First Line Friday — Under The Tulip Tree

Happy Friday! I have heard so much about the books by Michelle Shocklee. Friends tell me that she is a must-read author. One even passed on novel, Under The Tulip Tree, exclaiming that I need to read it! So it now resides in the TBR stack. It is set during the Great Depression and features the Federal Writers’ Project. Tell me why it should be on top. 🙂

Here’s the first line:

“Pandemonium has broken out in the streets of New York City.

Sixteen-year-old Lorena Leland’s dreams of a rich and fulfilling life as a writer are dashed when the stock market crashes in 1929. Seven years into the Great Depression, Rena’s banker father has retreated into the bottle, her sister is married to a lazy charlatan and gambler, and Rena is an unemployed newspaper reporter. Eager for any writing job, Rena accepts a position interviewing former slaves for the Federal Writers’ Project. There, she meets Frankie Washington, a 101-year-old woman whose honest yet tragic past captivates Rena.

As Frankie recounts her life as a slave, Rena is horrified to learn of all the older woman has endured—especially because Rena’s ancestors owned slaves. While Frankie’s story challenges Rena’s preconceptions about slavery, it also connects the two women whose lives are otherwise separated by age, race, and circumstances. But will this bond of respect, admiration, and friendship be broken by a revelation neither woman sees coming?

Michelle Shocklee is the author of several historical novels including APPALACHIAN SONG, a 2024 Christy Award Finalist; COUNT THE NIGHTS BY STARS, winner of the 2023 Christianity Today Book Award in Fiction; and UNDER THE TULIP TREE, a Christy Award & Selah Award finalist. As a woman of mixed heritage–her father’s family is Hispanic and her mother’s roots go back to Germany–she has always celebrated diversity and feels it’s important to see the world through the eyes of one another. Learning from the past and changing the future is why she writes historical fiction. With both her sons grown and happily married, Michelle and her husband make their home in Tennessee. She loves to hear from readers, so please connect with her at: http://www.MichelleShocklee. com.

Tags: historical fiction, Michelle Shocklee