History, Books & Wine Podcast
August 25, 2026
I’m excited to be joined on the show today by guest author, Judy Batalion. On this episode we’re going to talk about her new book, The Last Woman of Warsaw, following two very different Jewish women in Warsaw in the late 1930s as they unexpectedly come together in their search for love, meaning, and a sense of home, and as they grapple with the storm clouds gathering around them.
Read MoreTo Be Continued Podcast
August 10, 2026
New York Times bestselling author Judy Batalion grew up in a house in Montreal that was filled to the brim: her mother and grandmother had suffered from compulsive hoarding. It could in part be attributed to years they spent as nomads, fleeing from the impact of the Holocaust.
Read MoreTC Jewfolk
July 29, 2026
Judy Batalion, who is also the author of White Walls: A Memoir About Motherhood, Daughterhood And The Mess In Between, is a winner of a National Jewish Book Award and a Canadian Jewish Literary Award for The Light Of Days. The Last Woman Of Warsaw is set in 1938, a period of increasing danger for the Jewish population (and others), but also one of thriving music, fashion and creativity.
Read MoreZibby’s Highlights
July 27, 2026
Here are the fall books I’m most excited about. Read with me!
Taking Care of Yourself – and Others
Chloe Melas & Judy Batalion, The Girl’s Guide to Guts (11/10)
Read MoreHistorical Novel Society
July 1, 2026
[Judy] Batalion points out: “People generally think of pre-war Polish Jewry as a religious and traditional community; Warsaw, Poland’s capital, evokes images of black-and-white destruction. In 1938, however, Warsaw hosted theatres, cabaret, nightclubs with revolving dancefloors, and fashion shows – it was ‘the Paris of the North.’ One-third of the population was Jewish, and shared in a golden age of poetry, film, comedy, and literature.”
Read MoreTotally Booked with Zibby
June 10, 2026
NYT bestselling author Judy Batalion shares a compelling pre-WWII story of a family in a changing city, in The Last Woman of Warsaw. (The more things change…)
Read MoreNHPR
May 1, 2026
Check This Out features author and host Rachel Barenbaum in conversation with up-and-coming authors you may not have discovered yet.
"The Last Woman of Warsaw" is the debut novel by the author of "The Light of Days." It follows two very different Jewish women in Warsaw in the late 1930s.
Read MoreCBS Books
May 8, 2026
May is Canadian Jewish Heritage Month. To celebrate, here's a reading list of books by Jewish Canadians.
From nonfiction to poetry and even a picture book, these stories highlight Jewish Canadian voices.
Read MoreHistorical Novel Society
May 1, 2026
“The characters feel real. Their aspirations, fears, and confusion are believable and understandable. This is an excellent reminder that not all Holocaust survivors were victims. Highly recommended.”
Kveller
April 29, 2026
A kosher wine needlepoint kit, lucky mah jongg socks, a new Israeli cookbook and more.
Read MoreThe Christian Science Monitor
April 17, 2026
These are the fiction titles our reviewers liked best this month.
Read MoreIn The Spotlight with Abigail Pogrebin
April 14, 2026
New York Times bestselling author Judy Batalion discusses her debut novel The Last Woman of Warsaw, following two Jewish women in 1930s Warsaw as they search for love, meaning and home amid the growing threat around them.
Read MoreThe Suburban
April 14, 2026
“Have you heard about the attacks on Jewish students?” Not at McGill, Concordia, or Columbia Universities, but in 1938 Poland, the setting of Judy Batalion’s debut novel, The Last Woman of Warsaw. The line is spoken by a character after a police raid on a café where a Jewish comedy duo had been performing, in a novel rich in history but tense with foreboding on almost every page.
Read MoreThe Times of Israel
April 14, 2026
“Vladka’s story stood out — not merely for its drama and her tremendous courage — but for how it was written. She provided context, developed characters, and included details. I was entirely drawn into her tragic and compelling world.” —Judy Batalion
Read MoreThe Canadian Jewish News
April 13, 2026
But more than anything, The Last Woman of Warsaw is both an elegy for and a celebration of the largely forgotten world of Jewish feminism in Poland, once rich with opportunity and a vibrant Jewish female culture.
Read MoreNBC News Now
April 13, 2026
Judy Batalion discusses her debut novel, The Last Woman of Warsaw, set in the vibrant capital of Poland in the 1930s. It is about an unlikely and powerful friendship between two young women during the years leading up to Germany’s invasion.
Read MoreReadworthy by BookBub
April 13, 2026
Pam Jenoff recommends this ‘powerhouse’ novel set in 1930s Poland
Read MoreThe Forward
April 9, 2026
Don’t be misled by the title of this debut novel by Judy Batalion, nor by her previous book, The Light of Days, about the role of Polish-Jewish women in the anti-Nazi resistance.
Read MoreLilith
By Judy Batalion
April 7, 2026
Just weeks after submitting my laboriously-conceived dissertation on women’s collaborative art stemming from California in the 1970s, I stumbled on my next obsession and a new understanding of feminist history–one that would take me back to pre-war Poland.
Read MoreRead Her Like An Open Book
April 7, 2026
Q. As a memoirist, essay writer and the author of your New York Times bestseller, The Lights of Days, what inspired you to turn to fiction?
Read More