The Goddess of Warsaw by Lisa Barr – 368 pages
ARC from Harper Perennial and Netgalley for an honest review
Book Blurb:
The Goddess Of Warsaw is an enthralling tale of a legendary Hollywood screen goddess with a dark secret about her life in the Warsaw Ghetto. When the famous actress is threatened by someone from her past, she must put her skills into play to protect herself, her illustrious career, and those she loves, then and now.
Los Angeles, 2005. Sienna Hayes, Hollywood’s latest It Girl, has ambitions to work behind the camera. When she meets Lena Browning, the enormously mysterious and famous Golden Age movie star, Sienna sees her big break. She wants to direct a picture about Lena’s life—but the legendary actor’s murky past turns out to be even darker than Sienna dreamed. Before she was a Living Legend, Lena Browning was Bina Blonski, a Polish Jew whose life and family were destroyed by the Nazis.
Warsaw, 1943. A member of the city’s Jewish elite, Bina Blonski and her husband, Jakub, are imprisoned in the ghastly, cramped ghetto along with the rest of Warsaw’s surviving Jews. Determined to fight back against the brutal Nazis, the beautiful, blonde Aryan-looking Bina becomes a spy, gaining information and stealing weapons outside the ghetto to protect her fellow Jews. But her dangerous circumstances grow complicated when she falls in love with Aleksander, an ally in resistance—and Jakub’s brother. While Lena accomplishes amazing feats of bravery, she sacrifices much in the process.
Over a decade after escaping the horrors of the ghetto, Bina, now known as Lena, rises to fame in Hollywood. Yet she cannot help but be reminded of her old life and hungers for revenge against the Nazis who escaped justice after the war.
My Review: 5 stars
The Goddess of Warsaw by Lisa Barr had me hooked with an opening that you couldn’t turn away from. This is her best novel to date.
I started reading this at a time that felt like 1943, not 2023 or 2024. This book is a harsh reminder of what happened to the Jews that perished and the harrowing work those in the resistance did to survive. Bina Blonski changed her name to Irina so her name would sound more Aryan, and is now known at Lena. She was a crucial part of the Warsaw Ghetto resistance as her blonde hair and blue eyes allowed her to roam the streets with a bit of safety.
This was told in two timelines, one that spans from 1939 to 2005, which was a perfect way to tell this story. Both timelines had amazing characters. Some to loathe and some to love. Bina was a stunning, strong, and impressive woman that found herself with other strong women. Zelda was also a tough, resistance warrior I admired.
There was so much suspense throughout the book that I found myself holding my breath at times. Barr threw in some unsuspecting twists that took me by surprise. Her writing depicted the underground sewers, the weaponry, the risks taken, the secrets kept and exposed, the romance, the deceit, the children and utter fear they all faced with great skill. I saw the movie in my mind and loved it.
If you like Kristin Harmel’s books, you’ll love this one. Book clubs will eat this one up!
Quotes I liked:
Even secrets have secrets.”
“Anyone who saves a life is as if he saved an entire world.”
“Survival is not heroic; it is ugly.”
