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This Is How It Begins

A Novel

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
"In a time when religious liberty is on trial, This Is How It Begins is an extraordinarily pertinent novel dripping in suspense and powerful scenes of political discourse . . . a must read . . ." —Foreword (starred review)
"Beautifully written . . . an ambitious and moving debut novel." —Lily King, the New York Times best-selling author of Writers & Lovers
A woman bearing a thorny secret. A man fighting for religious freedom. A battle neither saw coming.

Massachusetts, 2009. Ludka Zeilonka is relishing her emeritus status. With the horrors of World War II willfully buried in her past, the eighty-five year-old art professor doesn't want to accept that there's escalating cultural unrest in her adoptive country. But when her gay grandson is fired for allegedly silencing Christian kids in his classroom, she and her influential family are thrust into the center of a political firestorm.
Warren Meck is worried about his sons. Leading a statewide effort to protect free speech in public schools for Christian kids, the popular radio host is on the cusp of taking his fight to the State House. But when his carefully orchestrated campaign turns unexpectedly violent, he's alarmed by suspicions that someone within his inner circle might be responsible.
As the increasingly vicious conflict plays out on the public stage, Ludka wrestles with resurfacing memories . . . and the exposure of a well-guarded secret. And when Meck identifies the culprit behind the violence, he faces an unbearable choice that could jeopardize his family's future.
Can these two come to grips with unwelcome truths in time to make a stand in the final political showdown?
This Is How It Begins is an emotionally gripping literary novel. If you like even-handed stories about hot-button social issues, rich character development, and thought-provoking narratives, then you'll love Joan Dempsey's captivating page-turner.
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    • Library Journal

      September 15, 2017

      Ludka Zeilonka and husband Izaac remember the past all too well, and now they fear they are being made to repeat it. At age 85, Ludka is still active as an art professor. Both Izaac and son Lolek are distinguished Massachusetts politicians. Grandson Tommy enjoys teaching until he is abruptly fired, along with several other gay high school teachers, for supposedly silencing the Christian students in their classes. This is followed by rocks through the window and outright assault, which sends Tommy to the hospital. The teacher firings were instigated by Warren Meck, a fundamentalist local radio host who reasons that if he can establish such sentiments in liberal Massachusetts, he will make headway on the national stage. Yet Warren abhors violence and is uneasy at the turn his followers are taking. Meanwhile, Ludka receives a disturbing message about a secret she has kept since the dark days of the Warsaw ghetto and the Holocaust, as she and Izaac take a grueling trip to Poland. VERDICT Dempsey's fine debut, set in 2009, explores how hate, fear, and intolerance cast a lifelong shadow. Current events have only made this gripping story more relevant.--Leslie Patterson, Rehoboth, MA

      Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Booklist

      August 1, 2017
      Massachusetts, 2009. Teacher Tommy Zeilonka has just been fired. When 10 other teachers from around the state are fired at the same timeall of them gay, like Tommyit is obvious that some sort of organized effort is behind these actions. Indeed, the firings are the work of a fundamentalist church headquartered in Tommy's hometown. Among those leading the action against the teachers is radio host Warren Meck, who has been called the next Rush Limbaugh. But this is only half of Dempsey's ambitious story. The other half involves Tommy's Polish-American grandmother, Ludka, who as a teenager in Poland during WWII saved the Jewish boy who would become her husband. A professor of art emerita, she is secretly involved with a missing painting that is a masterpiece of contemporary Polish art. How these plot strands come together is the substance of Dempsey's fine first novel, notable for the evenhanded way it addresses hot-button issues. The result is a timely and memorable story.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

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  • English

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