title: The Two Marias (ANNOTATED)
author:  Jonathan Kis-Lev 
description: <span><span>&quot;Riveting... More than an exploration of friendship, this novel is about what happens when the things we take for granted slip away and we are forced to test our inner strength.&quot; <b>--Joan Kelvin, author The Secret Inside</b> <br /><br /> &quot;The Two Marias is a slim, sometimes piercing novel... Kis-Lev&apos;s hyperaware voice lends the story poignancy and shades of relatability.&quot;<b>--Laila Hoja, The Book Reviewer</b> <br /><br /> &quot;Set in WWII war-torn Europe, young Helena and Maria struggle to do what is right, in a world where cruelty is the norm. Never boring... this book is a pageturner.&quot; <b>--Joel Springfield, speaker and author </b> <br /><br /> &quot;The novel&apos;s depiction of the dynamics of friendship--how there&apos;s often affection and admiration mixed with disappointment and frustration--is uniquely authentic.&quot; <b>--Dan Klein, The Last Opinion</b><br /><br /> &quot;Kis-Lev&apos;s prose reads like the voice of the charmingly blunt friend you wish you had; his observations are sensitive and insightful.&quot; <b>--Gillian T. Harold, Harold Books</b> <br /><br /> &quot;Comedy and pathos are braided together with extraordinary skill in a haunting novel... riveting intensity and originality&quot; <b>--Daily Preacher </b> <br /><br /> &quot;Clever and suspenseful... Kis-Lev has his finger on the old-school girlfriends&apos; zeitgeist... and this riveting tale will make older readers fondly recall the days when kids got in trouble for passing (print) notes in class.&quot; <b>--Maria Velzquez, coach and trainer</b> <br /><br /> &quot;Kis-Lev captures the complexities, naivet and angst of teenage girls so well my stomach was in knots. What had happened to Helena Goldstein, the Jewish girl in Nazi Germany? You&apos;ll find yourself staying up all night to find out.&quot; <b>--Aven K. Lint, author and speaker</b> <br /><br /> &quot;I couldn&apos;t believe this was based on a true story. I cried and laughed. Kis-Lev does a fine job of building suspense and creating characters, notably Maria and Helena, whom the target audience--both adults and older teens--will care about and empathize with.&quot; <b>--Maria von Klaus, Der Tage </b> <br /><br /> &quot;Fast-paced and suspenseful... a page-turning story of friendship mixed with a bit of a thriller. Shines a light on the power of true friendship in times of external challenges.&quot; <b>--Jo Levi, The Reviewer</b> <br /><br /> &quot;A tale of elaborate mystery intertwined with the tenderness of a mother&apos;s love, The Two Marias exudes warmth at every turn... Gripping and uplifting, it is a true pageturner.&quot; <b>--Mira Hudson, The Life of Mira</b></span></span><br /><br /><div>&quot;Breathes life into a vital but oft-neglected chapter of our history. Kis-Lev&apos;s unique voice couldn&apos;t but remind me of Ken Follett and Jeffrey Archer in its poignancy and style.&quot;<b>--Elmira Akhundova, <i>Poetry and Literature Magazine</i></b><b></b></div><br /><div></div><div>&quot;A mesmerizing tale of survival and awakening... Jonathan Kis-Lev joins a list of new writers of historical fiction, along with Adriana Trigiani (The Shoemaker&apos;s Wife), Anthony Doerr (All the Light We Cannot See) and Colson Whitehead (The Underground Railroad). This new, riveting novel&apos;s fast-paced story kept me up turning pages.&quot; <b>--Dodatek Literacki</b><b></b></div><br /><div></div><div>&quot;Kis-Lev&apos;s voice transforms a remote period into a fresh and immediate world and give us heroes who are broken by sorrow but determined to survive. This is a novel about the true meaning of faith and freedom, much like Kristin Hannah&apos;s <i>The Nightingale</i>and Martha Hall Kelly&apos;s <i>Lilac Girls.</i>&quot;<b>--Miran Hladnik</b><b></b></div><br /><div></div><div>&quot;This story is of one of the darkest episodes in humanity&apos;s history, and yet Jonathan Kis-Lev manages to turn it into a soaring tale of light and hope... The glittering prose corresponded with Sara Gruen (Water for Elephants) and Mark Sullivan (Beneath a Scarlet Sky), but had the humour and wit of William Goldman (The Princess Bride). Highly, highly recommended.&quot;--<b>Igor Mandi, <i>Literary Review</i></b></div>
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  [CHAPTER FOUR ](../Text/Mank_9781743437186_epub_c4.1_r1.html#d6e5)
  
  
  ![9781743437186txt_0042_001](../Images/9781743437186txt_0042_001.jpg)
  
  
  A COUPLE OF DAYS after Maria and Sofia started school, José-Maria came and
  told them that everyone who had recently moved to the village was to meet that
  evening. The girls were to tell Lydia that everyone had to attend.
  
  
  Maria was frightened.
  
  
  ‘We might not be allowed to stay here,’ she said.
  
  
  ‘Why shouldn’t we be able to do that?’ Sofia answered. ‘Why would they let us
  start school if we’re not supposed to stay?’
  
  
  They were walking on the road home from school.
  
  
  ‘Maybe there are bandits here too?’ said Maria. ‘Maybe we should all be
  leaving?’
  
  
  Sometimes Sofia thought Maria had altogether too many questions. Why should
  she, who was younger, have to answer everything?
  
  
  ‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘Don’t ask me anything else right now.’
  
  
  In the evening, during the brief twilight when the sun set over the river,
  people met by the well in th