The Baker's Daughter by Sarah McCoy

Publisher: Broadway Books

Publish Date: January 24, 2012

Format: download library

Pages: - 

ISBN: -

In 1045, Elsie Schmidt was a naïve teenager, as eager for her first sip of champagne as she was for her first kiss.  But in the waning days of the Nazi empire, with food scarce and fears of sedition mounting, even the private yearnings of teenage girls were subject to suspicion and suppression.  Elsie’s courtship by Josef Hub, a rising star in the Army of the Third Reich, has insulted her family from the terror and desperation overtaking her country.  So when an escaped Jewish boy arrives on Elsie’s doorstep in the dead of night Christmas Eve, Elsie understands that opening the door puts all she loves in danger.

Sixty years later, in El Paso, Texas, Reba Adams is trying to file a feel-good Christmas piece for the local magazine.  Reba is rolling stone, perpetually on the run from memories of a turbulent childhood, but she’s been in El Paso long enough to get a full-time job and a full-time fiancé, Riki Chavez.  Riki, an agent with the U.S. Boarder Patrol, finds comfort in strict rules and regulations, whereas Reba knows that in every good story, lines will be blurred.

Reba’s latest assignment has brought her to the shop of an elderly baker across town.  The interview should take a few hours at most, but the owner of Elsie’s German Bakery is no easy subject.  Elsie keeps turning the tables on Reba, and Reba finds herself returning to the bakery again and again, anxious to find the heart of the story.  For Elsie, Reba’s questions have been a stinging reminder of darker times: her like in Germany during that last bleak year of WWII.  And as Elsie, Reba and Riki’s lives become more intertwined, all are forced to confront the uncomfortable truths of the past and seek out the courage to forgive.

My Thoughts

What can I say besides wow, wow, WOW!  I absolutely fell in love with the mesmerizing story.  It was haunting and heartfelt and even humorous at times.  I thought it was just so beautifully written and kept me so intrigued I lost quite a bit of sleep over this one.  This is my first novel by Sarah McCoy I've read and she did not disappoint me.  This novel came with zero recommendations and I'd never heard of it or the author, I just happened to see the cover of this book and instantly knew I would love it.

I love how the story is don't in different decades by a number of different characters.  You start out in a very difficult time, Germany during WWII, and present in El Paso, Texas  and the reader is taken on an amazing journey of life lessons and self discovery of both main characters Elsie and Reba.  I really liked that even the sub characters had their self discovery stories woven in as well.  The author tells this amazing story in both first person and a series of letters.  The very last letter is sure to tug at your heart strings.

Beautiful novel.

My Rating: ««««

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The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.