As a former journalist, novelist Kristin Harmel fully embraces the research required to craft accurate and immersive historical fiction. Harmel became more deeply immersed in World War II Poland and the Jews who her protagonist, Yona, helps to hide and keep alive in the forest against the odds. Along the way, Harmel discovered that she is directly descended from the Polish Jews.  Sharing personal and historical revelations, along with telling Olivia about founding Friends and Fiction, and how she started a professional career as a journalist as a teenager, her passion for writing is contagious.

In a Moment With Margaret, we discuss the Most Read Books so far on the Goodreads 2021 Reading Challenge, including “The Forest of Vanishing Stars” and our other favorites, “The Guest List” by Lucy Foley, and Rachel Hawkins’ “The Wife Upstairs.”