Keeper of Lost Children
This gem of a historical novel braids together three touching stories emanating from the Second World War. The earliest features Ozzie Phillips, who proudly enlists in the U.S. Army just after the war’s end and is stationed in Germany. He fathers a child with a German woman he loves and loses track of them when he is transferred. In 1951, Ethel Gathers, who cannot have children, accompanies her officer husband to Germany for his army service and discovers an orphanage of children whose Black fathers have returned to the States without them. In the early 1960s, Sophia Clark integrates into a prestigious boarding school, catapulted from her poor farming family into a totally foreign environment. The chapters artfully build up to the meeting of these characters, as all three search to fill the voids in their lives.
The gentle yet relentless flow of the story touches upon the many microaggressions against Black women and men that were true of the time: the difficulty in being promoted or recognized for skills and experience, the uncomfortable experiences in majority-white settings, and the hurtful comments in so many settings. Yet far stronger and more poignant are the yearnings of the major characters to overcome the odds against them and succeed in their chosen arenas. The rich language and intricate plot keep the reader rooting for the characters and fully engaged with them to the final page.
