"This captivating novel is exactly what has been missing from so much 'Holocaust fiction.' Batalion gives these extraordinary women back their lives--and not just lives, but the full and profound and contradictory and vibrant worlds they worked so hard to build. I loved these brilliant women and it was amazing to be invited into the world they created.”—Dara Horn, author of People Love Dead Jews

THE LAST WOMAN OF WARSAW is the powerful debut novel from Judy Batalion, critically acclaimed author of the New York Times bestseller The Light of Days (optioned by Steven Spielberg) and several other nonfiction books. While working on The Light of Days, which tells the stories of Jewish teenage girls who fought the Nazis from the ghettos in Poland, Judy became obsessed with the cosmopolitan society that had created these dynamic young women.

As she dug into her research, she learned that 1930s Warsaw was a sophisticated cultural hub at a progressive moment for women—the city overflowed with theaters, vaudeville, cabaret, nightclubs, and fashion shows. The seed was planted.

1938: Fanny Zelshinsky is a sophisticated, modern daughter of the city’s Jewish elite who wants nothing more than to be recognized as a legitimate artist by her family, her radical professor whom she idolizes, and the world at large. And all while she wonders if she is really going to go through with her wedding.

Meanwhile, Zosia Dror has left behind her small northeastern shtetl and religious family in the wake of violence. Part of a budding youth movement that believes in social equality and creating a Jewish homeland, all she wants is to not get distracted by the glitz and hubbub of the city—or by the keen eyes of a certain tall, handsome comrade.

When legendary artist Wanda Petrovsky—both a member of Zosia’s movement leadership and Fanny’s beloved photography professor—goes missing, the two young women are thrown together in the pursuit of the elusive firebrand. Is Wanda simply hiding, or is her disappearance connected to the rise in antisemitic laws and university practices? Fanny and Zosia may be the most unlikely of allies, but they must bridge their differences to help someone they both care for—and dodge the danger mounting around them in the process.

Perfect for readers of Kristin Hannah, Kate Quinn, Ariel Lawhon, and Marie Benedict, THE LAST WOMAN OF WARSAW is Batalion’s ode not to the lives lost, but to the vibrant lives lived.

Judy Batalion is the author of several books of award-winning nonfiction, most recently the New York Times bestseller The Light of Days, which won a National Jewish Book Award. Judy's work has appeared in New York Times, the Washington Post, Vogue, the Forward, Salon, the Jerusalem Post, and many other publications.

In partnership with Writers Bloc