Nineteen-year-old Sadie Gault is living with her parents in the Jewish quarter in Krakow, Poland in 1942. When the Germans come to round up the Jews, the Gaults and another family, the Rosenburgs, escape down into the sewers under the city. While they are being led through the tunnels, Sadie and her pregnant mother, Danuta, watch in horror as Mr. Gault falls into the water and gets carried away in the current. The living arrangements in the sewer chamber for Sadie, her mother, and the Rosenbergs are only supposed to be temporary. However, the two families end up living there for months after Pawel, the sewer worker who led them there, is arrested by the Polish police. After Pawel’s arrest, the two families have to figure out how they will get food and supplies without his help. In the meantime, Sadie and Saul Rosenberg, the Rosenbergs’ son, begin a relationship when they start reading books together.
While Gaults and Rosenbergs are trying to survive underneath Krakow, nineteen-year-old Ella Stepanek is stuck living with her Austrian stepmother, Anna, in another part of the city. Her father has died fighting in the Polish army and has left everything to Anna. Much to Ella’s dismay, Anna is entertaining and consorting with Nazi soldiers right in their home. One day, Anna sends Ella to the market, and Ella notices Sadie looking up at her through a sewer vent. Ella and Sadie become friends, and Ella, with the help of her boyfriend, Krys, who is part of the Resistance, try to provide food for the sewer families.
More complications for the Gaults and Rosenbergs begin after Danuta gives birth to her daughter. Afraid that the baby’s cries will give away the families’ location, Danuta leaves the sewer to take the baby to a hospital and never returns. The two families continue to have to make decisions that will affect their survival during the war.
The Woman with the Blue Star takes place in Krakow, Poland, both above and below ground. It is told in alternating chapters in first-person by Sadie and Ella. Other parts of the story are filled in by Pawel and Lucy, Sadie’s sister, when they finally meet years later.
Pam Jenoff is a masterful world-builder. Her descriptions of life in the sewers are horrifying and based on events that actually happened. Readers will feel they are smelling the foul, stagnant water and hearing the nasty rats scurrying in the dark. In addition, the depiction of life in Krakow during the war shows how the city was affected and how Jews were treated during this time.
The book shows both the good and bad of the human race during World War II. Although they are from different walks of life, Sadie and Ella make a real connection and quickly become good friends. Both girls have to reach down deep and find their inner strength to help others. This fervent story is one of hope, survival, struggles, friendship, loss, and family.
Hand this book to readers who enjoy reading fiction stories about World War II and those who like tales of survival and adversity. Although it is written for adults, it would be a good young adult crossover novel, as teens would also enjoy it. I recommend it for high school and public libraries and give it four out of five fleur de lis!
Thank you to NetGalley, Park Row Books, and Harlequin for allowing me to read and review this novel.
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