Book Review: The Baker's Daughter by Sarah McCoy @SarahMMcCoy

While there are many aspects to the plot of The Baker's Daughter, I was totally captivated by this story.

The Baker's Daughter is Elsie's story. In a dual narrative, we are told her story beginning in 1945 in Germany and also in Texas 60 years later.

In Germany, it is war time and Elsie's family owns a bakery. Her family has escaped the worst of the economic disaster that has been caused by the war because of the bakery and the protection of a Germany military officer who wants to marry Elsie.

In Texas, Elsie and her daughter, Jane, own a thriving German bakery. Reba is a reporter wanting to write a story about German Christmas traditions who comes to interview Elsie. Reba and Jane become close friends.

Here are some other aspects of the plot that add so much depth:

• Elsie's sister (in 1945) is part of the Lebensborn Program, a breeding program to take the most pure Aryan women and pairs them with German military officers to have babies to purify the Aryan race. I'm not kidding!
• Reba's fiance in Texas is a border patrol agent who is Hispanic. This causes him some turmoil.
• Elsie, in 1945, hides a little Jewish boy in her room without anyone else in her family knowing.
• Elsie's German officer has his own emotional struggles after shooting another German soldier. I won't give you the details.
• Reba isn't sure about marriage.
• Jane has never been married, but her story is a romantic one.

For the most part, I loved the way The Baker's Daughter was told. I did have some problems when the story in Germany flashed back to how Elsie met the German officer. You have to pay attention to the dates, even within each time frame.

I loved the ending. I'm so glad the loose ends were all tied up. Most people got their happily ever after and you end up feeling good after all the destruction and heartbreak of the story. The Baker's Daughter is just my kind of book and made me want to check out other books by McCoy.

The Baker's Daughter is an adult book, but mature teens who are interested in the time period, and enjoy a story of family, friendship, and romance will enjoy it. I'm certainly going to recommend this to my adult reading friends.

Published by Crown, 2012
eBook obtained from the library
304 pages

Rating: 4.5/5

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