Sadie’s family must flee to the sewers to seek safety from the Germans. It’s extreme, but not unheard of during these horrible times. Meanwhile, Ella is living above with a stepmother that entertains the Germans in their own home. The two meet when Ella sees Sadies by sheer accident one day in one of the sewer grates. So begins an unbelievable friendship and an amazing story of survival. This book is amazing. Jenoff has done it again! Thank you to Netgalley for an Advanced Copy of this title.

Amid the crowded field of World War II novels, The Woman with the Blue Star stands out. Sadie Gault, a young Jewish woman barely survives a Nazi raid, and finds herself with her mother and another family in the sewers beneath Krakow Poland. Ella Stepanek, a young Catholic woman, lives with her stepmother, a Nazi collaborator. Their worlds intersect when Ella, on a quest to find cherries so her stepmother can serve its to her current Nazi lover, notices Sophie through a grate in the street, and feels compelled to help her.

The Woman with the Blue Star is the story of friendship, courage and the power of love in a terrible time, where the wrong move is literally fatal, where helping the wrong person can get you killed. It’s about finding love in the strangest of places, and learning just how strong a person can be in the direst of circumstances.

Pam Jenoff once again delivers a novel rich with her trademark themes of history, suspense, and friendship. An insightful and moving look into a moment in time and its unimaginable consequences.

Pam Jenoff has done it again!! This was a wonderful, sad, heartbreaking, moving tale of yet another tale of bravery during the war. I highly recommend if you are a fan of historical fiction and WWII.

This is one of the first novels that I have read by Pam Jenoff and I must say, I will be reading more by this talented author. Ms. Jenoff had me hooked from the very beginning in this novel with her descriptive writing style and story line.

I really enjoyed this book, and raced through it. The setting was well described, and I could visualize every aspect of the city, both above ground and below (though I had some difficulty picturing how the conversations around the sewer grate would happen without anyone noticing), and the characters were well developed and very realistic. For fans of WW2 fiction, this is one not to be missed!

Unlikely friendship is one of my favourite themes in novels -- and this one was beautiful. The story follows the point-of-view of two different characters: Sadie and Ella. Their blossoming friendship was heartwarming and full of bravery and sacrifice. I also appreciated that the setting felt very unique (as the idea of Jews hiding in sewers was a new historical fact for me.)

The story was a quick read with a fast pace. It was only at the ending that things felt a little forced. There was a lot going on and some of the events felt rushed to create an action-filled ending, rather than a natural progression to the story. I do, however, love stories that share what happened to all the characters afterwards -- and this was one of those!

A suspenseful, well-written and riveting bit of historical fiction by Pam Jenoff.

3.5 stars rounded up!

Pam Jenoff has done it again. Probably my favorite WWII-era historical fiction writer, Jenoff has once again crafted a heart-string-pulling story set in Nazi-Occupied Krakow.

Ella is lives in Occupied Krakow in 1943. Her father was killed during the invasion, her fiance broke up with her before leaving for the war, and her siblings have moved away. Ella is left with no one but her cruel stepmother, who prefers to spend her time entertaining the Nazi Occupiers. Ella is lonely, and trapped.

Across the city, Sadie is a nineteen year old Jewish woman who is struggling to survive in the ghetto with her parents. When the Nazis clear out the ghetto, Sadie and her pregnant mother flee into the city sewers to escape the slaughter. The paths of these two young women cross when Ella sees Sadie through a grate, and the two immediately connect. Both are lonely and, in their own way, trapped. But Nazi-Occupied Krakow is growing increasingly unsafe, for both of them.

I read this book quickly, and truly enjoyed it. The struggles that these women, particularly Sadie, faced were heartbreaking. Their friendship was sweet. The choices they had to make were realistic, and realistically devastating. The only reason I rated this book four stars instead of five was the ending. Without saying too much, I'll just say that I found the ending a bit predictable.

If you enjoy WWII-era and Holocaust fiction, you'll enjoy The Woman with the Blue Star. The plot is a bit different from other books I've read before, which, in this very heavily published topic area, is a good thing.

I am a big Pam Jenoff fan and this book did not disappoint, but I had a different feel than many of others work. This one felt a bit more action-packed ( rather than story/plot driven) than some of her other titles and for that reason, I finished it rather quickly.

While this story is fictional, it is loosely related/inspired by a true story of a group of Polish Jews that hid from the Nazis in the sewer system.

The ending was a nice touch, but some of it felt a little forced. I had to go back and read because it felt like I missed something ( which I guess was the point). IT was nice to get an ending with an update on many of the characters throughout the book.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book for review.

Such a moving novel! Pam Jenoff is a master storyteller and her latest novel The Woman with the Blue Star is shining example of that!

This historical fiction that is set during WWII, Poland and follows two girls, Sadie and Ella. The two form a very unlikely friendship with one huge barrier— Sadie is jewish and living in the city sewers with her mother to hide from the Nazi and Ella is upper class living with her step-mother who is Nazi collaborator!

I feel like I have learned so much from Pam Jenoff’s novels! She does an incredible amount of research in all of her books and I am always blown away by the brilliance in her storytelling! The plot is extremely well thought out and the characters are unforgettable. I highly recommend The Woman with the Blue Star—a total and complete 5 star novel!

Love Pam Jenoff's book as she has the ability to place you back in the war years with her descriptive scenes. This was a wonderful story and I really enjoyed it right up to the last few pages where I felt everything was just too neatly tied up with a little bow. Of course people escaped etc but felt like too many did just to get the book finished.

Pam Jenoff is QUEEN of WWII fiction. All her novels for me have been home runs, and this novel hits it out of the park! Another lovely addition to the WWII collection, yet stands out for originality, excellent writing, and characters that you care about. Ms. Jenoff seems to be able to step into the past and recreate it so eloquently, that it is always a joy to ride alongside her, even though the material can be difficult. But these are stories that need to be told, because as a wise man once said, if we do not learn from the past, we are doomed to repeat it.
Ten stars! Run to your bookstore and purchase!

I was so so excited to get an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley! I have loved all of Pam Jenoff's novels in the past so I knew this one would not disappoint. I read alot of historical fiction, especially books set during Ww2. Kudos to Ms.Jenoff for for finding a topic that I hadn't read about before! Much of this story is set around 2 Jewish families that are hiding from the Germans in the sewers in Poland. I don't want to say much more so I don't ruin the story, but this book has a bit of everything. Love, beautifully courageous characters, hope and of course heartbreak and tragedy. I whipped through it in two days and would have loved to have continued reading about the characters, but alas, that is simply a sign of an excellent book. Definitely recommend!

The horrors of the war are innumerable and in this book, Pan Jenoff portrays a life of terror for two Jewish families who find their ghetto being sacked and their people being herded into convoys. Through the kindness of one man, they are led away to a kind of safety at least for now. The place is a sewer and the awfulness of this situation is well portrayed from the smell, to the rats, to the putrid water, they find themselves in.

Tragedy happens almost immediately as the father drowns in the rushing dirty water and our main character, Sadie Gault, eighteen years old is left with her pregnant mother and others to hide out assisted by the man who rescued them.

Life is bitter, until one day Sadie glances up through a sewer grate and sees Ella Stepanek, a young Polish girl. The two start to form a friendship through that grate and Ella is the one who eventually risks her life to help Sadie and ultimately the others who have survived the sewer so far.

This is a story of friendship, of love in a time where live seems to have gone into a long winter's nap. There are other occurrences which bind the story together until its conclusion and reminiscence many years later.

Recommended to those who love reading and learning about how through adversity one can often survive the worst of times.
Thank you to Pam Jenoff, Park Row, and NetGalley for a copy of this courageous story due out May 4, 2021.

I have loved Pam Jenoff since I read The Kommandant's Girl about 13 years ago. Even admist the oversaturated WWII historical fiction genre, she manages to capture my attention and tell beautiful stories. To me, she is one of the originators of WWII fiction and all those who came after her are mirroring her ability to tell stories of human beings and perhaps even teach those readers about a period in history they may not have otherwise been introduced to.

While, again, the genre is most definitely over saturated, and there are certainly elements of this offering that follow the "norm" in this sub-genre, Pam Jenoff has managed to tell a new story, a different story, one that will stick with readers most definitely.

Set during WW2 this is the story based on true events of Sadie, living in the sewers to escape the nazis and Ella, a young girl living with her step-mother who is a nazi sympathizer. Ella and Sadie form a friendship and help each other survive. I love the amount of research Pam Jenoff does in each of her books, and I know this will be a huge hit with our patrons.

WOW, just WOW!! I am not sure I can give this book enough praise. First of all, Sadie and her family are Jews that have to escape the grasp of the Nazi army. There is nowhere to go but underground, underground to the sewers. Yes, that is correct, they will live in the sewers. In another part of town, Ella lives a life of semi wealthy, but her father has died and she now lives with her horrible stepmother who is a Nazi sympathizer. Ella is lost until she finds a pair of eyes staring up at her from inside the sewer system. Ella and Sadie will become close, as each of them provides a lifeline for one another. The kicker was the surprise ending! WHEW! I mean what an ending. This is a great one for fans of historical fiction.

"The Woman with the Blue Star" by Pam Jenoff
Publication Date: 5.4.2021


Sadie Gault is living with her parents in the Krakow Ghetto in 1942. When the ghetto is emptied, Sadie and her expecting mother hide in the sewers. Her father dies during the escape. It is frustrating living with strangers and not having enough food. One day, looking up through the grate, she sees an Aryan girl staring at her.

Ella Stepanek is a Polish girl living with her stepmother, who is close with the Nazis. Ella wanders around Krakow, doing errands and such. One day while she visits the market, she looks below a sewer grate and sees another girl staring at her.

Ella begins to help Sadie, showing the power of friendship and selflessness.

What a good read. This was inspired by individuals who lived in the sewers in Lvov during the war. The story begins and ends in the present, but the majority of the story is focused on Sadie and Ella's story. This was an emotional roller coaster. I am never disappointed in a Pam Jenoff novel; her books are well-researched!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for the opportunity to read an ARC in exchange for my honest review.


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A historical fiction book about 2 young women living in Krakow Poland during WW2. Sadie and her family living in the Jewish ghetto and the other living comfortably with a step mother who is a collaborator. These 2 girls meet by accident Sadie now hiding in the filthy sewers with little to no food, with her pregnant mom and another family. They form a friendship and Ella helps to get them out of the sewers to safety. I enjoyed reading the book! The research the author did made me able to easily visualize what was happening and and feel the pain and fear of what these 2 families were going through. The building of the friendship between the 2 girls held my interest to the end, with an ending that surprised me! I believe this story would interest women from teens to retired. For me, I wish the book had been longer!

Pam Jenoff is one of my favorite authors and she has done it once again. She humanizes the horrors of World War II by giving us characters that we care deeply about as we become involved in their daily lives. Families and friendships are strengthened as they struggle for survival under unimaginable conditions. Thoroughly researched and well constructed! Another aspect of the war that was unknown to me. The author’s note also shows her great determination to get this story told! #TheWomanWithTheBlueStar #PamJenoff #NetGalley