What I Would Tell You by Liz Tolsma
Reviewed by Sandra Merville Hart
This split-time story is set during World War II and modern day. Mathilda’s story begins in 1941. She’s a Sephardic Jew living in Salonika, Greece, with her husband, Asher, at the beginning of the book. The Germans are coming. Everyone fears that the Germans are doing to Jews in other parts of Europe will happen to them. Mathilda believes her newspaper will stir her community’s courage. She continues to write her articles against the Germans in secret even after they occupy Greece.
Tessa is a college student in contemporary Pittsburg. The results of her genealogy tests shock her because they show her Sephardic Jewish heritage, something her mother had never shared. Even more shocking is that her cousin’s test isn’t even similar. It’s not difficult to leave behind strained family relationships on summer break. She travels to discover her roots in Salonika, Greece, where a handsome curator at a Jewish Museum helps her trace her ancestry. He gives her Mathilda’s diary to give her insights about the horror faced by the Jews in the area.
Tessa is not prepared for what she learns.
This book was a page-turner for me. Characters face impossible choices in the WWII story. It’s heart-wrenching to read. Difficult family relationships and old scars tug will readers’ emotions in the contemporary story. The overall desire to learn what happened to Mathilda and her family kept me glued to the story. A compelling read that makes you think about the story after the last page.
I enjoyed this poignant story that held surprising twists. I knew little about what had happened in Greece during WWII before picking up this book.
Recommended for readers of inspirational historical and split-time stories.
