What I Would Tell You by talented wordsmith Liz Tolsma is a Christian time split novel about World War II and the struggles of the Jewish people.  It is a poignant tale. Your heart will be touched by this brilliant book. I love time split novels, but I am not much for novels about WWII. The horrific activities of that time break my heart. What I Would Tell You is a captivating tale. 

Set in 1941 Salonika, Greece this tells the story of Greek Jews during the time of the Holocaust. In present day, Thessaloniki is the setting. The book opens with “This is the day I dreaded, the day I feared might come, the day I prayed never would. Greece will never be the same.” Immediately, I had goosebumps but kept reading. At time my breath caught and my heart raced, but I kept turning the pages. I wanted to see what would happen next to my new friends.

From page one I was invested in this award worthy novel. It was an emotional read for me. I needed a tissue as I turned pages. The historical part of this moving split timeline story focuses on Mathilda Nissim, a young Jewish woman and how her life changed when the German occupation began. In the contemporary part, we meet Tessa Riley. She visits the museum in Thessaloniki and discovers something life changing.

Author Tolsma has a beautiful style of writing, which I thoroughly enjoy. Her characters are vivid and realistic with multiple layers. The descriptive words she uses whisk me away to a time and place far from where I am. Her details and historical facts allow me to glean things that I never before knew. After reading this book I feel better acquainted with Greece and long to visit there.

I highly recommend this moving book. Some sections are hard to read, but realistic. It is hard to believe that people were treated in such a horrendous way. Lovers of WWII books will not want to miss this one. Everyone should read this. It has stuck with me and will for a long time. I rate it 5 out of 5 stars. A copy was provided by NetGalley, but these are my honest words.

About the Book

Book:What I Would Tell You

Author: Liz Tolsma

Genre: Christian Fiction / Romance / Historical Fiction

Release date: January 1, 2023

DNA Test Unlocks a Family Mystery

Sephardic Jew Mathilda Nissim watches in horror as the Germans invade her beloved city of Salonika, Greece. What angers her most is the lack of resistance her people put up to their captors. In secret and at great risk to her life, she continues to publish her newspaper, calling her people to action. She doesn’t trust God to help them. When she and her husband find out they are expecting a child, Mathilda may have to resort to desperate measures to ensure her daughter’s survival.

Three generations later, college student Riley Payson and her cousin take a popular DNA test only to discover they don’t share any common ancestors. In fact, the test shows Riley is a Sephardic Jew from Greece. This revelation shakes Riley’s tenuous faith and sends her on a journey to discover what happened to her great-grandmother and how all this relates to her faith and her life today.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Liz Tolsma is the author of several WWII novels, romantic suspense novels, prairie romance novellas, and an Amish romance. She is a popular speaker and an editor and resides next to a Wisconsin farm field with her husband and their youngest daughter. Her son is a US Marine, and her oldest daughter is a college student. Liz enjoys reading, walking, working in her large perennial garden, kayaking, and camping. Please visit her website at www.liztolsma.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter (@LizTolsma), Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest. She is also the host of the Christian Historical Fiction Talk podcast.

 

More from Liz

Take a Trip to Greece with Me

I was privileged to travel to Greece last year to research my upcoming WWII novel, What I Would Tell You. God orchestrated it so beautifully. Because of Covid, we weren’t sure my daughter would be able to travel there for the summer internship she had applied for. Eight weeks before her scheduled departure, Greece reopened to foreign visitors. Around that same time, I sold What I Would Tell You, which is set in Thessaloniki, Greece, to Barbour Publishing. I had to go and visit!

 

Greece is a beautiful country. The pictures you see don’t do it justice. And to someone like me, the history is one of the best parts. My daughter and I explored the old city wall, built in the 1400s, many churches that predated the Ottoman Empire, and many excavated Roman ruins that have been dug up in the city’s process of putting in a subway system.

 

Because this is a WWII book, we also spent a great deal of time learning about the history of the Jews in the city. The Kapani Market, just down the street from our apartment, was a vibrant mix of colorful fruits, fragrant spices, and a cacophony of languages. I could well imagine what this old Jewish market was like prior to the war with people hawking olives, fish, and oregano.

 

We wasted no time in visiting the Jewish museum. I was shocked by the heavy security presence with armed guards outside of the building. Once inside, we had to show our IDs and were required to turn in our phones. Antisemitism is alive and well in Greece. But what a place. There were displays after displays tracing the history of the Jewish people in Thessaloniki from 1492 until WWII. The most breathtaking was the room with stone-covered walls, the names of all 48,000 Salonikan Jews killed in the Holocaust carved into the marble. There’s an entire scene in the book that deals with this room.

 

What saddened me most was what we saw when we visited the trainyard where the Jews were herded into cattle cars and shipped to Auschwitz. Before we got to where the station once stood, there was a wall on which someone had pained a mural covered with black-and-white figures in their striped uniforms, their eyes and mouths wide in horror. As if that weren’t difficult enough to view, what sickened me was the blue swastikas someone had painted over them.

 

We also trekked to the other side of the city to visit what had once been the Jewish cemetery, now the grounds of Aristotle University. All that remains to testify that half a million people were once buried here is a small, ill-kept memorial. There were two dead Christmas wreaths placed there. We visited in August.

 

In addition to a moving and thought-provoking story, I hope to also introduce you to the amazing city of Thessaloniki and give you a peek into the people and the culture of this amazing place. If you ever find yourself in Greece, plan some time in Thessaloniki. Many Americans miss this gem, but it’s packed with charm and history.

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Cover Lover Book Review, February 1

Lily’s Book Reviews, February 1

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deb’s Book Review, February 2

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Connie’s History Classroom, February 3

Paula’s Pad of Inspriation, February 4

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Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, February 5

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Holly’s Book Corner, February 6

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Mary Hake, February 7

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Giveaway




To celebrate her tour, Liz is giving away the grand prize package of a $25 Amazon e-gift card and copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/23ccb/what-i-would-tell-you-celebration-tour-giveaway