The Bureau of Unknown Fates

A heartbreaking novel about WWII's forgotten objects and the lives they hold
This gripping novel is set at the heart of The International Tracing Service - an organisation that was created at the end of the Second World War to investigate Nazi crimes, search for missing people, and discover what became of them.

'Gripping, poetic' Gwen Strauss, author of The Nine

'An unforgettable read' Tatiana de Rosnay, author of Sarah's Key

Sometimes when you are looking for the dead, you find the living.

When Irène joins the International Tracing Service, she becomes consumed by a singular obsession: returning the belongings confiscated from concentration camp prisoners to their families.

A faded cloth doll. A medallion. An embroidered handkerchief. Each object holds a story - and behind each one, a life waiting to be pieced back together.

As Irène traces the owners through fragments of evidence, she reconstructs their final days and discovers that even in the darkest chapter of history, humanity endured.

The Bureau of Unknown Fates is a devastating and beautiful novel about history, memory and survival as one woman helps connect families across generations to the ones they have lost.

Winner of the 2023 Grand Prix RTL-Lire Fiction Award

Contributor: Maren Baudet-Lackner (Translated by), Sophie-Charlotte Buchan (Translated by)

Translator: Maren Baudet-Lackner, Sophie-Charlotte Buchan

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