What is the title of your latest release?
THE BAKER OF LOST MEMORIES
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Growing up in 1960s Brooklyn, Lena wants to be a baker just like her mother was back in Poland prior to World War II. But questions about those days, and about a sister Lena never even knew are ignored with solemn silence. Nevertheless, she forges ahead, marrying a wonderful man and owning not one, but two bakeries. The one person she can confide in is her friend, Pearl. But when she suddenly disappears from her life, and later when that life starts to unravel, Lena is forced to confront the truth about her parents and herself. Only then can she begin to rebuild the family and future she has always wanted.
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
That was easy. I was born in Brooklyn and lived there for twenty-five years. Flashbacks occur in the Lodz Ghetto during World War II. My father was a runner for the black market, just like Josef. I wanted to explore the ambience of this place in the novel.
Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Definitely. I love being with people who are passionate and pursue their goals, like me. Lena feels things deeply and is not afraid to share her feelings. I believe spending time with her would be deeply satisfying.
What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Ambitious, worried, imaginative.
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
Doing research for the book, I learned a great deal about the Lodz Ghetto and what it was like for children. I also learned about how it is to live with kidney disease. Finally, in writing the book I realized that there are many like me in the second generation who live with the trauma of their parents’ Holocaust experiences.
Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I am constantly editing. I write in longhand because it makes me feel closer to the work, then I edit at the end of each chapter, type the chapter and edit again. I review and edit the entire book several times before completion.
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
That’s easy. Coffee chip ice cream. And I am always in the mood for pasta.
Describe your writing space/office!
I have a couch in my office where I am surrounded by books (I never borrow but buy and keep books). I sometimes write in the living room overlooking my backyard.
Who is an author you admire?
Gail Tsukiyama (The Street of a Thousand Blossoms, Women of the Silk) who is a master of vivid description and has great storytelling skills.
Is there a book that changed your life?
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. It is the book that made me want to become a writer.
Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be
published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
I was at home on a Tuesday evening watching Jeopardy! when my agent called me. I immediately began to sob, thanked her profusely, then rushed to tell my husband and family. This was the culmination of a lifelong dream. I was so excited that I forgot to watch Final Jeopardy. Now my second book is being published.
What’s your favorite genre to read?
Historical fiction.
What’s your favorite movie?
The original West Side Story.
What is your favorite season?
I love spring. Everything is new and fresh. We breathe it all in.
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
I was born at the end of August, so my husband and I always take a ride to the Jersey shore, go out for a seafood dinner, and I end the day with a hot fudge coffee ice cream sundae.
What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
We Were the Lucky Ones was a series on cable based on the novel, a true story of a family who survived the Holocaust. Knowing that the story was real and much like my family’s, created a heart-wrenching experience.
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Italian
What do you do when you have free time?
Mostly, I love to read. I walk outdoors, exercise, watch HGTV, and admit to doing some shopping.
What can readers expect from you next?
I recently completed a novel about three Austrian sisters in hiding during World War II. The novel also travels to New York in the 1970s where we see the outcome of their struggles. I am quite excited about this one!
From the author of A Castle in Brooklyn comes an epic novel spanning decades about the broken bonds of family, memories of war, and redemption and hope in the face of heartbreaking loss.
Growing up in 1960s Brooklyn, Lena wants to be a baker just like her mother was back in Poland prior to World War II. But questions about those days, and about a sister Lena never even knew, are ignored with solemn silence. It’s as if everything her parents left behind was a subject never to be broached.
The one person in whom Lena can confide is her best friend, Pearl. When she suddenly disappears from Lena’s life, Lena forges ahead: college, love and marriage with a wonderful man, the dream of owning a bakery becoming a reality, and the hope that someday Pearl will return to share in Lena’s happiness—and to be there for her during the unexpected losses to come.
Only when Lena discovers the depth of her parents’ anguish, and a startling truth about her own past, can they rebuild a family and overcome the heart-wrenching memories that have torn them apart.
Women's Fiction Friendship | Women's Fiction Historical [Little A, On Sale: April 8, 2025, Hardcover / e-Book , ISBN: 9781662525674 / ]
Shirley Russak Wachtel is the daughter of Holocaust survivors and was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She holds a doctor of letters degree from Drew University and for the past thirty years has taught English literature at Middlesex College in Edison, New Jersey. The mother of three grown sons and grandmother to two precocious granddaughters, she currently resides in East Brunswick, New Jersey, with her husband, Arthur.
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