodies were never recovered. When Keaton discovers her mother and uncle have suspicions that their parents were actually murdered, Keaton better understands why they never returned to the house. But what really happened to Becks and Townsend?

We go back in time for Becks to tell her love story. Becks was disowned by her parents for marrying Townsend, the love of her life. She focuses on making life easier for others and throwing her famous dinner parties while Townsend starts his doctor practice in Beaufort. Although Becks journals all her entertaining tips for her daughter, her granddaughter Keaton is the one to find it nearly fifty years later. It helps her connect with the grandmother she never knew.

Trying to decide what to keep and what to discard from her grandparents’ life and mother’s childhood is more difficult than Keaton expected. Keaton finally convinces her mother and uncle to come look through some things and get closure. Becks and Townsend left multiple clues behind, leading the family to learn the truth of what happened to them.

My Thoughts

There’s a lot here for readers of several genres including romance, women’s fiction, and mystery. It’s a multi-generational story of family relationships and how we deal with damage done in the past. It’s about forgiveness and reconciliation, about valuing the past and the family who came before us, and about romantic love and second chances. It reinforces that we shouldn’t judge the happiness of someone else’s life because people define happiness differently. What’s right for one isn’t for another. Perhaps when you determine you’ve lived a life worth living, you’ve found true happiness.

I loved A HAPPIER LIFE by Kristy Woodson Harvey. May I suggest you purchase A HAPPIER LIFE here at Bookshop.org? This online bookstore supports mom and pop bookstores nationwide!

Kristy Woodson Harvey, author

If you like…

If this book appeals to you, check out these Kristy Woodson Harvey books I’ve previously reviewed and recommend: The Summer of Songbirds, The Wedding Veil, Under the Southern Sky, Feels Like Falling, and the whole Peachtree Bluff series.

Drop me a comment below! What are you reading that you’d recommend? Who are your favorite authors? Ask me a question about books and/or writing. I’d love to hear from you!