This is how it begins : a novel / Joan Dempsey.
Material type:
TextPublisher: Berkeley, CA : She Writes Press, 2017Description: 399 pages ; 21 cmContent type: - text
- unmediated
- volume
- 9781631523083
- 1631523082
- Gay teachers -- Dismissal of -- Fiction
- Art teachers -- Fiction
- Painting -- Fiction
- Art thefts -- Germany -- History -- 20th century -- Fiction
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Confiscations and contributions -- Germany -- Fiction
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Destruction and pillage -- Fiction
- Art treasures in war -- Europe -- History -- 20th century -- Fiction
- Massachusetts -- Fiction
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book
|
Main Library | Fiction | Dempsey, Joan | Available | 33111008835569 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
"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.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 397-399).
"In 2009, eighty-five-year-old art professor Ludka Zeilonka gets drawn into a political firestorm when her grandson Tommy is among a group of gay Massachusetts teachers fired for allegedly silencing Christian kids in high school classrooms. The ensuing battle to reinstate the teachers raises the specter of Ludka's World War II past--a past she's spent a lifetime trying to forget ... As Ludka's influential family defends Tommy under increasingly vicious conditions, a stranger with connections to her past shows up and threatens to expose her for illegally hoarding a valuable painting presumed stolen by the Nazis. Only one other person knew about the painting--a man Ludka's been trying to find for sixty years"--Amazon.com.