Kelly Rimmer has delivered another fabulous novel! I am not usually a fan of anything historical but Kelly tells her stories in such a way that you can’t put her books down.
This is a story that tells of the ghetto, the tragic lives of the people struggling to survive and the power of family and friendship.
Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and give an unbiased review of this book. I loved every page. #netgalley #kellyrimmer #thewarsaworphan

I have enjoyed every book I've read of Kelly Rimmer's, especially The Things We Cannot Say, so I was especially happy to find some familiar characters from that book in The Warsaw Orphan. This story follows Emilia (Elzbieta Rabinek) during Nazi occupied Poland during the early 1940s. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my digital copy.

An intimate telling of the Warsaw theatre of WW2....through the eyes of Roman and Emilia/Elzbieta, two teenagers caught up in the horrors of the Polish uprising. Emilia is nearly fourteen and is living with her adoptive parents under an assumed name. Roman is sixteen, half Jewish and half Catholic and shares one room of a crowded apartment with his family, who are starving and desperate in the Warsaw ghetto.

Emilia comes face to face with the plight of the Gorka family as she joins her neighbour Sara, in operating as public health professionals in the ghetto, covertley smuggling out Jewish children.  The Gorka's must give up their newborn daughter - or watch her starve. For Roman Gorka, losing his sister, stirs him into acts of rebellion not even his newfound love for Elzbieta can suppress. It is heartbreaking to see how the anger in Roman builds and builds and causes his recklessness to put both of their families in harm's way.

The most brutal of attacks on Emilia, by the Soviets who were meant to saving them, causes Emilia to distance herself from Roman and the rage she knows it will spark. Gripping, unbearably raw and shocking in places...... You will need to read it to discover if love really does conquer all after a life of starvation, brutality and destruction.

Hundreds of children who came from Poland in 1944 were reportedly the first refugees to be recorded in Aotearoa New Zealand.  They were the lucky ones... 

I received a copy of this book from Hachette Australia and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, I couldn’t stop reading it!

The year is 1942, The German's are taking control and Elzbieta makes a very dangerous decision to smuggle children out of the area and this brings reality, heartache and danger.

I am a big lover of historical fiction and this book did not disappoint. It is raw, it is harrowing and it is sad. To think this really happened in our world and that people can be so unkind yet others can be so kind is somewhat beyond comprehension.

The writing is strong and draws you in, the characters seem so real and you have so much compassion for them, the story makes you want to cry but also makes you feel anger at the atrocities that happened to innocent people. I just couldn't stop reading.

Once again Kelly Rimmer has produced another fantastic historical book that makes you think and hope beyond hope that this never happens again!

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book for an honest review.

This tale of Emilia and Roman in Nazi run Warsaw is heartbreakingly beautiful. They go through so much loss and grief but emerge with such love and strength. Even with the tears, this book was a delight to read.

Set in Poland during WW 2, this is another heart breaker by Kelly Rimmer that follows the stories of Emilia and Roman as they overcome tragedy, war and horrendous injuries but manage to find new families and love. I don’t want to give too much away but this is amazing.

What a gripping, haunting, shocking, raw and at times horrifying book The Warsaw Orphan has been. I simply could not put it down. I’ve read several books set in Warsaw during World War Two but I don’t recall any of them containing quite such graphic imagery as this one.
The story is told through the eyes of two teenagers. It begins in 1942 when Emilia is nearly fourteen and is living with her adoptive parents outside the Warsaw ghetto under an assumed name. Roman is sixteen, half Jewish and half Catholic and shares one room of a crowded apartment with his family, who are starving. Both Emilia and Roman feel obligated to do their bit. For Roman it is the constant battle to find food for his family, while Emilia is committed to helping her neighbour Sara to ease the suffering.
As the war progresses, the atrocities ramp up and I wondered whether there was ever any hope for these two. This book is brilliantly written with the war-torn landscape so skilfully described I felt as though I was there too. Despite the horrors that are depicted, this is a story of courage and hope and one I can’t recommend,end highly enough.

“Grieving is what you do when those you love are lost to you. They have not been lost to me,” I said in disgust, weeping. “They have been taken from me. There is a difference.”

Kelly Rimmer has done it again! The Warsaw Orphan is another spectacular historical fiction novel. Emotional, heartbreaking yet somehow she leaves us with a sense of hopefulness. It portrays the harsh life for the people of Warsaw with first the Germans and then later the Soviets during the occupation of WWII.

‘When you have seen these things, things so horrific that you cannot become hardened to them, how can you just go back to existing again? Even if the war ended tomorrow, I feel like I would be broken for the rest of my life, and in ways that I can’t even understand, let alone explain.’

This is the story of two teenagers and their unique perspective on this well documented time period. It’s a tale of their growing up in extenuating circumstances of trying to survive in a city blanketed by hardship, suffering and incredible injustices under Nazi and then Soviet occupation.

‘To face the inhuman, one must become superhuman.’

From the outset to its finale, Kelly offers an amazing story of survival and friendship. It really is quite the tale. Well researched and beautifully written, having been inspired by true events in Poland during WWII. From the resistance within the Jewish Warsaw ghetto, to the Soviet occupied streets or running through the sewers, you are there witnessing the hunger and fear, the despair yet determination. Sitting in the comfort of one’s home, it will shake you to your core to read what these people endured and sacrificed.

‘Maybe I could force myself to return to the ghetto, but I would have to learn how to stop bringing the ghetto home with me or I’d never survive.’

The story of Elzbieta and Roman, and indeed many of the other characters gives you perspective on what kept them strong, how their beliefs and actions may not align, but always .... always .... how they loved and supported each other.

“I’m jealous of you. I miss believing that there is some purpose and some sense to life,” Sara sighed. “Maybe, tonight when you pray, you could send up a little prayer for me, too.”

The Warsaw Orphan is undoubtedly an emotional ride with its true power in how it will make you think and what it will make you feel. To be confronted with both the failings and strengths of humanity yet through it all, the power of ‘family’ to hold true through the worst imaginable circumstances. Whilst not an easy book to read at times, it most definitely is a must read as it has a powerful story to tell - a tale that you will reflect upon long after the final page is turned.

‘At the end of the day, that was my worst nightmare—not the trials of the ghetto. I would endure torture and starvation and even death if it meant I could stay with my family. There was nothing more important to me in the world.’








This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

‘In my mother’s face, I saw courage and a selflessness I could barely fathom. I wanted to record the image of her like that in my memory forever. She had never seemed more beautiful to me.’

Occasionally I will read a novel that is so devastating in its authenticity and so sensitively written that I am pretty much left speechless. Kelly Rimmer has written a brilliant work of fiction based upon the occupation of Warsaw throughout WWII and beyond. For Poland, freedom did not come with the end of WWII. They just moved into a different form of occupation. The post-war Eastern Bloc countries have long been of reading interest to me, so I appreciated the way in which Kelly did not end her story there, but rather, took her readers beyond, into that period of transition from one occupation into another, demonstrating the toll this took on a population already ground down and defeated. This is not romanticised holocaust porn with a sprinkle of suffering and a saturation of hope. Rather, it is a gritty and realistic historical account that is grounded in truth and respectfully recounted. At times, it was not an easy read, but it was a deeply affecting one that will stay with me.

‘Bystanders have allowed themselves to be convinced that the Jews are not like us, and as soon as you convince someone that a group of people is not human, they will allow you to treat them as badly as you wish.’

The Warsaw Orphan is a follow-up to The Things We Cannot Say, but not a sequel. You don’t need to read one to appreciate the other. This is a stand-out novel, one that will be appreciated by many and recommended widely. I thought it was absolutely brilliant. A firm favourite for the year so far.


Thanks is extended to Hachette Australia for providing me with a copy of The Warsaw Orphan for review.

An emotionally compelling World War II story

The Warsaw Orphan is Kelly Rimmer’s latest historical fiction release, it’s an inspiring story of courage, love and strength set in Poland 1942 in the Warsaw Ghetto under German occupation until the end of the war in 1945 and the subsequent Soviet occupation.

Kelly places the reader into the dark era of the Holocaust and holds you glued until the very last page.

Emilia (Elzbieta Rabinek )is our heroine whose courage shines through at a young age, she lives not far from the walls of the Ghetto living a comfortable existence at home with her parents. Elzbieta befriends Sara a nurse who shares the same apartment floor which lead to a discovery that throws her into a world of deception and bravery.

Roman Gorka is a teenager who lives in the horror of the ghetto in inhuman conditions. There’s crowding, starvation, sickness and death in the precinct. His newborn sister is dying and their mother’s malnutrition is also making her weak and limiting her supply of milk to feed the baby. Their family gets by on scraps of vegetable peels and the occasional piece of bread. Money and food are in short supply and Roman’s young brother Dawidek who is only nine has been recruited by the Kapo to collect corpses (hideous unpaid work).

The main theme of the story is the smuggling of Jewish children out of the ghetto and those who risked everything to help them escape.

Excellent pacing and scenes that will tear at your heart, stories like these must be read and remembered, it’s inspired by true events. I believe this story will appeal to many readers, I’d highly recommend.

Publication Date June 1st 2021

Elzbieta Rabinek is a teenager, she lives in Warsaw with her adopted parents Truda and Mateusz, they want to protect her from the war, the German army and the unrest in the city. They keep Elzbieta close to home, she’s a curious teenager and she starts secretly visiting her neighbors Sara's apartment. Sara’s a nurse and social worker and she works for the Department of Health and Sanitation. Sara visits the Warsaw ghetto, smuggling in much needed medical supplies and tries to help the plight of the starving Jewish children living behind the wall.

Roman Gorka is a Jewish teenager, he lives in the Warsaw ghetto with his mother Maya, stepfather Samuel, little brother Dawidek and his baby sister Eleonora. The Gorka family made the choice to stay in their apartment, the family didn’t want to be separated, and are now stuck behind the high wall. It’s extremely crowded in the ghetto, the conditions are deplorable, to survive you need to be useful and work. His mother had a baby six weeks ago, both his mother and baby sister Eleonora are not doing well and he’s worried about their health. When his mother contacts Sara, she desperately wants to get her baby out of the ghetto, Roman is angry and then he understands why. Roman and Elzbieta meet, develop feelings towards each other and it's dangerous for both of them. Slowly the ghetto starts to be emptied, as the time goes on the situation in the ghetto becomes dire, Roman constantly worries about his family being deported and he dreads returning home to find the apartment empty and the injustice of his situation makes him an extremely volatile young man.

The Warsaw Orphan is a story about two teenagers, growing up, living and trying to survive in a city consumed by war, hardship, suffering and injustice. Kelly Rimmer has written another epic historical novel about the power of human spirit, it makes you feel all kinds of emotions, it’s moving and it takes on a journey.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, I couldn’t stop reading it and five big stars from me.

Compelling, gripping and emotional, this is Kelly Rimmer at her best!

The Warsaw Orphan is a story of survival, courage, selflessness and love set during the most hopeless and difficult times imaginable: Warsaw ghetto/Nazi-occupied Poland, 1942.

Roman and Emilia both grieving for what they’ve lost, what’s been taken from them. Surviving an oppression that feels insurmountable... They’re two people that share a connection. They almost certainly would share more than a connection if the world was different. They might have a chance, if the war ever ends, to be together..

Roman Gorka is 16. Born to a Jewish mother and Catholic father, raised as a Catholic, he is not really any one thing. Ethnically he’s not Jewish but is living in the Jewish Quarter (ghetto) with his family.

Emilia Slaska, is almost 14. Living outside the Jewish Quarter, she is compelled to help whoever she can, in whatever way she can. She persuades her parents Truda and Mateusz to become an apprentice social worker and work alongside her neighbour Sarah who is a nurse. This work takes them inside the ghetto, where Emilia meets Roman.

This is an unforgettable and touching story. If you’ve previously read The Things We Cannot Say, The Warsaw Orphan will be extra meaningful.

This was my first Kelly Rimmer novel and I really enjoyed it! Told from the two main characters points of view, this heartbreaking story had me captivated from beginning to end. A wonderfully written story about one of the most devastating times in history - a must read for all the historical fiction lovers out there!

I am not usually a fan of historical fiction, but I'm a huge Kelly Rimmer fan, and I've recently been rethinking my stance on historical fiction, anyway. So I picked up The Warsaw Orphan, and loved it from page one. While I often read for escapism, and relating to the characters, this book was different. It was sad, but it was enlightening. It gave me more perspective. It was nice to get into the minds of the characters on something that I can only know from historical accounts. Kelly has done an amazing jobs at creating a story which results in empathy and understanding. She's a great story teller, and excellent at character building. Thanks NetGalley and Hachette for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Warsaw Orphan is the sixth novel by Australian author, Kelly Rimmer. The Warsaw Ghetto in 1942 is the scene of much desperation, despair and heartbreak. There are disturbing rumours about mass deportations to Treblinka, although sixteen-year-old Roman Gorka’s stepfather Samuel maintains an unlikely positivity about it all, wishfully believing the German propaganda about a clean work camp with better conditions and more food.

It takes a while, but eventually Roman accepts that the truth is radically different, and that reports of extermination might be more accurate than what they are being told by the Kapo and xx. Ultimately, it’s a large group of orphans being marched to a railway platform that moves him to convince his parents to let the social workers smuggle his younger brother, Dawidek and his baby sister Eleanora out of the Ghetto, to safety.

Emilia Slaska has been living under another name, Elzbieta Rabinek, and posing as the daughter of Truda and Mateusz, since her brother Tomasz was executed for assisting Jews. Mateusz’s brother, the ever resourceful Uncle Piotr has moved them out of their town, Trzebinia, into a Warsaw apartment, and manages to acquire plenty of hard-to-find luxuries for them.

Restricted to the apartment and its courtyard, Emilia’s boredom sees her making friends with their neighbour, Sara Wieczorek, a nurse and social worker with the city council’s Department of Health and Social Services.

On the eve of her fourteenth birthday, Emilia accidentally learns what Sara does behind the scenes, and promptly insists on becoming part of it: helping the Jews imprisoned in the Ghetto, and smuggling the children out to loving homes and better care, seems like the most worthwhile thing she can do with her life. Emilia learns just how challenging this work can be, but also discovers a level of personal courage of which she was unaware.

Their initial meeting is a lot less than ideal, but soon enough, Roman and Emilia are enjoying each others company. Two years on, Roman has narrowly escaped deportation and death, and is channelling his righteous anger against their occupying force into resistance activities, becoming a fervent participant in the Warsaw Uprising. As Roman dismisses injuries to return to the fight, they realise they are in love and Emilia is begging Roman care for his life, and heart, as if it were her own.

Eventually, Roman “learned how to suppress the instinct to throw myself unthinkingly into every battle. I had learned to pause and to ask myself, how can I be smart here? How can I guard my life as I would guard hers, just as I promised her I would?” And if Roman survives, and Emilia survives, will their ending be a happy one?

Rimmer easily conveys her setting, the horrific ordeal that Poles in their occupied land suffered, and the agonising decisions that had to be made on a daily basis. Her characters suffer great loss but manage to endure, to adapt, to rebuild. Rimmer knows how to tug on the heart-strings: this is a moving read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Hachette Australia.

Kelly Rimmer takes her readers back to an occupied Poland, it is 1942 where we meet a young teenager, Elzbieta Rabinek things are heart-wrenching in Warsaw but nowhere near as bad as behind the wall of the ghetto. Elzbieta has seen things that no one should ever see and keeps a secret but she shows courage and strength as she befriends her neighbour a nurse Sara, together they do what they can to help in a dangerous situation.

Elzbieta becomes Sara’s apprentice so she can get behind the wall and help with placing Jewish children into new homes and orphanages, during this time she meets a young man Roman Gorka while trying to help out his family, she clicks with Roman instantly she can see the strength and the will to fight for a better life for his family and friends and soon they are friends as well but war and rebellion get in the way.

Life is not easy for Elzbieta and her family and the rebellion behind the wall sees them fleeing to Lodz and trying to do what they can to survive, there is danger everywhere not only from the Germans but the Russian army as well. Elzbieta’s life changes so much and they move back to Warsaw to find Sara and Roman but will Roman’s anger and frustration cause more danger?

This is a compelling, poignant and very emotional story, so beautifully written it takes in the plight of the Polish people who went through so much and it shows the strength and resilience of Elzbieta, her parents Roman and Sara the heart-breaking things they saw and the thing they had to do to survive. There were many tears from me and cheering as well I wanted them to achieve so much and they did well through some very dangerous and desperate situations

Out of the cruelty of war and the heart-break it causes can hope and a future of love and happiness be found, when there is love and friendship and support there is always hope. I loved this story so much, Kelly Rimmer you have done it again another awesome story one that is not to be missed, and this one will stay with me for a long time to come, thank you.

My thanks to Hachette AUS for my copy to read and review.

It was 1942 and Elzbieta Rabinek was fourteen, living outside the Ghetto walls in Warsaw and unaware of the horrors that those walls contained. Sara, a nurse who was working in the city, lived in the apartment above Elzbieta and her parents and when one night she heard a commotion coming from above, Elzbieta investigated. What she found and later heard from Sara, changed her thinking and set her on a dangerous and incredibly courageous journey.

Thousands of Jews with little food, clothing or comfort were trying to survive in the Jewish Ghetto and Roman Gorka and his family were among them. But when his baby sister needed assistance to survive, Roman was angry. The Germans were a cruel and harsh people – even the plight of a baby didn’t stir them to have compassion. But Roman’s anger and fury would see him put many people in danger, including Elzbieta, whom he grew to love. Would the war ever end? Would the Polish people know peace in Warsaw? And what would happen to Roman and his family – to Elzbieta and her family?

The Warsaw Orphan is another spectacular historical fiction novel from Aussie author Kelly Rimmer which I loved. Emotional, poignant, heartbreaking and hopeful – life was harsh in the war years with first the Germans, then the Soviets taking the independence from the Polish people. They suffered terribly – The Warsaw Orphan shows the reader all the emotions of the time – and with a filling of hope along the way. Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

The story of suffering and abuse left me disturbed and sad. But it is important that we never forget.

I have read some of Kelly's other novels (The Things We Cannot Say is one of my favouite books of all), so I was really keen to read her latest work. I finished The Warsaw Orphan in a matter of days, and whilst it isn't my favourite of hers, I thought it was a very well told and well researched story with a cast of great characters.
The descriptions of Warsaw and the ghetto settings were given in great detail, and it transports the reader into the story. Kelly does a great job of that.
The characters are so resilient and have to face so much heartache, including almost starving, losing their homes and jobs, and even giving up loved ones in the hope that they can be given a better life.
I liked the relationship between the two main characters - Roman and Elzbieta.; both of them sacrifice lot and yet they remain positive that life will improve. They both have to endure so much and their determination to overcome the horrors of the war is admirable.
If you're a fan of historical novels, and in particular, wartime novels, then this is definitely the book for you!

A remarkable story set in Poland 1942, in the midst of WW11. It follows the story of two young Warsaw Orphans who take on the world and fight for what they believe in.

Living in Warsaw, young Elżbieta Rabinek makes a shocking discovery of what is really happening on the other side of the wall. Setting in foot in the rundown area of the Jewish Ghetto, Elzbietz puts herself into a world of deception and heroism and risks her own life to save the lives of Jews.

Elzbietz meets the Gorka Family, whose newborn baby must be given up for adoption or slowly watch her die from starvation.
Having to give up his baby sister, Romans feelings stirs up and he fights for against the injustice behaviour of the Germans.

Can they both, Elzbietz and Roman fight for what they believe in, stay protected and not get caught. Or is everything that they do isn't enough for their world and their people?

I was immersed in the setting of the book, Kelly was able to bring me straight into Warsaw and the Jewish Ghetto. The abundance of research and emotional content that has gone into this book really shows, as I felt like I was seeing through the characters eyes.

The characters were lifelike and believable, and although I couldn't relate to them I felt what they felt.

I thoroughly love reading this novel and I'll be definitely going back and reading her other works.

Thank you to Netgalley, Hachette Australia and Kelly Rimmer.

Book is out 28th April 2021