The Girl Who Rode the White Lion
by Yishay Ishi Ron, Yardenne Greenspan
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Description
Awards & Endorsements
Related Titles
| Publisher | Soncata Press |
| Publication | Jun 16, 2026 |
| Format | Paperback/Softback |
| ISBN | 979899931571700 |
| Pages | 272 |
| Age | 18 - 99 |
| Price | $19.99 |
The Girl Who Rode the White Lion
She escaped the Nazis on the back of a lion.
A hidden truth, a relentless pursuit, and a story history could not silence.
Germany, 1938. One night on the eve of war, as Nazis ravage Jewish homes and businesses, young Sarah Frank narrowly escapes the SS officer who has a deadly fascination with her family. Thrust into a fight for survival in a world turned unrecognizable, she finds refuge in a traveling circus. There, under the protection of lion trainer Adolf Frei and a makeshift family of performers, acrobats, and elephants, Sarah discovers a strength she never knew she possessed, even as the Nazi regime closes in. But as the terror intensifies, so does the obsession of the man she fled, setting in motion a deadly chase across a collapsing Germany.
New York City, 1957. A routine autopsy at the city zoo reveals a chilling artifact inside an elderly lion: a silver SS ring engraved with a skull. For chief veterinarian Mark Spencer, what begins as a curious discovery quickly spirals into a transatlantic quest, leading him through the streets of fifties bohemian Paris, bustling Tel Aviv, and back to the shadowed corners of postwar New York. Along the way, he unravels the mysterious story of a girl with an indomitable spirit who accepts an impossible challenge against an unfathomable evil.
The Girl Who Rode the White Lion weaves the two timelines together in a heart-racing revelation about the extraordinary complexities and resilience of the human heart, and the power to confront the horrors of history.
Reviews, Awards & Endorsements
“Inspired by an astonishing and little known, yet true, story of rescue of Jews in a circus in Nazi Germany, Ron’s novel of survival and search holds in suspense until the last page. Here, curiosity about an object and an animal culminates in an international chase for truth in which desire, revenge, and memory drive actions, decisions, and human connections. With diary snapshots switching between the Holocaust and the postwar period, the story dissects the complexities of people’s behavior as witnesses, victims, rescuers, and perpetrators, and instills a universal message about how emotions can become tools for destruction or salvation. This book will absorb and amaze.”
—Joanna Sliwa, co-author of The Counterfeit Countess: The Jewish Woman Who Rescued Thousands of Poles during the Holocaust
Reading The Girl Who Rode the White Lion feels like stepping inside a vivid dream you do not want to end. Page after page its mix of suspense tenderness and wonder sweeps you away from the terror of Kristallnacht to the spell of a traveling circus and the mystery of 1950s New York. It is not just a novel it is an unforgettable journey of beauty courage and survival.”
Ido Gefen, Author of Jerusalem Beach and Debby’s Dream House, Winner of the Sami Rohr Prize
"In a sweeping historical novel, Yishay Ishi Ron has crafted a wondrous and imagined tale of pursuit and rescue during one of humanity’s darkest hours. Ron touches on the profound moral dilemmas of the Holocaust and tells a story of humanity, courage, and hope, in a time when obedience was deadlier than anything else."
-Ruth Linn - Professor Emerita, University of Haifa; scholar of moral psychology, obedience, conscientious objection
"The strength with which Yishay Ishi Ron channels his pain towards deep introspection, has allowed his scars to fortify his artistry rather than define his identity, leading him to write “The Girl Who Rode the White Lion”. Through his compelling writing, Ishi succeeds in anchoring the
Holocaust in hearts and minds of generations to come, as a critical turning point in human history. This is a duty we share,
and a solemn lesson we are all compelled to relearn."
Isaac Herzog
President of the State of Israel
Jerusalem 2025
“Yishay Ishi Ron has succeeded, in a breathtaking novel, in...