By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

Readers might be excused for wondering if recently published thrillers about World War II could possibly offer anything new. After all, numerous thrillers are published every year: can there really be anything different to write about? Fortunately, the answer is yes. Two new novels – “The Goddess of Warsaw” by Lisa Barr (Harper) and “Shanghai” by Joseph Kanon (Scribner) – not only offer interesting food for thought about the ways their characters survive, but absorbing suspenseful stories. 

Barr’s thriller is simply amazing: its plot is filled with suspense and numerous surprises, in addition to offering an extremely moving portrait of a fascinating woman. The prologue gives a clue that something different is in the offing: In 2008, Golden Age movie star Lena Browning is approached by Hollywood’s latest success, Sienna Hayes, who wants to make a film about Lena’s life. Lena is interested, but she wants someone who’ll tell the full story: that Lena Browning was once Jewish Bina Blonski, a woman who survived the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto. Bina had one advantage over most of the Jews forced into the ghetto: she could pass for Aryan. 

This ability to pass leads to a double life, one that allows her to move in and out of the ghetto in order to deliver weapons for the uprising, which few expect to survive. Her most heartbreaking adventure – which was based on real events – will rip apart readers’ hearts. But it is Bina’s determination to do whatever is necessary – no matter how difficult or horrific – that makes her an incredible character. Since readers meet Lena (Bina) in 2008, it doesn’t spoil anything to say she survived the uprising, but her rise in Hollywood also makes for great reading, as does her refusal to leave the past behind. While readers may question her actions, she sees herself as an avenger, something that becomes clear as the pages of this work quickly turn.

While Bina remained in Europe during the war, Daniel Lohr, the main character in “Shanghai,” managed to escape Europe in 1938 with the help of his Uncle Nathan, who owned a jazz club in Shanghai. Daniel feared for his life because he was part of a political group opposed to the Nazis and some members had already been arrested. Life for most refugees was not easy – people were allowed to take very little with them; many arrived in Shanghai penniless – and vice thrived. Nathan was looking to expand his empire, but had to balance a variety of other people’s interests, including those of Chinese gangs and Japanese officials, all of whom were on the take. 

Daniel, who has never worked with the underworld before, begins to help his uncle but finds that life is far more dangerous than expected, especially when politics come into play. Although, technically, the Chinese still ruled Shanghai, the Japanese were the real rulers and their alliance with Nazi Germany made them dangerous. All that saved the Jews living there was the Japanese belief in the Nazi propaganda that said Jews control the United States, with whom they are not yet ready to go to war. But Daniel finds himself facing moral dilemmas: Is he willing to kill for profit, which he feels will make him no better than the Nazis, or will he act on his principles to fight for what he believes is right? The novel offers some excellent twists and turns as Daniel decides his course of action. 

What made reading “The Goddess of Warsaw” and “Shanghai” together so wonderful was the opportunity to explore the paths the characters took in order to survive. Both works question whether self-preservation or fighting against evil should be the characters’ motivating factor. Bina/Lena was willing to do questionable things in order to save lives and achieve justice, even after she found success in Hollywood. Yet, she was also willing to risk ruining her life for the same purpose. Daniel, who put his life in danger for a cause in Europe, found himself helping his uncle by performing actions that did not always fit his image of himself. Torn between his righteous father, who died at the hands of the Nazis, and his uncle, who often skirted the law, he must decide which path to take. Book clubs interested in moral dilemmas should find reading these two works together will make for an absorbing and interesting discussion.