The Winter Orphans

Beck (Courage, My Love) delivers a bittersweet tale inspired by two women who helped rescue Jewish refugee children from the Nazis and the French police. In 1942, Swiss nurse Rösli Näf, 31, is in charge of 100 Jewish children sheltered by the Swiss Red Cross in unoccupied southern France. Their repurposed castle feels safe enough, until the police stage a midnight raid and send 44 of the refugee children to an internment camp. Aware that when the camp fills up, prisoners will be sent on cattle cars to Germany, Rösli boldly pushes her way into the camp and stays until she gets her children released. Since the oldest children are still being targeted for deportation, a hiding place is established in the castle’s cellar, and, with the help of forrester Anne-Marie Piguet, Rösli plots escape routes to Switzerland and Spain through heavily patrolled, snow-covered woods. Some missions fail and the children sneak back to the castle, though one botched attempt has devastating consequences. With Ella Rosenthal, 18, and her spirited sister, Hanni, eight, Beck offers credible glimpses of the day-to-day lives of the refugees in her redemptive, uplifting story of heroism. This is a solid pick for fans of WWII fiction who are looking for something a little different. Agent: Kevan Lyon, Marsal Lyon Literary. (Sept.)