Book Review: The Goddess of Warsaw by Lisa Barr

Pages: 368

Genre: Adult Historical Fiction

Pub. Date: May 28, 2024

Publisher: HarperCollins

Source: Publisher for review

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

 

Goodreads says,"From the New York Times bestselling author of Woman on Fire, the harrowing and ultimately triumphant tale of a Jewish WWII assassin turned Hollywood star...
The Goddess Of Warsaw is an enthralling story of a legendary Hollywood screen goddess with a dark secret. When the famous actress Lena Browning is threatened by someone from her war-time past, she must put her skills into play to protect herself, her illustrious career, and those she loves, then and now.
Before she was a “Living Legend”, Lena Browning was Bina Blonski, a wealthy Polish Jew whose life and prominent family were destroyed by the Nazis and imprisoned with the rest of Warsaw's Jews in a ghastly ghetto. Determined to fight back, the beautiful, blonde Aryan-looking Bina becomes a spy and an assassin, gaining information and stealing weapons outside the Warsaw ghetto to protect her family and fellow Jews. While Bina accomplishes amazing feats of bravery, she sacrifices much in the process – including a forbidden love.
More than a decade after escaping the horrors of the war, Lena Browning rises to fame in Hollywood. Yet she cannot help but hunger for revenge against the Nazis who escaped justice after the war. Fierce and fearless, Lena uses her star power to right the past’s wrongs . . . and perhaps even finds the happy ending she never had.
A gripping page-turner of one of history’s most heroic uprisings and a glamourous actress whose personal war never ends, The Goddess of Warsaw is filled with secrets, lies, twists and turns, and a burning pursuit of justice no matter the cost.

 

 

It's 2005 and Lena Browning is a Hollywood star. But Lena wasn't always the version of herself that everyone has come to know and love. In the 1940s she lived in the Warsaw Ghetto and saw horrific things that people can only imagine. She and husband lived in squalor while the Germans controlled everything. Lena, who was known as Bina then, once lived a beautiful life as an actress and she was the daughter of a prominent architect, but due to her Jewish background that all fell apart thanks to the German invasion. Bina, determined to help her people, joins Aleksander, her brother-in-law, in the resistance. She somehow survives the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, which is a moment that changed her life forever. As the years go by, she remakes her life in Hollywood, all while trying to conceal the secrets of her past. Maybe Lena shares more in common with the femme fatales she plays on the screen than viewers originally thought. Lisa Barr's The Goddess of Warsaw is a memorable historical tale that fans of WWII fiction will appreciate.
 
I really loved the character of Lena/Bina in The Goddess of Warsaw. She was such a strong woman and has endured so much, how could you not root for her? While she isn't perfect (she was in love with her brother-in-law!), she still had to endure so much and make so many difficult choices. Nonetheless, she survived and made it to Hollywood, but you can run from your past. Lena will be faced with more difficult decisions and the prospect of her past coming to center stage despite the many years that have gone by.

Barr covers so many upsetting moments in history, such as the mistreatment of Jewish people, the Warsaw Ghetto, the limited food rations, the rounding up of individuals being forced to go to concentration camps, the abuse of Jewish children and women, and so much more. Still, she does it all with much sensitivity. I knew a fair amount about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, but seeing it through Bina's lens really brought it to life and made it very emotional. It's upsetting to think of the Jewish people of Poland endured and how many Jewish lives were lost, which is why The Goddess of Warsaw is such a powerful novel.
 
This is my first novel I've read by Lisa Barr, but it certainly won't be the last. If you enjoy Kate Quinn's novels, The Goddess of Warsaw would be a good fit. Let me know in the comments if you've read this book and if you are a fan of WWII fiction.