The Warsaw Orphan by Kelly Rimmer

The Warsaw Orphan by Kelly Rimmer – 416 pages

ARC from Netgalley and Graydon House for an honest review

Book Blurb:

In the spring of 1942, young Elzbieta Rabinek is aware of the swiftly growing discord just beyond the courtyard of her comfortable Warsaw home. She has no fondness for the Germans who patrol her streets and impose their curfews, but has never given much thought to what goes on behind the walls that contain her Jewish neighbors. She knows all too well about German brutality–and that it’s the reason she must conceal her true identity. But in befriending Sara, a nurse who shares her apartment floor, Elzbieta makes a discovery that propels her into a dangerous world of deception and heroism.
Using Sara’s credentials to smuggle children out of the ghetto brings Elzbieta face-to-face with the reality of the war behind its walls, and to the plight of the Gorka family, who must make the impossible decision to give up their newborn daughter or watch her starve. For Roman Gorka, this final injustice stirs him to rebellion with a zeal not even his newfound love for Elzbieta can suppress. But his recklessness brings unwanted attention to Sara’s cause, unwittingly putting Elzbieta and her family in harm’s way until one violent act threatens to destroy their chance at freedom forever.

My Review: 4.5 stars

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The Warsaw Orphan was another heart-wrenching, yet amazing novel, set in Poland that will keep you rapt from the start. I hear you thinking… another WWII novel? Just trust me, Rimmer shows the war from the people’s POV, not like so many other WWII novels. If you read the author’s stunning 2019 release,  The Things We Cannot Say, you’ll know what I mean. 

This book was written in a single timeline, with two points of view. One from Roman, a young man in the Polish resistance living in the Warsaw ghetto and the other from Elzbieta, a young Polish girl who lost her family to the Nazis. One of Elzbieta’s neighbors, is characterized as being similar to the honorable Irena Sendler, a Polish humanitarian. How she smuggled Jewish kids out of the Warsaw ghetto before they died of starvation or a certain death if sent to the camps was harrowing, brave and heroic. 

It is overwhelmingly evident that Rimmer did extensive research on both the ghetto and the Polish resistance. I found solace in the descriptions of Elzbieta’s art, which remained hopeful, and in her relationship with Sara, which ultimately saved hundreds of children. I know that WWII books have been trending as a popular genre in historical fiction. However, for those of us who have been reading them forever, I can assure you, this one is different. Definitely a good pick for book clubs!

Quotes I liked:

There are many ways to fight but striving for justice is always worth the battle.”

“When I was younger, I thought that life was fair. I thought that maybe each person was allotted a degree of suffering, but once they endured it, life would be easy. Now I know it is random, and that if there is any intention to life at all, it leans toward cruelty.”