First Line Friday #125

Posted September 4, 2020 by thebeccafiles in First Line Friday / 9 Comments

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Happy Friday!

The book I’m featuring this week is:

Under the Tulip Tree

Baker Book House | Amazon | Goodreads

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

Under the Tulip Tree is the next read for my local book club so I’ll be digging into it very soon. It releases September 8, but is currently available for pre-order 🙂

About the Book:

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?


Now it’s your turn!

Grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line. To see what First Lines others are sharing this week head over to Hoarding Books.

First Line Fridays hosted by Hoarding Books

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9 responses to “First Line Friday #125

  1. Kay Garrett

    To whom does our island belong? I found myself wondering that as I sat on my scooter in the rain, late for my pricy-but-absolutely-necessary-for-a-person-who-eats-for-a-living personal trainer, attempting to cross a massive traffic jam on Eaton Street.
    THE KEY LIME CRIME by Lucy Burdette
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

  2. Becky

    Happy Friday! My first line is from ” I’ll be Home” by Toni Shiloh:

    “Starr Lewis hated to return home a failure.”

  3. Happy Friday! I love that first line!! Could be taken from today instead of the 1930’s…….

    My first lines come from The Summer House by Lauren K Denton……

    The morning Worth left, something pulled Lily from her sleep, though at first glance nothing seemed out of place. The light coming through the bedroom window was soft and hazy. Above her the ceiling fan ticked and swayed, and outside a lone bird sang, trying to rouse its friends. Everything else was still and quiet.

    Have an awesome weekend and happy reading!📚💜

  4. Ellie

    That looks like a good book! I’m sharing the first line from Finding Love for the Workaholic by Laurie Larsen on my blog today. “Isabelle Harmon drew in a lungful of air.” I hope you have a nice weekend!

  5. Happy Friday! On my blog I’m sharing from a non-fiction text called Just Show Up by Kara Tippetts and Jill Lynn Buteyn. I’m just beginning chapter 3 so I’ll share a line from there.
    “Years ago, the pastor who baptized our daughter was diagnosed with ALS.”
    Hope you have a great weekend! 🙂❤📚

  6. Paula Shreckhise

    My first line is from The Haunting At Bonaventure Circus by Jaime Jo Wright:

    Life was not unlike the wisp of fog that curled around the base of a grave marker, softly caressing the marble before dissolving into the violet shadow of the night.

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