Keeper of Lost Children

I love Historical Fiction because I learn about historical details that I never knew about. If you're looking for a captivating read, add Keeper of Lost Children to your 2026 TBR. In this latest book, Johnson brings to light the stories of three Black characters and their connection to a group of 500+ mixed race children who were born to Black US soldiers and white German women. 

The story has three POVs:

Ethel Gathers - 1951 - she becomes the impetus of the Brown Baby Plan, a post-WWII initiative. As the wife of a US officer stationed in Germany, she saw how these mixed-race children, given to Catholic orphanages for care, were neglected by German society and the US government. She instigated the program that set up adoptions of hundreds of children born to Black US soldiers and white German women into American families. 

Ozzie Philips - 1948 - a Black army officer who is eager to help and break down race barriers but finds that his opportunities as a Black man in the newly desegregated US military are still very limited. He finds love with a German woman. 

Sophia Clark - 1965 - a 15-year-old Black teen in the US who leaves her unstable and abusive family life in a small rural town to attend a prestigious school on scholarship. 

As the three stories converge, readers are privy to their experiences, losses and struggles in a world that, despite new changes in laws, continues to go out of its way to devalue them at every turn.

This book utterly captivated me. I was delightfully surprised at how equally invested I was in all three of the main characters' lives. The subject matter is important, poignant (although not quite the tearjerker read I anticipated), and I appreciated how Johnson tells the story with compassion while not sugarcoating the experiences of the trio of main characters or the hundreds of mixed-race children who history decidedly forgot. 

This is my favourite book by this author. It is a must read and easily one of my top pics for 2026!

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to Simon and Schuster Canada for the complimentary paperback copy of this book that I received from the publisher at a library staff event. All opinions are my own.

My Rating: 4.5 stars

Author: Sadeqa Johnson

Genre: Historical Fiction, BIPOC author

Type and Source: Trade Paperback from publisher

Publisher: Simon and Schuster Canada

First Published: February 10, 2026

Read: Jan 30-Feb 6, 2026

Book Description 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.