The Woman with the Blue Star: A Novel

I was entranced by the story. It kept my interest all the way through. I look forward to reading more from this author.

I liked this book bcs I have been to Karkow and Warsaw and saw monuments to the resistance fighters and stories of people that hid in the sewers. It’s beyond imagination. I did not like the ending , it seemed implausible that she would not have searched for Saul after the war.

Pam Jenoff writes amazing books about WWII from various perspectives and locations. This is truly thought provoking book based in Poland during the German control over the country. Jewish families were removed from their homes in Krakow and relocated to a controlled ghetto. From there they were rounded up and moved out of Krakow.The Gault family, papa, mama and daughter Sadie were helped to escape into the sewers that ran under the city . They were accompanied by a young family with 2 children and a religious family of 3. As they reluctantly climbed into the sewer they expected it to be an escape route to get away from the ghetto and out of the city.Their escape route was in fact a hiding place. Inspired by the true story of a small group of Jews who survived WWII in the sewers of Lviv, Poland, this is a story of survival against all odds. You won’t want to put it down.

Loved the characters and the story. Pam Jenoff is an extraordinary author. I love reading her books. They have a great impact on me.

Sadie Gault is an 18-year-old girl living in the Krakow ghetto with her parents, including her pregnant mother, when the Nazi liquidation of the ghetto begins, she and her parents disappear into the Krakow sewers for protection.Ella Stepanek is a well-to-do Polish girl doing anything she can to spend time away from her stepmother. In search of cherries for a pie, Ella finds herself in a small city alley. She happens to look down at a sewer grate and sees Sadie staring back at her. The two become friends when Ella helps sneak food to Sadie and the others hiding in the sewer.Due to Ella's stepmother collaborating with Nazi soldiers, Sadie's secret is discovered and they must find their way out of the sewer. When they escape the sewer, everyone's lives are changed.This was a wonderfully researched story based on Polish Jews who escaped to the sewers in order to evade capture by the Nazis. Pam Jenoff always respectfully represents history while telling a story designed to grab the reader's attention. This is a beautifully told story of friendship and resilience and what happens when one person steps forward and does the right thing.

I enjoyed the book until the end. I felt like the last part was rushed. The ending seemed out of character. Sadie was supposed to love Saul but didn’t bother to ask Krys to take her to him? Instead she just leaves with Krys to go to Warsaw and doesn’t look for Saul till years later? Krys was the one who made the arrangements to get them out. He knew where Saul and his father were supposed to be. It all made no sense to me. One minute Sadie couldn’t live without Saul and the next she just walks away. It was odd and our if character so bothered me. Also, there were many unanswered things such as where did they get their fuel to cook and stay warm? How did they walk all over the sewer and see with no lantern or flashlight. I know that historically some Jews did successfully hide in the sewer. However, these would have been good questions to answer.

I’ve read and enjoyed other books by this author, but this one missed the mark. For starters, the research was off. I know from reading accounts from survivors of the Krakow ghetto (one of which was Poldek Pfefferberg, a heavy contributor to Schindler’s List) that there was no way anyone was in the sewers in the final Krakow action, because that was HIS escape plan and he had to scrap it. Seems a bit lazy not to have researched that better, especially when there were so many Krakow survivors because of Oskar Schindler. Secondly, the characters were all annoying and unlikeable, making bad decisions and always being difficult. Sadie was supposed to be twenty and acted about twelve, constantly whining, arguing, and being as difficult as possible. *Spoilers* I would have put the book down for good when she started giving Ella a hard time about keeping her mother’s death a secret-meanwhile the woman risked her life to save her and they had to escape right away. Yes, that’s the perfect time to throw a tantrum about her keeping a secret from you. I’d about had it with these annoying, obnoxious characters but the book was about over. Then the final twist, which made zero logical sense and was just stupid. I mean, knowing her fiancé was out there, WHY would she take on someone else’s name and live as them? That makes no sense at all and the explanation for her doing that was just ridiculous. I guess anything to be difficult. Anyway, give this one a pass if you can. I read in the afterward that she was told by her editor to scrap the original book and write this one, and her heart clearly wasn’t in it. Rife with stereotypes (seriously, the wicked stepmother)? Historically inaccurate, contrived predictable melodramatic doomed love affairs…I’m glad it only took one day to read it.

Loved this book, what an end!? A different perspective on a favorite subject that keeps you very intrigued. Fun characters.

Enjoyed this tremendously

This book is full of fear, happiness, sadness, ruthless, bravery, sorrow, funny, love filth, dirt and grime and every page takes you to that moment and you feel every bit of what Sadie and Ella feel. I loved it x

The media could not be loaded. Considering that the book’s finish is rough, I feel that I have paid far more. It’s pages are not cut neatly and it looks like a shoddy binding work. Pity, that such a good piece of writing should be made to look so rough. The packaging was also hurried- the book was put in a paper bag and shipped.

Absolutely loved this book, couldn’t put it down. Fantastic twist at the end I did not see coming. Can’t wait for Pam’s next book!

Really enjoyed this book, hard to put it down. A different approach to the horrors of being a Jew during WW2 and finding a very different way to survive. Of course not everyone did! A real page turner,if I enjoy books on WW2 and survival of Jews at any cost then I highly recommend this book