Klaraks truth was a mixed bag for me.

On the positive side, I found the premise unique and compelling enough, and it ended up being true to the book synopsis, The descriptions of Poland and atmospheric surroundings did a good job of making me feel present in the story and fully bought into, The characters felt well developed enough and once again believable,

On the major flip side, for me the arc for me feels really poorly edited. The feelings are too melodramatic with too many adjectives and descriptions, there is way too much repetition in her references (for example, continuously introducing side characters in the story aka her work colleagues as her good friend Sheila or Barbara, in one instance referring to them the exact same way in the same page as if she didn't just talk to them in the actual narrative). It sometimes read so much like a first draft that I had to fight the desire to put it down.

ARC received!! Thank you so much, She Writes Press and Netgalley!
Here is my review. The opinions are my own and unbiased.

This was a great read! I loved the historical references and that the author included many historical sights and festivals related to the Jewish community and the Holocaust. Some of Klara's actions made me cringe a bit because she occasionally seemed very immature for her age. However, that didn't put a damper on my enjoyment of the story.

A sweet story of new love, breaking family barriers, looking for one's heritage and learning to deal with rejection and personal history. I enjoyed this book, it flowed nicely, got a bit exasperated with the main character at times but all in all a good story line. The historical information was well researched and the author was able to keep the attention to detail throughout the whole story. It was very interesting learning about the different cemeteries being which were being looked after so that disbanded families could look for their ancestors. This is the author's debut novel and I know that she will go from strength to strength with her novels. I look forward to reading her next book.

Klara has just discovered her mother has lied to Klara her whole life. Klara has been told that her dad left them, abandoned her. When the truth is, he was killed in a train accident. When Klara discovers the truth, she immediately takes a sabbatical from her job as a professor and travels to Poland to uncover her father’s past and to reconnect with his family. It is not as easy as she expects.

Klara has been neglected for most of her life by her mom. So, my heart really went out to her when she discovers the truth. But, this does not stop her. I loved her tenacity and her intelligence. She also has some hang ups from her childhood and she struggles to overcome these challenges as she tries to navigate her new world.

This story is full of self-discovery history, mystery, family drama and a little bit of romance. I enjoyed the setting of Poland and especially the family history and emotional tales of the Holocaust.

Need a novel about family that is full of history and drama…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

Klara is a middle aged archaeologist who has found her place teaching at a small university in Maine. Klara makes a living studying other cultures' history, but has never thought to look into her own Polish-Jewish heritage due to her mother's aloofness and father's abandonment at an early age. When Klara's mother unexpectedly contacts Klara about reparations from the Polish government for her father's death, Klara jumps at the chance to connect with the family she never knew about in Poland and finds a deep curiosity to seek more knowledge about her roots.



Klara's Truth is a story of finding yourself and overcoming trauma. I felt strongly for Klara as her whole world was changed as her mother divulged that the father she believed abandoned her died when she was a young girl. Klara's trip to Poland was eye opening in many ways. First of all, this trip allowed Klara to grow past the hurt of her mother's treatment and lies. Klara found connection with her family and culture with her Aunt Rachel. Aunt Rachel was an amazing character, offering Klara what she needed most, but also helping her understand the impact of her showing up after so long with no contact and not knowing why. Klara's new connection with her cultural heritage and family history is another important aspect of the story. The history of the Jewish Polish population is one of tragedy and resilience. Filip's character, a Jewish cemetery caretaker, helped Klara foster this connection and introduce her to the deep history of Poland's Jewish people. As Klara explored Poland, she saw the strength of her ancestors and how people rebounded and used those principles in her own life.



This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

I wanted to like Klara's Truth by Susan Weissbach Friedman. I have a strong connection to the Holocaust and read as much about the topic as my emotional health will allow. While the book has an interesting plot, unfortunately, the author's writing just didn't do it for me. I felt like I was readying a YA book about a 50-year-old woman. If someone wants to learn more about the Holocaust, there are better books that I would recommend instead of this one.

Klara is a 50 year old professor at a small college in Maine where it is easy for her to live a quiet life far from her difficult, cold mother. Klara was always told that she was abandoned by her father, who was a Jewish immigrant from Poland, and she never had the inclination to pursue her family members still living in Poland.

Unexpectedly, Klara receives a letter from her mother encouraging her to go to Poland where she is in a position to apply for government reparations due to her father’s status as a victim of the Holocaust. Bravely, Klara takes a leave of absence and embarks upon a life altering journey during which she finds that all she believed has no basis in reality.

The story is beautifully told and touched my heart. There is an important message within the pages. It is never too late to begin anew. It is never to late to be loved. Although I had difficulty believing the quick turnaround in an important relationship with one of Klara ‘s cousins, I was able to let go of my own logic and stay within the intent of the author.

This book will be published on June 11, 2024. I recommend it for fans of historical fiction and more. Many thanks to NetGalley and She Writes publishing for an ARC in return for my review

UPDATE: the book has been withdrawn for further editing and correction, new version is expected in May


Klara is an American Jew who travels to Poland hoping to find and connect with her long-lost family. Once she reaches Warsaw she´s surprised to see a big modern city with glass towers (why does every American think that Poles live in mud huts?), and that people speak English (Poles speak many languages missy!).
The book is full of errors. Klara walks into Kofka Cafe, which is an error because it should be Kafka Cafe and her favorite is Raslowiicizanka Bakery, which is another error because it should be Rasłowiczanka. The Jewish Cemetery in Warsaw is at Okopowa Street, not Okapowa. While Klara goes to the Old Synagogue she walks to ul. Barotzsa (what?!?) should it be ul. Bartosza Głowackiego ? Anyway, this is weird, because why would she be in Bemowo? This is where one of the airports are and to walk to the Old Synagogue is precisely 8.8 km!
The name used in the book Rachel comes from Hebrew, but since in Polish most feminine names have a suffix -a, the Rachel would not be used, but Rachela instead. The name Hannah - this is typical English spelling, whereas in Polish you won't find the letter h at the end of any name, instead there should be Hanna (short: Hania), Rebeka and Sara. Towards the end of the book, there are two other names: Gednia and Mikal. I suppose Mikal is supposed to be Michał (!), but Gednia doesn´t exist in the Polish language! I guess what the author had in mind is Gienia, which is short for Genowefa, a very old-fashioned name that is almost forgotten.
Also when Klara meets a guy named Filip Jablonski, whose full name is repeated many times over. Not only the Poles don´t do that (imagine this: hi, have you seen Mel Smith? No, I haven't. Maybe Mel Smith went shopping. Ok I will ring Mel Smith and see if Mel Smith wants to come over. Maybe Mel Smith would like to come over tomorrow, what do you think? Oh I'm sure Mel Smith would love that. - get it?) Also in Polish grammar there is conjugation, so we should see Filip Jabłonski, Filipa Jabłonskiego, Filipem Jabłonskim etc. In English there´s no letter "ł" so readers won´t find it in the text, which I can forgive, but I´m pretty sure this omission wouldn´t happen with Spanish Ñ or Turkish Ç etc.

As for the story I was hoping for so much more. There is nothing new here. Family drama blown out of proportions, a romance that´s written like YA story, and Klara herself - the most frustrating and annoying character ever. She is 49 years old, teary and can´t cope with her family issues. She falls in love with a 46-year-old man and asks him about his past relationships, behaves erratically and resembles a 13-year-old in every possible way. I disliked Klara even more when she gained an interest in Filip once she discovered he had a PhD. Seriously? Goodness me!
The writing is simple, more like a YA type of narrative. Repetitive language.
At the end we see Klara undergoing therapy, but just any therapy, it´s EMDR. It´s very specific. I was wondering why the author decided to go into details of this treatment because it´s not important for the story at all. It turns out that the author is a psychotherapist herself. Oh, ok... Cringe.

I´m sorry for this lengthy review, but I believe in honesty and this is my very honest review.

I find myself to be an avid reader of historical fiction and this is another book I can add to my completed stack. It is a story of finding lost roots, confronting ghosts, and forging new paths.

Having endured many traumatic experiences as a youth, Klara is almost child like in her demeanor. Having said that, I found some of her interactions somewhat unbelievable, particularly the ones with Filip and Hannah.

Her relationship with her mother didn’t seem to evolve at all in the course of the book, but Klara didn't let that stop her from trying to discover her past and learn from it. The addition of the specific types of therapy Klara utilized didn’t necessarily add anything to the story. I felt that if it was going to be used there was a missed opportunity by a lack of really delving into what EDMR actually consists of and how the process fully works. I am however happy to see talk therapy cast in a positive light in the book.

I did find the book to be repetitive in its descriptions at times. The author tends to use a lot of the same phrases when she is sharing about Klara’s journey.

It read like a young adult book to me. Im not sure if that’s because of Klara’s demeanor throughout the book or how she managed her relationships, but although she was almost 50 years old, she didn’t come across that way.
Overall, it’s an easy read so far as historical fiction is concerned, It wasn’t very heavy and it offered information that was relevant to the time it was describing.