Friday Fun - The Friday 56 and First Lines for January 20, 2023

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Usually I'm not drawn to novels set during WWII, or during the twentieth century in general, but this one intrigued me when it was offered for review. I'm just getting started. 

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I thought this would be a fun adventure, but I'm having second thoughts. All I know is that I can't run home and admit to Mom and Jay that they were right and that I was crazy for wanting to come here. I may not find out anything about where I came from and who my ancestors were. I may not find out anything about what it means to be Jewish.

~from page 56 of What I Would Tell You by Liz Tolsma

Determined to resist the invading Nazis, a Greek Jewish woman's greatest dream has become her worst nightmare, and now she faces an impossible choice whose consequences echo across the generations.

1941 - The pounding of Nazi boots on the streets of Salonika, Greece, reverberates in Mathilda Nissim's ears, shaking her large community of Sephardic Jews to its core and altering her life forever. If only her people would rise up and resist their captors. At great risk to herself and those around her, she uses the small newspaper she publishes to call them to action, all to no avail. Her husband encourages her to trust God to watch over them, but God has once again deserted His people. Amid the chaos, Mathilda discovers she's expecting a longed-for child. Still, nothing stops the occupier's noose from tightening around their necks, and she may have to resort to desperate measures to ensure her daughter's survival.

2019 - College student Tessa Payton and her cousin take a popular DNA heritage test only to discover they don't share any common ancestors. In fat, the test reveals Tessa is a Greek Sephardic Jew. This revelation threatens her tenuous faith. Always the overlooked child in her family, she empties her savings account and jets off on a journey to Greece to discover where she belongs and which God demands her allegiance. The enchanting curator at the Jewish museum guides her as she navigates life in Thessaloniki, helps her with her genealogical research, and loans her a fascinating journal written by a Jewish woman during WWII. Tessa's search, however, may open old wounds and uncover long-hidden secrets that could fracture her family forever and leave her with more question than when she started.

Based in part on true accounts of Jews in Salonika, Greece, What I Would Tell You traces two women's journeys, delving into what faith looks like and where it leads us as they navigate difficult circumstances and impossible choices that have ripple effects across the years.

The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice

*Grab a book, any book.

*Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your e-reader.

*Find a snippet, short and sweet.

*Post it, and share in the Linky.

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Sunday, April 6, 1941

Salonika, Greece

This is the day I dreaded, the day I feared might come, the day I prayed never would. Greece will never be the same. Will the Nazis treat the Jews here the same way they are treating them in Poland and in Czechoslovakia?

~From the beginning of What I Would Tell You by Liz Tolsma

Book Beginnings on Fridays is hosted by Rose City Reader.

*It's Book Beginnings on Fridays! Time to gather with our fellow book lovers and share the opening sentence (or so) of the books we are reading this week. Or share from a book that is on your mind right now -- whatever catches your fancy.

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First Line Fridays is hosted at Reading is My SuperPower

*Share the first line or two of the book closest to you, then visit other FLF participants.

*Please keep posts family friendly or clean reads.

*Link back to Reading is My SuperPower within your post or grab a button.

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And here is the weekly bookish question in the Book Blogger Hop, hosted by Billy at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.  

This Week's Question: Do you use social media to keep up with your favorite authors?

My Answer: I do follow several of my favorites on Facebook and a couple on Instagram. I don't interact directly with them very often though. 

Book Blogger Hop

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