Review: Montreal author’s first novel depicts the rich cultural life of prewar Warsaw

The Canadian Jewish News
April 13, 2026

The Last Woman of Warsaw by Judy Batalion

Dutton, April 2026

“Home is an extension of self,” Fanny says, “filled with traces of you. You make it but it also makes you. It’s an endless reflection.”

“Home,” Zosia replies, looking her in the eyes, “is where you stop running away.”

This early exchange in Judy Batalion’s debut novel The Last Woman of Warsaw encapsulates not only the diverging worldviews of its protagonists, but different facets of prewar Jewish life in Warsaw, then a central hub for evolving ideas about Judaism, Jewish life, and the role of Jews in society. The novel is the awaited follow-up to the Montreal-born-and-raised author’s book The Light of Days, about Jewish women resistance fighters, which won a National Jewish Book Award and a Canadian Jewish Literary Award.