The Goddess of Warsaw

In the moving latest from Barr (Women on Fire), a Jewish woman survives the Warsaw ghetto to become a Hollywood legend. In 2005, 85-year-old Lena Browning, known for her mid-century femme fatale roles, is approached by young movie star Sienna Hayes, who wants to make a biopic of Lena’s life. She agrees to cooperate under the condition that the last segment of the film will be shot in real time with Lena playing herself. In a parallel narrative set in 1943, Lena, whose real name is Bina Blonski, lives in the ghetto with her husband, Jakub, and his brother, Aleksander. Once a celebrated actor and daughter of a prominent Jewish architect, Bina is now destitute and nearly starving, though that doesn’t stop her from joining Aleksander in his resistance activities. But when she uses her Aryan looks to charm and then assassinate the collaborator overseeing a ghetto sweatshop, the Nazis retaliate, sending Jakub to Treblinka. Bina suffers more loses and betrayals in the run-up to the ghetto’s dramatic uprising, which is memorably staged by Barr. The depictions of ghetto residents finding the strength to fight back are chillingly realistic, raising the novel’s emotional stakes to excruciating heights. Fans of WWII historical fiction won’t want to miss this. Agent: Stephanie Abou, Massie & McQuilkin. (May)