The Warsaw Sisters by Amanda Barratt

The Warsaw Sisters by Amanda Barratt
Series: Stand Alone Novel
Publisher: Revell (November 3, 2023)

REVIEW BY KELLY GOSHORN

Amanda Barratt’s The Warsaw Sisters is a captivating stand-alone novel that takes readers on a poignant journey through the travails of war-torn Warsaw. The story follows the lives of twin sisters, Antonina and Helena Dąbrowska, as they navigate the horrors of the Nazi occupation and the challenges of survival and resistance.

As the story begins, Antonina and Helena’s father leaves to defend Poland against the impending German invasion. He pleads with his daughters to care for one another in his absence. Within days of his departure, the first bombs fall on Warsaw, decimating their beloved city and shattering their innocence.

When the musician Antonina loves is forcibly removed to the newly established Jewish district of Warsaw, she is appalled at the squalor of their living conditions. She becomes determined to help the family survive by smuggling in food. As the Nazi’s begin deporting Warsaw’s Jews to Treblinka, Antonina assists with a clandestine operation to smuggle Jewish children out of the ghetto. In order to protect, Helena, she finds her own apartment and the sisters separate.

Shocked that Antonina would ignore their father’s plea to protect one another, Helena seeks a roommate to make ends meet. Unbeknownst to Helena, her new flatmate is part of the Polish resistance. Before long, Helena herself joins the underground movement and risks her life shuttling intelligence information between different cells within Warsaw’s resistance forces.

Barratt’s vivid and evocative prose brings the setting to life, immersing readers in the rich historical details of occupied Warsaw and the struggles faced by her inhabitants. Indeed, Warsaw herself becomes the third protagonist in the story as the reader can’t help but ache over the destruction of this beautiful city and simultaneously rejoice at her strength and resilience in the face of such devastating adversity.

Although The Warsaw Sisters is a powerful story of courage and hope amidst dire circumstances, it is by no means an easy read. Barratt doesn’t shy away from the brutality of the Nazi occupation (sieges, bombings, failed uprisings, and mass slaughter), nor the grim effect it has on Antonina and Helena’s faith. She handles the depravity of occupied Warsaw so carefully that her descriptions are detailed but never gratuitous. While I would have preferred the faith elements to be stronger, there were gems like this that spoke to my soul:

“For in the moments when it seemed no heart could bear such emptiness, I had learned God is nearest in our shattered places.”

~Amanda Barratt, The Warsaw Sisters

The Warsaw Sisters is a perfect example of why Amanda Barratt is an auto-buy author for me. Her characters are richly drawn, her settings leap off the page, and her research brings the real-life details of her novels to life. The Warsaw Sisters is a riveting tale of World War II Poland that will linger in the hearts and minds of readers long after the final page is turned.

I’m pleased to give The Warsaw Sisters four-and-a-half fish.

I listened to The Warsaw Sisters on Audible. I was very pleased with the narration and highly recommend it to audiobook fans. I also purchased a print copy for my bookshelf.