What 'The Baker's Daughter' is about:
In 1945, Elsie Schmidt was a naive teenager, as eager for her first sip of champagne as she was for her first kiss. She and her family have been protected from the worst of the terror and desperation overtaking her country by a high-ranking Nazi who wishes to marry her. So when an escaped Jewish boy arrives on Elsie’s doorstep in the dead of night on Christmas Eve, Elsie understands that opening the door would put 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 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 fiancé, Riki Chavez. Riki, an agent with the U.S. Border Patrol, finds comfort in strict rules and regulations, whereas Reba feels that lines can often 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. Reba finds herself returning to the bakery again and again, anxious to find the heart of the story. For Elsie, Reba’s questions are a stinging reminder of darker times: her life 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.
First thoughts after finishing: "What an emotional powerhouse!"
I love books that make me weep with sadness and feel such empathy to the characters...this book does that and so much more. I cracked the spine of The Baker's Daughter late in the morning on Saturday and finished it as the sun peeked over the horizon announcing the arrival of Sunday. I was so thankful that I was the only one awake during those first early hours because I was able to be alone with my thoughts after I finished the book. The last quarter of the book had left me with tears streaming down my face and once again realizing that we can NOT judge others....it's not our place. What struck me with such force was something that the main protagonist said when asked if she was a Nazi. She replied, "I am a German." I think that over the years, the general public has lumped being German into automatically assuming they were all Nazi's too. Instead, this book brings to light how many of them became compliant to Hitler's propaganda and laws because of FEAR. Fear of death to self, fear of the death of loved ones, and fear of the death of their way of life. I learned about the
Lebensborn Program and couldn't believe the atrocities that were committed against the German mothers and the children the women gave birth to. The author made me feel some sadness about Josef, a SS Officer. This character was someone who had supervised the murder of thousands of Jews and fellow Germans, but Sarah McCoy humanized him and showed the inner demons that he carried within his black soul. She showed the other side of the war...the German side. She didn't make excuses for any of their behaviors, but rather gave the reader an insider's view of what happens when a human is trapped and feels as if they have no options. Elsie is a character that I loved from the moment I met her and she's one that I think may have embodied many unspoken heroic acts of Germans. She hides an emaciated Jewish boy, gives him shelter, food, attention, and love. She is what it means to be human in the face of war. She is what humans try to aspire to when given no options but death or doing something against their moral fiber. Even knowing that death may be her ending, it doesn't stop her from loving and protecting this child. Her story will stay with me...I have her tucked under my heart.
I loved everything about the bakery in Germany and the bakery in Texas. The aroma of baking bread, cakes, and cookies says comfort and home to me. I'm sure that is how Elsie felt when she was busy with the daily chores of making the baked goods. This was a beautiful thread throughout the book and really helped to connect the past with the present. The recipes at the end of the book are calling my name!
I have to admit that Reba's story really didn't do much for me at all. I liked how the past influenced the future and the way the author tried to tie the two stories together. But overall I'm not really sure if Reba/Riki's storyline added to my overall enjoyment of the book. I was more than happy to stay in the past and learn more about Elsie's life and what eventually happened to the people she loved.
Recommend? I would give this book to anyone who is looking for a story that will touch them on a very human level. This is a tale of love, choices, hardship, heartache, and hope. It puts another face on the ravages of war and makes a person stop and contemplate a very big and heavy question.....
What Would You Do?
Source: TLC Book Tours and The Crown Publishing Group
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 292
Published: January, 2012
Disclaimer:Thank you to TLC Book Tours for sending me a review copy. I was not compensated for my review. My thoughts on this book were in no way influenced by the author or publicist.They are my personal reflections based solely on MY experience while reading this novel.
Review Book #5
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SARAH McCOY is author of the novel, The Time It Snowed in Puerto Rico. She has taught English writing at Old Dominion University and at the University of Texas at El Paso. The daughter of an Army officer, her family was stationed in Germany during her childhood. She calls Virginia home but presently lives with her husband and dog, Gilbert, in El Paso, Texas. The Baker’s Daughter is her second novel. She is currently working on her next.
