Good historical fiction when there are so many hist foc novels out right now that are marketed as the next best WWII fiction. This one is great but geared towards a younger audience so I would give to my teen readers who are interested in history because it would engage even a more reluctant reader. So, where I have read many in this genre and this falls a little flat, I can see where someone who hasn't read so many similar books would really like it. I would also read this author again.

Historical fiction books are inundated with WWII stories, so it's rare when I come across one that has a unique perspective. In The Woman With the Blue Star we follow both Sadie and Ella. Sadie is an 18 year old Jewish girl living with her parents in the Karkow ghetto. Ella lives with her stepmother in her father's house. He left to fight in the war and unfortunately didn't make it. Ella hates living with her stepmother who often entertains the Nazi's so she can be considered in good standing.

When the ghetto is liquidated, Sadie and her family flee into the sewers of Karkow living in truly dismal conditions. On an errand from her stepmother, Sadie spots Ella from the sewer and does her best to help aid her in ways that prove to be quite dangerous.

I really liked the alternate perspectives, especially ones so polar opposite. The first half of the book really had me hooked, but unfortunately, the last 30-ish percent seemed so cinematically dramatic (is that a thing? Idk) that I just had a hard time truly going with it.

Regardless, the will to survive is a powerful thing. Fans of WWII historical fiction will enjoy this one.

3/5⭐️

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC.

This was actually my first book by Pam Jenoff so I am excited to now read the Orphan's Tale. I enjoyed The Woman With the Blue Star immensely. In this book, Sadie is forced to seek shelter with her family in a sewer to escape being caught by the Nazis. She befriends a wealthy Polish girl when they see each other through a sewer gate. While their friendship shows the sharp contrast between the two girls, and is interesting, the details of living in the sewer to escape being caught by Nazis are unforgettable. This is not a book one would soon forget. Any reader who is interested in historical fiction should read this book and read the harrowing references at the end as this is based on true stories.

Sadie Galt and her family are forced to hide and live in the sewers of Poland during World War II. One day she finds a woman staring at her from above. Ella is around the same age and doesn't turn Sadie into the authorities. The girls couldn't be more different, with Sadie being Jewish and Ella coming from a wealthy Polish family. Despite this they become friends, talking through the sewer grate once a week. As the war continues, things become worse for both girls. Until everything comes to a head, and Ella must find a way to get Sadie out of the sewer.

THank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity.

In this book, we follow Sadie a Jewish woman that has to hide from the Germans, and Ella a woman that lives with her stepmother, a contributor to Germans. And how the two of them meet and intertwine their lives together during the devastating time of World War II.

I picked this book up because I loved Pam Jenoff's *The Orphan's Tale*, so when I got the email invitation to this blog tour I knew I needed to read this ASAP.

What can I say about this book? I liked this book because it gave me something I saw in *The Orphan's Tale* which was how two strangers built a relationship that ended up in a bond as strong as a family. And because it tells the story NOT only from the perspective of the Jewish who needed to escape and hide but from those who helped them and tried to fight the Nazis. One thing I liked as well is how the author always researches every detail of what she wants to write. How Jenoff made sure you could feel what the characters were feeling and what happened in that period of time. I LOVED how Pam Jenoff included themes that are still relevant today and during World War II, and how she presented those themes and discuss it. You may be asking which themes I'm talking about, right? Well, these are the themes: helping others even when you don't know them; how loneliness can be hard on people; the importance of family and friendship; how a small action can help others, even if you think helping one person won't change the world.

And I know I'm not giving the discussion of these topics any justice by mentioning them this way but I don't know how to talk about them without giving away too much of the book. But I can say that I could feel the desperation in each of the characters, the desire to help and be better than others who stay silent, or the ones who are killing and torturing others. I could feel the gratitude in those who received the help and the feeling of hope in them too. I love how this author writes and how you can see the work and research she put into her works. The pacing was a little slow for me, especially after *The Orphan's Tale*, but it was perfect for the story. Before you think I went into this book expecting to get the same feeling as the other books, I didn't, but I went into it expecting action. But it is MY fault because I didn't read the synopsis beforehand, therefore I didn't know the setting!

About the characters, Pam Jenoff KNOWS how to write characters and you can't change my mind about that. This set of characters had flaws, were clumsy in many ways with what they were trying to do. They were reliable because even when most of us weren't part of that period of time, I think we can put ourselves in the shoes of these characters and think "I would be feeling that way", "I think I would have tried that too", etc. The relationship between them, especially Sadie, Ella, Krys, and Saul, was so well done and pretty even in the tragic events of the book. You could see how they cared for each other even when they didn't know each other for that long. How they put everyone else first, even if that broke them. They were grateful, at some points headstrong and a bit selfish, but always with the mindset of "I want this to end, I want a better place to live". But we have another relationship, for example, Ella and her stepmother, which was a toxic relationship, as well as Ella's stepmother with the Germans.

I want you to know this after you leave this review, if you are interested in Historical Fiction based on World War II, you should give this book a try. But go with the clear idea that this book is centered in isolation, in the characters' motives and bonds, in the need to help others and don't keep your "mouth" shut because of fear or knowledge on how to help, every little detail counts. If you like historical fiction and want something set outside Germany, that is well researched and close to the author's heart (since the author lived in the place the book is set). If you want to see a bond grew between strangers and not centering on the physical abuse that Nazis gave to people or the actual war. But keep in mind the next CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS and please research for some more because I might be missing something: **isolation, hunger, mention of physical abuse, death of a parent, death of fiancé and siblings, war.**

The premise of the book is interesting, but I can't imagine that two young women living in the place and time they were would have been so naive and behaved so recklessly.

Is there any way to survive beyond despair and hopelessness? In this fictionalized tale of two young women, this incredibly heartbreaking and what will most certainly prove to be memorable story by Pam Jenoff, these very emotions due to harrowing experiences are explored.

Surviving in the Kraków Ghetto during the bleak days of World War II was mostly impossible and proved a death sentence for an incredible number of Jews. Driven to the sewers and being forced to survive in utterly deplorable conditions is the only way two families can survive the Nazis intent on liquidating the ghetto in 1942.

Sadie and her parents barely survive day by day and one day she looks up through a grate and meets Ella Stepanek, a Polish woman of a similar age. The two become as close as sisters despite their impossible predicament. Both Sadie and Ella's lives are filled with grief, but for entirely different reasons. Hiding in the sewer is a nearly impossible experience for Sadie. For Ella, living with her stepmother who has allianced herself with the Germans, and losing her fiancé brings Ella her own form of grief and pain.

I have read more than a few historical fiction books and they all have had a powerful impact on me. This book, The Woman with the Blue Star, hit me harder than most. I admit to breaking down in tears more than once, and even had to put the book down a few times to gather myself. This book is an important one, and it is utterly relevant. In fact, in the Acknowledgments at the back of the book the author gives great insight as to why she wrote this book and how it even impacts us now, as many of us are leaving the seclusion of our lives due to the pandemic.

With Sadie and Ella, their seclusion was different, of course. With Sadie, she had to remain hidden underground in order to survive. For Ella, even walking about Poland as a legal citizen, she could not go about without papers. Unimaginable to me, but definitely worth deep thought.

I am reading this book late, but in searching through my backlog, I realized the importance of this book and strove to get it read and reviewed, and now hope that other readers will also take the time to immerse themselves in this nugget of history. This book teaches about survival and that is something that we all need to learn in one way or another.

Many thanks to Park Row and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Nobody writes heart-wrenching historical fiction better than Pam Jenoff and in The Woman with the Blue Star, she has written her best book yet!

It’s 1942 and the world has been wrenched apart by war. Eighteen year old Sadie Gault lives with her pregnant mother in the Krakow ghetto and every day is a constant battle for survival. With Hitler’s bombs wreaking havoc all over the city, Sadie and her mother’s lives have become marked by fear and terror and their lives deteriorate further when the Nazis liquidate the ghetto and they are forced to seek shelter elsewhere. The only sanctuary they can find is in the perilous tunnels beneath the city, but they both know that they are living on borrowed time – until one day when Sadie looks up and finds a girl of her own age buying flowers and her world is changed forever.

Ella Stepanek’s life is as far removed from Sadie’s as it possible to get. Ella lives a privileged and sheltered life where her every need is catered for and indulged. The suffering of the city’s less fortunate is a reality far removed from her own until one day when her eyes lock with that of a girl of a similar age hiding in the tunnels beneath the city. Something deep inside Ella compels her to seek the girl out and a fast friendship is soon established. Ella vows to help Sadie as best she can, regardless of the repercussions that could destroy her life.

With the war showing no sign of abating, Sadie and Ella will find themselves being put through the wringer, however, their friendship will see them through the most challenging and difficult of times and give them hope that someday Hitler will be defeated and the world will be a much better place.

Inspired by true events, Pam Jennof’s The Woman with the Blue Star is another exceptional historical novel from this immensely gifted and powerful storyteller. I’ve long been a fan of her writing and she never fails to impress not just with her knowledge of the period she describes so deftly, but with the exquisite way she writes with great sensitivity and depth about the human spirit without resorting to mawkishness or melodrama. Pam Jenoff never shies away from writing about the realities of wartime, but always does so with great understanding and heart.

Pam Jenoff’s The Woman with the Blue Star is a first class tale about the power of friendship, courage, resilience and hope which readers will find difficult to put down and impossible to forget.

Pam Jenoff has done it again. I love her books and The Woman with the Blue Star is an incredible story. I love WWII Historical Fiction as I'm always learning something new and these books bring to life amazing acts of survival, friendship and perseverance.

I couldn't imagine surviving for months hiding in the sewers of Krakow, Poland like Sadie and her family. I loved the author's note at the end that this was based off the true story of another group of people that lived in the sewers in a different Polish city.

I always enjoy Pam Jenoff’s writing. Her historical fiction is well-researched and has compelling characters. This latest story was haunting – it followed the journey of a young Jewish woman and her family as they sought to avoid the Nazis in Krakow, Poland by hiding and living in the sewers. This seems quite extraordinary but I remember watching a movie once (based on a true story) where a man hid a whole group of Jewish villagers in the sewer (it’s called In Darkness). This novel followed Sadie and her friends and family as they try to stay alive.

I really enjoyed it! Thank you for making me part of the tour!

The Woman with the Blue Star takes place in Nazi-occupied Poland during World war Two. It is told from the perspectives of two young women, Sadie and Ella. Sadie and her family had to flee their home in the middle of the night to escape arrest by the Nazis and have been hiding in the sewer. Ella, an upper-class woman, who is pegged as a Nazi sympathizer because of her step-mother’s associations, who catches sight of Sadie through the sewer grate. The two develop a friendship and Ella becomes an ally as Sadie and her family struggle to survive.

I enjoyed the friendship that developed between the two women. The love interests were somewhat interesting, but did not really go anywhere. The other good thing about this book was that it introduced me to the history of the Polish Home Army, an underground movement that resisted the Nazi occupation.

Overall, I wanted to give this book a higher rating, but the pieces at the end of the story just don’t fit together. I can’t say anything more without spoiling anything for other readers. Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book, I am happy to share a review.

AMAZINGLY WRITTEN STORY. Sadie and Ella’s story will stay with me for a long long time.

How many ways can you say heartbreaking yet brilliant?

This was AMAZING! Why oh why did I wait so long to read Pam Jenoff's latest book? It's by far my favorite that she's written! This was a heartbreaking but beautiful story about the friendship between two young women (Sadie and Ella) living in Krakow Poland during the Nazi occupation in WWII. The kindness shown to Sadie and her family and the other Jews living underground in the sewer was so lovely to learn about as it was based off true stories. The author did a great job making that experience come to life - it really makes you think maybe life during the pandemic isn't quite as bad as it could be. A great twist/surprise ending I wasn't expecting as well and just an overall pleasure to read. Highly recommend, especially for fans of The Warsaw orphan or The book of lost names. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for access to an advance review copy.

Talk about a moving, heart-wrenching, and powerful historical fiction book. THE WOMAN WITH THE BLUE STAR by Pam Jenoff is set in 1942 during WWII. We meet two young women that are on completely different paths in life but form an unlikely friendship during the hardships of the war.

The liquidation of the Krakow ghetto is underway and eighteen-year-old Sadie and her pregnant mother must go in hiding to survive. Living in the sewers below the ghetto, Sadie looks up to the surface and catches the eye of a young woman, Ella, buying flowers and so begins their journey together.

Not only did Jenoff set the scene perfectly but you just feel everything Sadie and Ella are going through. The despair, the struggles, but also the hope and the strength and will to live through these atrocities and come out on the other side. It’s an emotional and immersive read and I highly recommend it! I will definitely be looking for more from Jenoff in the future.

Jenoff’s (The Lost Girls of Paris) latest historical fiction offering is a hauntingly beautiful narrative of a family’s quest to survive in war-torn Krakow, Poland. In 1942 Krakow, 18-year-old Sadie Gault is living in the Jewish ghetto with her parents when they decide to go into hiding, into the depths of the sewers under the city. Pawel, a sewer worker, takes the Gaults and another family, the Rosenbergs, through the maze of tunnels and sewer water to a small underground chamber where they can hide. He promises to bring them food as often as he can without drawing the attention of German soldiers. The families’ existence in the tunnel is fraught with danger and uncertainty as Sadie’s mother Danuta is pregnant, and flooding in the tunnel forces the families to cling to the highest ledges in their chamber waiting for the waters to recede.

Sadie develops a friendship that blossoms into a budding romance with Saul Rosenberg, though she fears his father will not approve since her family is not religious. Desperate for a connection to the outside world, Sadie starts meeting Ella, a young Polish woman who sees her through a grate in the sewer. Ella begins bringing Sadie extra food when she can get away from her stepmother who has been friendly with German officers since the death of Ella’s father. Though Ella does not consider herself brave in the fight against the German occupation, she takes risks to help Sadie. With the German hold on the city threatened by the impending arrival of Allied forces, the danger to Krakow’s residents increases, and Ella will stop at nothing to try to save Sadie and the other inhabitants of the underground sewer.

Jenoff’s highly dimensional characters breathe life into this page-turning novel, rich with historical detail and inspired by Jews who hid in the sewers of Lviv, Poland. The author is well-established in the genre of historical fiction, and her latest may be one of her best works to date.

The story of surviving in the sewers of Krakow is both overwhelming and enlightening. I have read many WW2 historical fiction books, but I never read the accounts of the Jewish people who hid from the Nazis in the sewers. It was overwhelming to imagine. Pam Jenoff does a good job of describing the scenes to engage all of your senses, most especially your gut.
This is the story of two girls who become unlikely friends, one a Pole living in Krakow during the Nazi occupation; the other living as a Jew in hiding in the sewers of Krakow. They meet through the sewer grate and help each other survive the war. There are moments of suspense and twists throughout the book, but the real captivating part of the story is how a group of strangers exist in the unthinkable environment of the sewer. The images are haunting.
While I was thoroughly engaged in the hidden world beneath the city, the friendship between the girls felt a bit unrealistic and at times too "nice" for the overall story. I can't put my finger on the exact disconnect for me, but I would have preferred more time underground with Sadie and less time above ground with Ella.
Regardless, it is definitely worth the read.
Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

I think I heard Pam Jenoff say on a Zoom or Facebook Live, this book was based on a true story. If so, it's heartbreaking, as are many of the true stories that came out of the holocaust. The story starts with Sadie who is 18 years old and an only child forced to live in the Jewish Ghetto of Krakow Poland. The story opens with her hiding in a large trunk as the Germans drag people from their homes. Her parents realize it's getting more dangerous and her father makes a decision for them to go stay in the sewers until they can find a way to escape the city. It's meant to be a short term solution, but nothing goes as planned. One day as Sadie explores the underground tunnels she sees a girl about her own age looking down at her through the grill of the drain cover. That girl is Ella who can't believe she's seen a person but goes back again and again, trying to help Sadie in any way she can. Sadie and Ella develop a friendship. Ella's in a delicate position, because her stepmother is a collaborator and often entertains high level Nazi officers in their home. Ella's former boyfriend (whom her family did not like, because his family were laborers) is working with the Polish resistance and he tries to help Ella find a way to help Sadie and her family to escape and gets arrested before they are successful. This story is full of taut situations and I found myself slowing down my reading to fully experience Ms. Jenoff's descriptive storytelling. I truly loved the ending which was just a lovely ending to a heartrending tale. #TheWomanwiththeBlueStar #NetGalley

The Woman With The Blue Star is Pam Jenoff's best book since her first (imo), and I'm in utter awe of the power of the story and its characters. It was a read I put off and am now very sorry I did because it's so well done and thought-provoking! I can't wait to recommend it to everyone and definitely can see why readers are flocking to this in droves. Very highly recommended.

I’m fascinated by this part of our history. This awful, horrendous and unimaginable piece of history is always in my heart because, I just can’t imagine how so much hate can exist.

Then I realize, hate is still here and though we’re not making them wear stars on their sleeves or taking them to labor/death camps, it’s still rampant. However, that’s a story for another time but, just keep it in your mind. Things need to change and they need to change before we get to this point. The only thing Jews did, was have different religious beliefs and the Germans made them out to be dirty and not worth their lives.

In this story, we meet Sadie and her parents who have been regulated to the “ghetto” until one night, where her and her parents are forced underground with another family to the sewer. The Germans had come and taken everyone else to the camps. I can’t even imagine the thoughts going through Sadie’s mind. On the way to the chamber, her father falls into the very dangerous current of the river and dies. Left with her pregnant mother, Sadie and the other family try their best to live their lives in the dirty and dangerous sewer. Until one day, she sees another young girl through the sewer grate, Ella and Sadie become friends. Ella, a polish girl has nothing else, she’s been left with her awful stepmother and is longing for more. This is their story and it’s truly a tragic but, beautiful story.

I just couldn’t put this book down. I couldn’t put Sadie and Ella down, I had to know what happened with them and the others around them. It swept me into the story with them and just wouldn’t let me go. It was so well written, the story was perfect and the characters and their emotions were well developed; I loved this novel! Though tragic and hard at times to digest, it was truly a five star read.

I HIGHLY recommend this and I hope you will all grab this book. It’s one to share with all of your friends. Thank you to Pam, Harlequin and NetGalley for the review copy.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin-Trade Publishing for an egalley in exchange for an honest review

Pam Jenoff is an author that always has me anticipating what aspect of WWII that she will explore next. In her latest novel, set in Krakow Poland, we are introduced to two women- Ella, a Christian Pole from an affluent neighbourhood and Sadie, a Polish Jew whose family takes refuge in a sewer when their ghetto is liquidated. As their paths run into each other, there will be times of great danger at every turn.

Once I began reading this novel, I was basically a resident of my couch as I held my breath waiting to see how the story would play out for our two protagonists. Would Sadie and her family be caught? What would happen to Ella if she continued going to the sewer grate and speaking to Sadie? If I had one criticism it is that I really didn't like the Hollywood-style ending. When authors choose to go that route, it frustrates me so much. It's a personal feeling especially having read so much fiction and non-fiction regarding this time period. On the other hand, I enjoyed the majority of the story enough to say that it is my utmost pleasure to recommend this book to those who are interested.




Publication Date 04/05/21
Goodreads review 02/06/21

#TheWomanwiththeBlueStar #NetGalley