Lisa Barr's World War II-set historical fiction follows a Jewish resistance fighter and spy through the Warsaw Ghetto to her second act as a Hollywood movie star, linking the story's two timelines and revealing long-held secrets and mysteries.

Survival is about secrets, about extraordinary measures taken to stay alive. If you survived, it means others did not. The trauma of a second chance at life, a second act, is at once miraculous and unendurable.


In Lisa Barr's newest historical fiction, The Goddess of Warsaw, the author tells a story in two timelines.

In 1943 Warsaw, socialite Bina Blonski is imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto with her husband and thousands of her fellow Jewish citizens. She becomes a spy and begins to resist against the Nazis--but when she falls for another resistance fighter (her brother-in-law), things get even more complicated.

In 2005 Los Angeles, Sienna Hayes is a Hollywood actress looking to direct. When she meets Golden Age movie star Lena Browning, she becomes determined to make a documentary about Lena's life. But Lena is actually Bina--and her life has been far more complex than almost anyone knows.

Some moments felt overly dramatic--as with Bina's frequently explored obsession with her brother-in-law Aleksander (and her unwise diary entries concerning her passion for him), as well as when Bina immediately inserts herself into the resistance as a key player--but these elements paled against the intrigue of the story.

The details of World War II and of resistance to the Nazis are heartstopping, and I was hooked on each of the two timelines in this interconnected story. I loved that brave women that drive the novel in both timelines.

I received a prepublication edition of this title courtesy of Harper Perrenial and NetGalley.

5 stars! If you enjoy historical fiction, you need to read this book. Immediately, if not sooner. This book is heartbreaking and beautiful. Everything historical fiction novels should always be.

This gripping work of historical fiction focusing on the Warsaw Ghetto was literally unputdownable. My favorite book of the year!!

Bina/Lena is an amazing, intricate character full of courage, one I'll never forget. Plus, there's an absolutely top-notch plot.

I've become a Lisa Barr fan and have already picked up another of her books.

I cannot recommend this book enough. All of my family and friends who read are hearing about it from me.

I really enjoyed Lisa Barr's Woman on Fire and this is another good one. It would have been 5 stars, but the beginning of the book was a little slow and too easy to put down. I've read so many historical fiction books about WWII and the Holocaust and they all come from different angles and are set in different countries, but the stories are all equally horrifying. Bina Blonski led a privileged life in Poland before the Nazis destroyed her family and took everything from her. Banished to the Warsaw ghetto with hundreds of thousands of Jews in a ten-block radius, she is determined to be a fighter instead of succumbing to her fate. Bina is very useful to the resistance because she's blonde, beautiful, and can blend in perfectly on the Aryan side. She uses her deceiving appearance to get weapons and intel to help protect her friends and family. Her bravery and ingenuity turns her into a tremendous asset as a spy and an assassin. The story is told in two parts - Bina during the war and Bina 10 years later after she gets to freedom in America and transforms herself into a famous actress using the name Lena Browning. Lena achieves tremendous success as a Hollywood star, but a very unpleasant blast from her past surfaces to threaten everything she's achieved. Once again, she has to rely on the skills she acquired during the war to save everything that's important to her. The second half of the book is so good and really hard to put down. Lisa Barr's writing is excellent and I look forward to reading her next book. Thanks to #netgalley and #harpercollins for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Gripping. Face Paced. Emotional. Transformative. Poignant. Could not get enough!! Fans of historical fiction and strong female main characters will love this book!

The Goddess of Warsaw by Lisa Barr was a highly anticipated book on my TBR list and my goodness!! All hopes met and expectations exceeded!

This book drops readers into a meeting between Sienna Hayes - Hollywood's latest it girl - and Lena Browning - the breathtaking actor who paved the way for the likes of Sienna. Once introductions are made, The author allows Lena to tell her story of how she started as Bina Blonski - a Polish Jew whose life was turned upside down and inside out due to the Nazis.

Lena/Bina decided she would not accept a passive imprisonment in the Warsaw ghetto and began working with the resistance. The feats she undertakes, the missions she accomplishes, and the decisions she must make are enough to break anyone. Lisa Barr describes each scene with such detail and emotion that it is impossible to remain uninvested in the outcomes.

I found my heart nearly shattered when Lisa wrote of a specific scene involving Jewish girls and their fates. This scene was painfully poignant considering recent events and a reminder of how easily history and its most heinous acts can be repeated if we don't stand against it.

The journey that Lena took the readers on, traversing Bina's connections, risks, wins and losses, while in the ghetto and during her season of reinvention to become Lena Browning was hauntingly captivating. I desperately ached for the closure that the author provided while actively dreading the end of the novel the entire way.

Thank you, Lisa Barr, Netgalley and HarperCollins for this spectacular gem. Highly recommend!!

My favorite of Lisa Barr's novels to date. The Goddess Of Warsaw is above & beyond the usual historical fiction novel. It's a tension filled, emotional page turner from the get-go to the last page. I can't imagine what's coming next from Lisa, but I'll be there to read it.

Lisa Barr wrote Woman on Fire, and I absolutely loved it! This novel sounds so good.

From GR:
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.


I appreciate NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book. My review rating is based on the summary of this book.

Lena Browning, a legendary screen goddess, now in her eighties, has finally agreed to tell her story to a young director willing to all of her life's story. And it is quite a story. She grew up in Warsaw, Poland in the Jewish Ghetto and in a prominent wealthy family. When the Nazi's invaded, she was determined to fight back - however she could. As a beautiful young blonde, who looked Aryan, she decided would do what it took to save her neighbors, young girls, and those she loved from her country.

There is an intense story to be told, as most WWII stories are, but I was gripped in this story even knowing she made it out alive to later become a Hollywood star. Although the story of Lena is fictional, the author shares in her final note at the end of the book, much of what she put into this book was based on her research from the time and she considers this her most powerful work.

Highly recommend reading this book!

My thanks to Net Galley and Harper Paperbacks for an advanced copy of this e-book.

Unfortunately this book was not for me. I found out MC unlikable and DNF’d at 30%. I felt like the bloodlust was romanticized far too much and I just couldn’t keep reading it.

Absolutely a masterpiece! All the emotions with this one! I was literally reading parts through a storm of tears. The writing is exquisite and the reality of the history in this story is jarring. It is a must read, best of 2024 and should be required reading for high school seniors!

An enthralling WWII historical fiction read that weaves the atrocities of the Warsaw Ghetto with the tale of a Polish Jew, Bina Blonski who escapes Nazi horrors,, losing her family and those closest to her, but surviving to create a new life in Los Angeles as Hollywood's leading lady and femme fatale, Lena Brrowing in the 1950s and 60s. Flash forward to 2005, where a rising actress and director seeks out act the 85 year old Lena to star and direct her life's story,. To accomplish this, she will need to get to the core truth of Bina Blonski's life - the many horrific and impossible choices Bina/Lena had to make in order to save herself and those she loved. Barr is one of my favorite historical fiction authors for her detailed research and suspenseful stories that offer historical facts through a creative lens, keeping the reader turning the pages to the very end. There is an element of cathartic revenge in the story that for me wasn't quite as believable.but it works in pushing the reader to understand the awful choices that Holocaust survivors have had to endure to live fully in the present while honoring the memory of those that they lost - and, at the same time, making sure the generations that come after never ever forget. Highly recommend!

Warsaw 1943. Bina Blonski was a successful actress and the daughter of a wealthy Polish family. Although she was Jewish, her blonde hair and blue eyes enabled her to pass as an Aryan woman and become a part of the resistance. While imprisoned in the Jewish Ghetto by the Nazis, she became an accomplished spy and assassin.

Following the ghetto rebellion Bina escaped to the United States. There she assumes the name of Lena Browning and becomes a popular and famous actress. Still, she never forgets her past. Now she uses her fame and fortune to exact revenge on those who killed her family, her people and escaped justice.

A spellbinding story and a captivating tale. A page turner that you will not want to put down. Filled with action, suspense, heroism and sacrifice this is a story that has been waiting to be told and #LisaBarr is the right person to tell it. Put The Goddess of Warsaw on the top of your TBR list. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Special thank you to NetGalley, author Lisa anBarr and #HarperCollinsPublishhers for an Advanced Copy (ARC) of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. Publication date: May 28, 2024

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Where is the Author's Note?? I'm hoping that since I received an ARC that it just hadn't been put in yet, but I needed Barr to tell me how much of this story was based on fact! An absolutely unforgettable and compelling story that sucked me in right away with so many twists and turns and a realistic yet still satisying ending. I've seen The Goddess of Warsaw on just about every single "Best of" list for the past few months, and now having read it, I can confirm it is definitely deserving of a spot on every single one! A must-read for fans of historical fiction.

Lisa Barr pulls you into the gut-wrenching story of the Warsaw Ghetto and the Holocaust with her intricately developed characters and their stories of survival and resilience, as well as death, destruction and pure evil. Congratulations to Lisa on this masterful novel that I could not put down

I don't want to discount that there was still love during the Holocaust, but I felt this novel focused so heavily on sex and sexual encounters (in the character's mind) that I had a hard time keeping my self in the setting. This was the most sexual WWII fiction I have ever read, and it didn't serve a purpose. I don't think it was necessary to move the narrative forward. I wanted to like this; I want to promote Jewish authors and strong Jewish characters, but I'm sorry; I cannot with this one.

Wow! I've read so much WWII fiction that I didn't expect to be so blown away by this book. The story was something fresh, and the attention to research and detail was outstanding. My husband's family left Poland after the war and migrated to Australia. On a recent visit to Poland we went to the Warsaw Museum, and the stories about the resistance fighters and the Poles who tried to save their country was moving and heartbreaking. This same point is made in this fictional story, and it's one that I've been telling everyone to "read this book!" By the way, I actually didn't read it, but listened to the audiobook, and the narration was outstanding. Ten stars out of five!

The book starts when actress Lena Browing is approached by a young up=and=coming actress who wants to put Lena's story in a movie, starring herself. Lena has been approached before, but something about this young woman appeals to her and she agrees, as long as the young woman agrees to tell her real, and up to now unknown, story. Then we dive into the past, where Bina Blonski is a young affluent young Jewish woman who wants to be an actress, when her world is turned upside down by the invasion of Poland. Soon enough she finds herself living in the infamous Warsaw Ghetto, and eventually joins a resistance group of Jews within the walls of the ghetto.

Bina has an advantage that most of the people she is fighting with do not. As a blond, blue=eyed beautiful young woman, she looks more Aryan than the German soldiers who issue cruel orders. In the course of time she will use this to her advantage and become an assassin and spy. After the war she becomes a success in Hollywood, but she never loses her desire to revenge on those who killed her friends and family.

I absolutely loved this book, and even though it was long, I sped through it in about three days. A personal opinion, but I think as this generation who survived these atrocities die of old age, it's important that their stories do not die. I am alarmed by a young generation who seems to see only one side of current events, which are admittedly pretty horrific. But they seem to bring no sense of past history to the table and I find their rhetoric scary and alarming. Keeping these stories alive, even through fictional stories such as this, is very important.

I give this book five solid gold stars!

Thank you to NetGalley, Lisa Barr, and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest rev iew.

Wow!! This book is why I love historical fiction. It’s easy to burnout on WWII historical fiction with the market so saturated. I love when I find a new story with a different angle. I was absolutely fascinated and hooked til the end.

This is an enjoyable historical fiction story. Historical fiction is my favorite genre and I have read quite a few books set during the WWII period, but I enjoyed that The Goddess of Warsaw is told in a unique perspective and way. The main character Bina is strong and fierce as she faces heartbreaking choices and tragedy as a Jewish woman in the Warsaw Ghetto and years later as a Hollywood starlet whose life continues to be impacted by the Nazi's. I enjoyed the storytelling, but again especially how the main character is portrayed so bravely and with such courage. I highly recommend for my fellow booklovers of historical fiction, especially those that enjoy WWII stories.
Thank you, Net Galley, the publishers, the author for the advanced copy.

A riveting work of historical fiction which was hard to put down, the story revolves around Lena Browning, a successful actress, but an imposter. Lena is Bina Blonski, a Holocaust survivor who chose revenge for the horrific atrocities committed by the Nazis. When she meets Sienna, a young starlet, she realizes the time to tell her true story was important. It was hard to read many of the scenes in this book, but it is well written and truly absorbing, as well as tremendously disturbing. I highly recommend this work of historical fiction, a unique treatment of WWII. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I hate giving bad reviews but this could not be avoided. The premise to this book sounded fantastic but the execution was not there for me. The story follows Bina Blonski, who works as a spy in WWII and uses her Aryan looks to move things into the ghetto. It sounds great, right? But then every single thought of her is about how much she wants her brother-in-law that it’s distracting. I get it – he’s hot – but this was excessive. Every sentence is overly dramatic and not in a good way. DNF. Did not want to even try.