The Warsaw Sisters
A Novel of WWII Poland
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About
A richly rendered portrait of courage, sacrifice, and resilience
On a golden August morning in 1939, sisters Antonina and Helena Dąbrowska send their father off to defend Poland against the looming threat of German invasion. The next day, the first bombs fall on Warsaw, decimating their beloved city and shattering the world of their youth.
When Antonina's beloved Marek is forced behind ghetto walls, along with the rest of Warsaw's Jewish population, Antonina knows she cannot stand by and soon becomes a key figure in a daring network of women risking their lives to shelter Jewish children. Meanwhile, Helena finds herself drawn into the ranks of Poland's secret army, joining the fight to free her homeland from occupation.
But the secrets both are forced to keep threaten to tear them apart--and the cost of resistance may prove greater than either ever imagined.
"Heart-wrenching and powerful. The Warsaw Sisters left me reeling but in a good and necessary way. Truly an exceptional work."--Sarah Sundin, bestselling and Christy Award-winning author of The Sound of Light and Until Leaves Fall in Paris
"A story not to be forgotten. The Warsaw Sisters is a wide-eyed, unflinching look at the heartbreaking plight of a people grasping courage even when they can't find hope."--Jocelyn Green, Christy Award-winning author of The Metropolitan Affair
Endorsements
"Heart-wrenching and powerful. The Warsaw Sisters left me reeling but in a good and necessary way. Amanda Barratt shines an uncompromising light on the devastation and cruelty of life in occupied Poland--a light that needs to be shined, because through Antonina and Helena, we see. We understand. We feel. Elegant prose, thorough research, and intriguing characters thread throughout this outstanding novel. Truly an exceptional work."
Sarah Sundin, bestselling and Christy Award-winning author of The Sound of Light and Until Leaves Fall in Paris
"With her signature attention to detail and commitment to historical integrity, Amanda Barratt gives us a story not to be forgotten. When two sisters choose their own paths of resistance under German occupation, both are irrevocably changed. The Warsaw Sisters is a wide-eyed, unflinching look at the heartbreaking plight of a people grasping courage even when they can't find hope. For fans of Martha Hall Kelly and Amy Harmon."
Jocelyn Green, Christy Award-winning author of The Metropolitan Affair
"In The Warsaw Sisters, Amanda Barratt has created a suspenseful and deeply emotional journey through the perils of the Polish resistance during WWII. Readers will be kept up turning pages as these sisters fight for their cause and try valiantly to protect the ones they love. But it is the relationship between Helena and Antonina that readers will remember long after the last page. I highly recommend this evocative novel of thrilling escapes, desperate heroism, and the courage it takes to choose hope in a time of turmoil."
Amy Lynn Green, author of The Blackout Book Club
"Amanda Barratt honors the victims of horrific brutality during Poland's Holocaust by sharing a glimpse of their stories. Twin sisters battle against the evil that permeates their beautiful city in The Warsaw Sisters, a tragic and poignant reminder of the cruelty of war, the courage of the Polish Resistance, and the immeasurable cost of freedom."
Melanie Dobson, award-winning author of Catching the Wind and Memories of Glass
"The Warsaw Sisters is a profound and deeply researched novel that deftly exhumes themes of hope, resistance, and the familial bonds that withstand the most harrowing of circumstances. Barratt is one of the most exceptionally talented writers of historical fiction I have ever read, and this recent offering proves she's at the height of the game. Certain to enthrall readers of Patti Callahan Henry and Mario Escobar, The Warsaw Sisters is a story whose pages I foresee turning again and again."
Rachel McMillan, author of The Mozart Code and Operation Scarlet
The Author
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Emerson Kloostra Amanda Barratt
Amanda Barratt is the bestselling author of numerous historical novels and novellas, including The White Rose Resists (a 2021 Christy Award winner) and Within These Walls of Sorrow. She is passionate about illuminating oft-forgotten facets of...
Continue reading about Amanda Barratt
Reviews
"Barratt is a superb researcher, making readers feel as if they are living in World War II Poland fighting for freedom, for life, and for love of family. This is a hard but important read that will tug on heartstrings."
Library Journal starred review
"Captivating, heartbreaking, and beautifully necessary."
Booklist starred review