While Gosia Nealon is a proud New Yorker, she was born and raised in Poland. Her journey to the Big Apple revealed a wealth of cultural differences, but also the values that connect us all. Like the fierce desire to protect family, find love, and ultimately, discover who we are and why we're here.
Gosia's award-winning short stories have always delved into life's biggest questions, but it was the drama, sacrifice, and tragedy of WWII that led her to pen her debut novel.
Growing up in Poland, Gosia heard many firsthand accounts of the war, told from a perspective rarely captured in mainstream literature. She was compelled to breathe life into Wanda and Finn, two young people falling in love in the midst of the most terrifying conflict of our time.
When Gosia isn't tapping away at her laptop, she's often walking the streets of New York. With her husband and three young sons in tow, they search for the most succulent pierogi, transporting them back to the cobbled streets of her childhood.
Awards and recognitions:
Gold Medal winner in the 2022 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY) for Europe-Best Regional Fiction.
Award winner in the Genre Short Story category in the 89th Annual Writer's Digest Writing Competition.
Gosia's debut novel, The Last Sketch, was named one of the best New Historical Fiction books by BookAuthority.
Published Works:
The Codebreaker Girl
Inspired by true stories of courageous mathematicians who first cracked the top-secret Enigma code, this heartbreaking World War 2 historical novel explores the incredible bravery of ordinary people in the darkest of days.
After graduating as the first and only woman on her university course, orphan Beata is set on joining the Cipher Bureau. She's determined to help saving her country from invasion by cracking the Enigma code. But, as gunfire rings across the rooftops of her hometown and Nazi boots sound on the cobblestones, Beata and her team are forced to work in secret.
Meeting with underground British intelligence, Beata catches the bright, sparkling eyes of one of the agents, Harry. His excitement about Enigma and how vital it is for all their futures makes her more determined than ever to do what's right. But with the war destroying everything she holds dear and tearing them in different directions, their only hope is to reunite at the home of British codebreakers: Bletchley Park.
Carrying the final key to the Enigma code, and with the Nazis close on her tail, can Beata keep the secrets she holds safe and turn the tide of the war? And will she ever see Harry again?
Published by Bookouture, 2024.
Daughter of the Resistance
Poland, 1944
When war broke out, Julia's father, a high-ranking Polish Officer, took her from Warsaw to keep her safe. Now her father is missing in action, Julia has returned home to find him and fight for the resistance—but the city is more dangerous than she ever thought it could be.
When she is trapped in the ghetto, Nazis shoving people into the streets all around her, Julia can only watch in horror as her dearest friend is dragged away. It seems she is about to suffer the same awful fate, until her childhood sweetheart, Nikolaj, appears in enemy uniform and stops the guards with one word.
Surely the boy Julia remembers would never side with the Germans? In the safety of his private room, he explains he is a resistance spy within the ranks of Nazi officers. But the longer he keeps her in the barracks, surrounded by his soldiers, the more Julia grows uneasy about the man she once knew…
Half-Jewish and with her father a wanted man, how safe can she be behind enemy lines? And, not knowing who to trust, will she ever be able to reunite with her captured friend, and her beloved father—or will the war tear them apart forever?
This book was previously published as The Polish Daughter.
Published by Bookouture, 2023.
The Resistance Wife
Poland, 1939
When Anna is approached by the Polish resistance while sheltering in Warsaw, she is eager for the chance to fight against German occupation. Managing a network of spies behind the façade of a café for enemy soldiers will mean risking everything. But, after fleeing her fanatical Nazi husband only for war to follow close behind, Anna can't run any more.
Every conversation she overhears between the unsuspecting officers at the café brings back awful memories of the Nazi her husband became and makes her more determined to do what is right. Spending more time with the resistance behind the scenes, she grows close to them all—especially a brilliant young doctor with deep hazel eyes called Mateusz, who shows her a kindness she has never known.
As they work together, Anna can't help imagining what life would be like with him, instead of the man she is tied to. But one day her dreams of a future with Mateusz, and freedom for her country, are shattered. Her husband has tracked her down.
Terrified, Anna knows that living as his wife again is her chance to gather information that could help end the war. But can she keep her nerve long enough to spy on her own husband? And with such a high-ranking enemy officer watching her every move, can she protect Mateusz, the man truly she loves, from the firing line?
This book was previously published as The Polish Wife.
Published by Bookouture, 2023.
Her Secret Resistance
Poland, 1944
Devasted by the loss of her beloved father, twenty-three-year-old Wanda vows to follow in his footsteps and join the resistance against the German occupiers. Her father lost his life protecting innocent people from Nazi cruelty—she will risk her life too.
Under the cover of shadows, Wanda slips down cobbled streets and past spired buildings to meet an informant who could provide crucial supplies for their fight. But the sight of the man waiting turns Wanda's blood to ice. She instantly recognises him as the soldier who killed her father.
Who is this man: Nazi soldier, or double agent? Why did he kill her father—could her Tata be a traitor? If Wanda chooses to trust the man who destroyed her family, will she put the whole resistance network in danger—or is this her chance to save hundreds of innocent lives?
This book was previously published as The Polish Girl and The Last Sketch.