Author event! Lisa Barr with Zibby Owens

We're hosting Lisa Barr as she celebrates the launch of THE GODDESS OF WARSAW! Lisa will be joined in conversation by our very own Zibby Owens!

About the book:

From the New York Times bestselling author of Woman on Fire, the harrowing and ultimately triumphant tale of a Jewish WWII assassin turned Hollywood star ...

is an enthralling tale of a legendary Hollywood screen goddess with a dark secret about her life in the Warsaw Ghetto. When the famous actress is threatened by someone from her past, she must put her skills into play to protect herself, her illustrious career, and those she loves, then and now.

Los Angeles, 2005. Sienna Hayes, Hollywood’s latest It Girl, has ambitions to work behind the camera. When she meets Lena Browning, the enormously mysterious and famous Golden Age movie star, Sienna sees her big break. She wants to direct a picture about Lena’s life—but the legendary actor’s murky past turns out to be even darker than Sienna dreamed. Before she was a Living Legend, Lena Browning was Bina Blonski, a Polish Jew whose life and family were destroyed by the Nazis.

Warsaw, 1943. A member of the city’s Jewish elite, Bina Blonski and her husband, Jakub, are imprisoned in the ghastly, cramped ghetto along with the rest of Warsaw’s surviving Jews. Determined to fight back against the brutal Nazis, the beautiful, blonde Aryan-looking Bina becomes a spy, gaining information and stealing weapons outside the ghetto to protect her fellow Jews. But her dangerous circumstances grow complicated when she falls in love with Aleksander, an ally in resistance—and Jakub’s brother. While Lena accomplishes amazing feats of bravery, she sacrifices much in the process.

Over a decade after escaping the horrors of the ghetto, Bina, now known as Lena, rises to fame in Hollywood. Yet she cannot help but be reminded of her old life and hungers for revenge against the Nazis who escaped justice after the war. Her power and fame as a movie star offer Lena the chance to right the past’s wrongs . . . and perhaps even find the happy ending she never had.

A gripping page-turner of one of history’s most heroic uprisings and an 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.

Advanced Praise for THE GODDESS OF WARSAW

“Utterly gripping, THE GODDESS OF WARSAW is a transformative and immersive story so powerful and captivating that I could not put it down. Rarely does a protagonist leap off the page and win over the heart like the unforgettable Bina Blonski. Truly one of the best books I’ve read.”

--Liv Constantine, bestselling author of THE LAST MRS. PARRISH

“Lisa Barr’s The Goddess of Warsaw is a riveting, heart-wrenching story of survival and vengeance. This brilliantly executed excavation of one woman’s quest to overcome crimes of the past is an absolute must-read. Glamorous, glorious, and gut-wrenching, I couldn’t put it down.”

Danielle Trussoni, NYT bestselling author of ANGELOLOGY and THE PUZZLE MASTER

“Lisa Barr's new historical fiction, The Goddess of Warsaw, gifts the reader with jaw-dropping moments worthy of a Tarantino film, a story that could not be more timely, and a heroine whose ferocity and valor know no bounds. Bina Blonski is forced to lose and remake her identity time and time again, both to survive the Warsaw Ghetto and to carry out her secret mission years later as a Hollywood actress. Unrelentingly immersive and suspenseful to the very end, The Goddess of Warsaw spins a haunting tale of the cost of survival, sacrifice, and the long-denied secrets of the past.”

– Natalie Jenner, international bestselling author of The Jane Austen Society

"Lisa Barr has done it again! With her signature prose and compelling storytelling, she has crafted another gripping novel about survival and courage. Fast-paced, thrilling, shocking, and heart-breaking, The Goddess of Warsaw is a tribute to women everywhere and to those who refuse to be silenced when faced with atrocities." - Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, internationally bestselling author of The Mountains Sing and Dust Child

"Utterly spellbinding and wholly unputdownable, Lisa Barr's latest historical fiction, THE GODDESS OF WARSAW, is a dazzling tour de force that grabbed me from the first line and wouldn't let me go until I raced through its final, pulse-pounding pages. Barr has crafted not only a heart-wrenching yet soul-affirming portrait of a woman who survived the Warsaw Ghetto and reimagined herself as a Hollywood star, she's crafted that elusive thing: an honest to god TRUE femme fatale who I cannot stop thinking about. Literary magic!"

--May Cobb, author of THE HUNTING WIVES

About the authors:

Lisa Barr is the New York Times bestselling author of WOMAN ON FIRE, THE UNBREAKABLES and the award-winning FUGITIVE COLORS. Her new historical thriller, THE GODDESS OF WARSAW debuts on May 28th, 2024. In addition, Lisa served as an editor for The Jerusalem Post, managing editor of Today's Chicago Woman, managing editor of Moment magazine, and as an editor/reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times. Among the highlights of her career, Lisa covered the famous “handshake” between the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, the late PLO leader Yasser Arafat, and President Bill Clinton at the White House. Lisa has been featured on Good Morning America and Today for her work as an author, journalist, and blogger. In exciting book news: Actress Sharon Stone has optioned rights to adapt WOMAN ON FIRE for film.

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