The Last Woman of Warsaw - two young women form an unlikely friendship in pre-WWII Poland.

After World War I, Poland had gained its independence, and prospects appeared promising. Women had the right to vote, and the country was ethnically diverse. Although most people were poor, Warsaw was a vibrant city filled with arts and culture. However, as right-wing nationalism and Nazi ideology spread, everything started changing, particularly affecting Poland's Jewish community. In 1938, Fanny Zelshinsky, raised in an affluent household, was preparing to get married. She was studying French at the University but found her greatest joy in photography. Fanny hoped her professor, Wanda Petrovsky, would approve her request to change her major. Wanda was also a leader in a Zionist Youth Movement, serving as a mentor to Zosia Tarnovsky, who was hoping to secure a highly sought-after visa to travel to British Palestine. When it becomes evident that Wanda is missing, the two twenty-year-old Jewish women from very different backgrounds band together to find out what happened to her. 

Judy Batalion, the author of The Light of Days, a nonfiction account of women resistance fighters in the Polish ghettos, has written her first novel, The Last Woman of Warsaw. In this book, Batalion provides a realistic depiction of life in Warsaw just as the world was about to turn upside down. Fanny seems to have all the advantages a young woman could ask for, while Zosia, from a poor religious home, selflessly dedicates herself to the establishment of a Jewish homeland. Their unlikely friendship becomes a source of strength for both of them. Set before the onset of the war, the story provides a fascinating window into life in Warsaw as antisemitism started bubbling up to the surface. If you seek historical fiction from this period, be sure to check out this engaging book.

Many thanks to Dutton for the advance.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Historical Fiction.

Publication Date: April 7, 2026.

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