Wonderful World War II historical fiction based on a true story! This book was well written and informational about Irena Sendler's heroic acts to rescue thousands of Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto in Poland. It was an awe-inspiring read. Each chapter alternates between Irena and Klaus, a fictional German General's perspective to give the reader a feeling of what was happening on both sides of the story. I would recommend this book to readers that enjoy an excellent historical fiction book!
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Irena's War is based on the real life heroine Irena Sendler, a Polish social worker turned to resistance fighter saving 2,500 Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto during WW2.

I liked that this book was not a dual timeline novel and thus gave a lot of attention the Ghetto. As well, I enjoyed that there was a German SS officer as one of the perspectives. Both factors is what I seek out and enjoy the most in historical WW1/2 fiction. There was so much evident research even for little things that made this novel out shine others I have read. The down fall for me was the main character which is very upsetting since this book was supposed to illuminate this forgotten women. She came across as selfish, careless and immature at times and made me dislike her when I should have been inspired. Unfortunately, I feel as if Irena's character was not told with justice.

Overall, the research put into this novel is absolutely commendable and I'm happy novels like these are getting published for the world to remember these extraordinary women. I am not sure how quick I would be to recommend this to someone specifically wanting to know about Irena Sendler but I would refer them to the books James mentioned in his "Further Reading" section of the novel (Irena's Children and Life in a Jar: The Irena Sendler Project).

I wish I had any part of the courage that Irena showed during the war and treatment of Jews. Who knows how many countless lives were saved by her acts. This was a very engaging and enjoyable book. I look forward to more from this author!

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by NetGalley.

Irena's War, is a very important WW2 story. Irena Sendler"s father dreamed of a time when Poland would be a country that treats all of its citizens as "equals", no matter their religion. Irena continued to pursue her father's dream.

When the Nazis occupy Poland, Irena, risks her own life, to help the Jews. . It is important to note also, that from the beginning of the war, the Polish people had their own resistance cells operating. Together with Irena, these cells of resistance, helped save so many lives. Irena herself, is credited with saving 2500 Jewish children from death i Auschwitz. For her actions, Irena Sendler is recognized as Righteous Among Nations, In the Yad Vashem Museum in Israel

Social worker Irena Sendler watches the Nazis enter Warsaw and start their liquidations and moving of the Jews into the ghetto. She vows to somehow keep feeding and caring for these people, and moves into the Polish resistance movement Zegota to remove Jewish children from hellish conditions. Based on a true story, very well written.

This book based on a true story of an unlikely woman who would take up the call to save over 2500 Jewish children from the gas chambers and whose descendants today must number over tens of thousands.

A social worker by profession, she lived a restricted life governed by her irate mother and saw Warsar over run by the Nazis. She also saw the gradual restriction on Jews, their gathering into the ghettos and their final deportation to Treblinka and their deaths. She was also in love with another Jew but this was by the way and she was determined to save at least some families from the government sponsored starvation which some of the Nazis saw as an easier way to get rid of the Jews.

The story is emotional, harrowing, harsh and realistic. You need a fun read after this.

It was so good. I had to take time to process before reviewing. It's good, a bit stilted here and there, but sticks to the facts relatively well. Irena Sendler has been covered quite a lot in historical books, and this was similar to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
There are a lot of WWII historical fiction books available now. This is the 2nd one about Irena Sendler that I have read and before that, I'd never heard of her. Irena was an incredible woman. She was brave and strong willed and usually not afraid to speak her mind to stand up for what she believed.
This book seems well researched. It's a fascinating story that should be a more well known part of history.

This is an amazing fictional account based on the life of Irena Sendler, who refused to give up when the Nazis invaded the area of Poland that she lived in. She worked undercover to bring food and supplies to starving citizens. She also was able to smuggle about 2500 Jewish children to safety. I had never heard of this phenomenal woman before, but found myself reading more about her after finishing this book.

I am somewhat familiar with the true story of Irena Sendler--an inspirational tale of a strong woman who risked her own life to save thousands of Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto. I was excited to read this historical fiction book because of the incredible story that inspired it, but I was somewhat disappointed in the execution of this novel. I feel like the author made this remarkable hero an unlikable person, and I never really got a sense of what motivated this character to take the risks she did. The books does have a lot of action, but I ended up questioning how much was factual and how much liberty the author took for the sake of the story. I much preferred the book Code Name Helene, another historical fiction book published this year about a British spy in the same time period.

Irena Sendler was an amazing woman and this is a fictionalized story of how she rescued 2500 Polish Jewish children from the Nazis. Told alternately by Irena and Klaus, the SS officer who is certain she's up to something, it's a tense and emotional read. Irena was a social worker before the Nazis arrived and in 1939 she finds herself running soup kitchens at Klaus' direction. It's clear to her, though, that more action is needed. Her work with the Polish resistance group Zegota takes her into the heart of darkness- I can't imagine how she maintained her calm demeanor when dealing with Klaus. What I liked about this, though, is that Shipman has done his best to show her as a real person, who occasionally loses her patience and her temper. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. An excellent read for fans of WWII fiction and for those who enjoy novels based on real life heroines.

Irena’s War was a bit confusing to me. I did read the complete book and still was feeling a bit confused. Something seemed to be lacking in the way the story was plotted out. I can’t say I disliked the book but it was hard to read it to the end.
I realize this is based on a true story. Reading the back story at the end of the book was quite interesting and added more insight into the story.
Powerful story at times. I would recommend it to anyone that is intrigued with WWII historical fiction.
Thank you to NetGallery, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion. All opinions expressed are my own.

Back of the Book: “Based on the gripping true story of an unlikely Polish resistance fighter who helped save thousands of Jewish children from the Warsaw ghetto during World War II, bestselling author James D. Shipman's Irena's War is a heart-pounding novel of courage in action, helmed by an extraordinary and unforgettable protagonist.
September 1939: The conquering Nazis swarm through Warsaw as social worker Irena Sendler watches in dread from her apartment window. Already, the city's poor go hungry. Irena wonders how she will continue to deliver food and supplies to those who need it most, including the forbidden Jews. The answer comes unexpectedly.
Dragged from her home in the night, Irena is brought before a Gestapo agent, Klaus Rein, who offers her a position running the city's soup kitchens, all to maintain the illusion of order. Though loath to be working under the Germans, Irena learns there are ways to defy her new employer--including forging documents so that Jewish families receive food intended for Aryans. As Irena grows bolder, her interactions with Klaus become more fraught and perilous.
Klaus is unable to prove his suspicions against Irena--yet. But once Warsaw's half-million Jews are confined to the ghetto, awaiting slow starvation or the death camps, Irena realizes that providing food is no longer enough. Recruited by the underground Polish resistance organization Zegota, she carries out an audacious scheme to rescue Jewish children. One by one, they are smuggled out in baskets and garbage carts, or led through dank sewers to safety--every success raising Klaus's ire. Determined to quell the uprising, he draws Irena into a cat-and-mouse game that will test her in every way--and where the slightest misstep could mean not just her own death, but the slaughter of those innocents she is so desperate to save.”
Impressions: mmm… Although this is a true story, I am 39% into this book and I have to say I’m not wanting to finish it.
Disliked: I don’t feel like this is a well-told story. There is so much intrigue and suspense that could have been built up better. The account of Irena’s relationships in her life is shallowly described. She and her friends are written as being close but all the interactions if they are not. The background story of her disaffection to her husband and mother is not well told in this story leaving much to be understood of Irena’s life before the war. Don’t get me started on the strange relationship between Adam and Irena. Does this lack of understanding matter? I think so. At this point, I feel like the reader is just thrown into the confusion of her life with no developed story. I don’t know who Irena was or is and I know she develops into an amazing woman of courage. I’m just not hooked on reading more.
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

The fact that this is based on a true story only makes it more gripping and jaw-droppingly addictive.

Irena is a strong and determined woman, but she is not without her flaws. Her determination is often misconstrued (by her mother) as stubbornness and defiance, but always her intentions are the best. Her goal at the outset is to maintain the supply of food to her fellow Poles once the Germans invade. And she refuses to accept that Polish Jews are any less worthy, but she is fighting an uphill battle.

Her path regularly crosses with Klaus, an SS Officer, who is put in charge of the region, and for whom she is the eternal thorn in the side. Once the ghetto is built and her Jewish friends and fellow citizens are installed behind a solid wall, she pushes her boss, Jan, to get her a pass into the ghetto. The only way in is as a medical observer, to check on the infection rates within. Of course, Irena wins him over, using fair means and foul, but either way she now has access to the ghetto. It is there she finds her friends working in the hospital and orphanage. Seeing the conditions faced by the children, she has to get them out.

Her efforts have not gone unnoticed by the local resistance who bring her in to discuss future plans to save as many as they can. As the situation deteriorates and residents of the ghetto are rounded up and relocated to Treblinka, the need to save the children becomes ever more critical.

By now, Irena is under pressure from all sides. Some consider her work in food distribution as being work for the Germans, even her Jewish friends come to that conclusion. The Germans – Klaus – see her as a potential pawn, to make it look as though they are treating the Poles well …until he realises she is working against him. Proving it, though, is a different matter and Irena comes close to arrest many times. None of that stops her though; she may fear for her life but she fears for the lives of others more. Remarkable!

Tense times lie ahead, and the story only gets stronger as Irena ploughs on through the machine that is the Nazi regime. She faces losses and wins but doesn’t stop – her resolve is breath-taking.

This is not an easy book to read at times, since the reality of war is not hidden away or glossed over. Being based on true events, it hits home with great impact. As a work of historical fiction, it feels very real and incredibly scary. We should be praising women like Irena more; she saved many more people than Schindler yet has gone unnoticed. Until now. This is a powerful story that bridges fact and fiction beautifully. I would highly recommend it to readers of WWII historical fiction.

My sincere thanks go to Kensington Books and NetGalley for this e-ARC. My review is given voluntarily and with absolute pleasure.

An amazing book. It is the story of one of the best women the 20th century has ever had. Irena witnessed how her country, Poland, was slowly falling to the mercy of the ruthless Nazis. Nobody would imagine the hell that the Poles would live in the face of such an invasion. As a result of the occupation, the Polish began to starve. The new regiment reduced food supplies. The food restriction was more severe for the Jews because they were assigned a section of the city to live within. Not satisfied with this, Irena decided to risk obtaining a pass to enter the ghetto. Her initial goal was to supply food to Jewish friends, but also to all those she could help. Of course, this process is not easy since the Nazis go through the bags of people who enter the ghetto. Irena must be very cautious and figure out how not to be discovered, or else the consequences could be fatal. For me, Irena is one of the most admirable women that ever lived. I did know the feats she had done, so I decided to read this book to learn more about her story. The author, with his successful narration, made me feel present in each chapter. It was not easy for me to read it, as war is not a pleasant subject. I think it is crucial to know the history and the people who made an effort to stop tyranny and injustice. I thank NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Historical fiction at its best. What a great book. This is the second book I have read about Irena Sendler and they both compliment each other. Mr. Shipman is a master at description and setting the stage. I can honestly say I was about gagging when the escape literally went into the gutter/sewer drains. His writing is stellar, he makes you feel the tension and the fear, you can hear the bombs dropping and envision the interrogations.
I admire Ms. Sendler, what an unselfish, dedicated, devoted and brave woman she was. She saved so many lives risking her own safety. Even though some of the characters were fictional, you wouldn’t know it. This is a well-researched novel. One more great WWII book based upon a real-live person. I highly recommend. And the epilogue, great, I love when the author gives you the “rest of the story”.
I want to thank Kensington Books and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this book for my honest unbiased opinion. This is a 5-star review. Highly recommend.

Irena's War
Irena's War is a very gripping novel of the real-life Polish hero of the Holocaust, Irena Sendler. Though she was not Jewish herself, she repeatedly put her life in peril to help save Jews. Plans were set to rescue 200 orphans from the Warsaw Ghetto run by Janusz Korczak, but the Nazis beat them by a day by deporting the entire orphanage including Korczak. She rescued at least 2500 children, helping them escape from the Warsaw Ghetto. She was later captured, imprisoned for months, and brutally tortured by the Gestapo. Her story was hidden for many years for her own safety from the Soviet government, until high school students researched her story and published her heroism.

Based on a true story, this is about a woman who, despite terrible odds, supplies starving people in the Warsaw Jewish ghetto with food and rescues 2,500 children during WWII.

Gripping, astonishing and heartbreaking, this very believable historical fiction takes the reader through the despair of war mostly from the standpoint of Irena. She is desperate to feed displaced Polish Jews but her food supply network is halted. She goes to great lengths to continue aid.

Klaus, with the gestapo, seeks her out and kidnaps her to offer her the job of running soup kitchens throughout the city, to make it appear as though things aren't as bad as reality. Irena uses this advantageously though it meant working for the Germans. Meanwhile, under frightening and deplorable conditions, she forges documents and sneaks out children at every opportunity, under the noses of the gestapo.

Irena, a true heroine, is absolutely remarkable. Her tireless actions saved people. It makes me wonder about those lives she saved...perhaps some of the children are living today. Their gratitude must have been unspeakable, even though they faced unknown futures.

I've read many WWII books focused on rescues and aid but this is different...we are shown Irena's daily life and learn about her relationships. It's very personal. We are shown the stark realities of war but at times also hope in the daring rescues which were nothing short of miraculous.

Not an easy or enjoyable book, of course, but one anyone with even a glimmer of interest in WWII in Poland should read. I also recommend it to those who simply wish to learn more. It's a good starting point.

The author's additional notes at the end were fascinating and personalized the book even further.

My sincere thank you to Kensington Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

She was remarkable, she was real and she saved 2500 Jewish children. How can you not be in awe of a "heroine" who put her life on the line to save others, especially children. Yes, there were others who certainly came to the aid of those who were being hunted down by the Nazis, but this story of Irena Sendler will remain with me for a long time. Were it not for her brave and strong personality, this would be a different story, or not a story at all. The author's fictional description of the SS officer was right on target, it was absolutely scary. While it has been over 75 years since the war ended, we cannot and should not forget those who risked their lives for the persecuted. Kudos to James Shipman for bringing Irena Sendler to light so we may honor her memory. As this weekend is the beginning of Rosh Hashanah ending with Yom Kippur, there are many families of those she helped to survive that must be grateful for her life. My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thought I had the best book of this year until I read Irena's War. This book I could not put down it just held my interest and have told so many friends. I cannot wait to read more by this author.