Publication Date: August 15, 2025
“Nobody outside the village knows the orphanage exists, Celina. We’re hidden by the mountains and everyone is sworn to secrecy. Please don’t give the soldiers a reason to come here…”
1944. In a quiet village in German-occupied France, schoolteacher Celina ushers young Jewish children into her classroom. Watching their bright smiles as they learn how to write, she and sweet, handsome Remy promise to protect them. Every day she pretends to send them home, waving at the local police roaming the streets, as instead they sneak away to hide upstairs.
But Celina can’t stop thinking about the note left on her bedside table last night. Written in the secret code used by the Resistance, it told her a baby she’s sheltering could be reunited with its mother. Will Remy ever forgive her if she attempts to take the baby home? If she’s caught, they could discover the orphanage…
New York, present day. Haunted by a loss he refuses to speak about, Rachel’s grandfather is slowly losing his memories. Then Rachel finds a name scribbled into the old children’s book he used to read to her, which leads her to a French village with a dark and dangerous past.
Nothing can prepare Rachel for what she finds behind the orphanage’s crumbling façade. But as her own future becomes entwined with her grandfather’s wartime secrets, she will learn just how much courage it takes to follow your heart.
An abandoned baby discovered in France by an American woman during World War II sets off a series of events uncovered more than seven decades later.
Author Barbara Josselsohn delivers a dual timeline in The Secret Orphanage, tracing the discovery of Brielle Aimée by Celina Cassin through a twist of fate.
As the past unfolds, it contrasts with the present, featuring a young woman named Rachel who is trying to make sense of her grandfather’s muddled memories. All she has to go on is a children’s book.
Rachel’s search for knowledge, and ultimately a sense of belonging, mirrors Celina’s motivation to stay on at the orphanage as a teacher. While time is Rachel’s enemy, Celina faces a real threat in the form of Nazi soldiers determined to snatch the Jewish children.
Sometimes, uncovered secrets lead to unexpected consequences. Is Rachel prepared for what she discovers?
The Secret Orphanage offers an emotional story sparked by a woman’s determination to help a motherless infant.
Barbara Josselsohn is an award-winning journalist and novelist who loves crafting stories about strong protagonists facing a fork in the road. Her novels center around second chances, family relationships and, of course, romance. She is the author of the Lake Summers series set in the fictional town of Lake Summers, nestled in the Adirondacks Mountains, which includes the books The Lilac House and The Bluebell Girls. Before joining with Bookouture, she published The Last Dreamer, a women’s-fiction novel from Lake Union Publishing, along with hundreds of articles and essays in major and regional publications about family, home and relationships. She lives just north of New York City and enjoys escaping to the beach or the mountains whenever she can. Other than writing, her biggest passion is her family: husband, her three kids, and her indefatigable shih-poo!
