Lena's parents survived the atrocities of World War II as well as losing their firstborn to the Nazis. Eventually, they came to Brooklyn and this is where they raised Lena. Their relationship was troubled from the beginning. Lena never felt that she was enough for her parents and that she could never measure up to the sister she never knew. She didn't know much about her parents' history, but what she did know was that they had owned a bakery. Her attempts to bond with her mother by baking failed. Lena continued her education with thoughts of perhaps becoming a lawyer and considered her love of baking to be just a hobby. Eventually, she meets the charismatic man that she married and slowly she begins to lose control of her life.
THE BAKER OF LOST MEMORIES, by Shirley Russak Wachtel, is a work of historical fiction whose aspects might be seen in the stories of other families of survivors. Parents who wanted the best for their children and strived to give them the opportunities they had taken from them. But in Lena's case, something went wrong. The author has created a complex protagonist in that she really doesn't seem to know who she truly is and what will make her happy. She is a mystery. She loves her parents, but there is something unsettling about their relationship. They give her all the space and privacy she needs, but even that isn't enough. When she learns that her parents really need her, will she come through?
I found the structure of the novel to be interesting. The story moves seamlessly from Lena's parents' lives to Lena's. They seem to function as two separate entities until they don't. The power of the narrative comes when the family's bonds are ultimately tested.
Skillfully told and filled with emotion, THE BAKER OF LOST MEMORIES is a heartfelt and moving story.
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.
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