Keeper of Lost Children by Sadeqa Johnson

e-ALC, 14:07:15
Narrated by: Ariel Blake, Karen Chilton, Adam Lazarre-White, & Sadeqa Johnson
Release Date: February 10, 2026
Published by: Simon & Schuster Audio
Read from: February 6-8, 2026
Stand-alone
Source: Libro FM (I received this ALC free from the publisher and Libro FM. This did nothing to influence my review!)
Content Warning: Racism, Racial Slurs, Bullying, Death of a Parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Domestic Abuse, Sexual Content, Suicide
For Readers Interested In: Adult, Audio, Historical Fiction, Sparkly Cover, Irregular Timeline, Libro FM, Most Anticipated, Own Voices, Racial/Ethnic Diversity, Realistic Fiction

    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 THOUGHTS*

As someone who struggles with historical fiction for specific reasons, I can honestly say, one way to rope me in and make me read your historical fiction book, is to make it about a real, interesting, person from history. And that’s exactly how Johnson got me with this one lol

Ok so I didn’t read the synopsis of this before I read it, I only Googled it and was confused when it showed that she was a fictional character. I really had no idea where this was going when I started reading this. This made the actual book so much better in my opinion. I went in knowing nothing, went down a research rabbit hole, and then learned way more than I thought I would. This is why you should read everything, from the beginning to the author’s note. It was there I learned about the Brown Babies documentary and who Ethel was based off of.

The other thing that I really loved about this book was the way it was written. I’m not usually one who likes irregular timelines, but I’ve found that Black generational family books is also a thing I love. So watching the way the kids grew up, how some parents found peace (and others didn’t), and how everything came together from beginning to end, was really amazing. She wrote it in a clear and concise way that was easy to follow. And because of that, it was so easy to sit down and get lost in the story. How she was able to toggle between everyone and still keep everything interesting and real, was hella impressive.

The writing style was another way to get sucked into this book. I know that sounds a lot like the above paragraph, but this time I mean it regarding the actual words. Cuz whew Sadeqa Johnson can tell a story! This is my first book by her, but I have already added her back list to my TBR. Everything felt so real and so realistic. I thought all of this had actually happened, but imagine my surprise when I realized Ethel wasn’t even a real person! That meant that Johnson made this entire world just based off some of the things she read about. And omg everything just felt so real, from the actions, to the characters just everything. I felt like I was in Germany and watching this in real time. I really enjoyed this book.

After finishing this I went down a rabbit hole and watched the documentary, and looked up everything I could on Mabel Treadwell Grammer. This book wasn’t even actually considered a bio fic, but this story and this woman will stay with me for a long time coming. I hope y’all go pick this up to experience it yourself.

Overall, I give this