Tag Archives: #Europe

Book Review: The Lost Baker of Vienna: A Novel by Sharon Kurtzman

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Happy Publishing Day!      

Published by Pamela Dorman Books

About the Book:

In 2018, Zoe Rosenzweig is reeling after the loss of her beloved grandfather, a Holocaust survivor. She becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to her family during the war.

Vienna, 1946: Chana Rosenzweig has endured the horrors of war to find herself, her mother, and her younger brother finally free in Vienna. But freedom doesn’t look like they’d imagined it would, as they struggle to make a living and stay safe.

Despite the danger, Chana sneaks out most nights to return to the hotel kitchen where she works as a dishwasher, using the quiet nighttime hours to bake her late father’s recipes. Soon, Chana finds herself caught in a dangerous love triangle, torn between the black-market dealer who has offered marriage and protection, and the apprentice baker who shares her passions. How will Chana balance her love of baking against her family’s need for security?

My thoughts:

It is not often I read an historical fiction story of the aftermath of in months or year post World War II. I wonder how often people think about the dangers the Jewish people still faced during that time or how they had to completely rebuild their lives. There is also the fact that they were at the mercy of the allied forces and not all of them were honorable people to say the least. The Lost Baker of Vienna focuses on what the Rosenzweigs’ family experienced during and after the war.  

The Lost Baker of Vienna is a dual timeline weaved with mystery, love, survival, loss, and rebuilding life after the horrors of war.

I was fully immersed in this story and the outcome. Wonderful character development and the author portrayed a realistic reality to the post war era. As I understand it, this story is inspired by her own family’s experience after the war which makes this story even more impactful.

I rated this book five stars.

Stephanie

I obtained an ARC through NetGalley from the publisher for an honest review.

Reader’s Log 050: The Greatest Knight

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Shortly after “The Greatest Knight” by Elizabeth Chadwick came out in the early 2000s, I read this amazing story and it was the first time I read anything about William Marshal. Chadwick’s stories are among my favorite historical fiction reads. After I read her story, I did a little research om William Marshal but since then, hadn’t picked up a biography on his life. Recently I discovered Thomas Asbridge’s book about Marshall and the reviews have been promising.

I have been adding titles to my wish-list and for books I want to read in the fall-time or next year and I will definitely be reading Asbridge’s book.

I wish there was more time on the day because there are so many intriguing books out there that are calling to be read.

Stephanie

The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick by Elizabeth Chadwick

A penniless young knight, William Marshal is plucked from obscurity when he saves the life of Henry II’s formidable queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine. In gratitude, she appoints him tutor in arms to her son. However, being a royal favorite brings its share of conflict and envy. Besmirched by his enemies, banished from court, William seeks redemption in pilgrimages across Europe and the Holy Land, returning to find bygones forgotten and his prowess on the battlefield in demand. The only knight ever to unhorse the legendary Richard Coeur de Lion, William is offered the hand in marriage of Isabelle de Clare, 18-year-old ward of the King. Strangers to each other on their wedding day, the pair must immediately confront deadly political intrigue, strained family loyalties and betrayals. As King Richard prepares to depart on crusade, other men, including the King’s own brother John, are waiting for their moment to seize power – it is William’s duty to stand in their path…

The Greatest Knight: The Remarkable Life of William Marshal, the Power Behind Five English Thrones by Thomas Asbridge

Caught on the wrong side of an English civil war and condemned by his father to the gallows at age five, William Marshal defied all odds to become one of England’s most celebrated knights. Thomas Asbridge’s rousing narrative chronicles William’s rise, using his life as a prism to view the origins, experiences, and influence of the knight in British history.

In William’s day, the brutish realities of war and politics collided with romanticized myths about an Arthurian “golden age,” giving rise to a new chivalric ideal. Asbridge details the training rituals, weaponry, and battle tactics of knighthood, and explores the codes of chivalry and courtliness that shaped their daily lives. These skills were essential to survive one of the most turbulent periods in English history—an era of striking transformation, as the West emerged from the Dark Ages.

A leading retainer of five English kings, Marshal served the great figures of this age, from Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine to Richard the Lionheart and his infamous brother John, and was involved in some of the most critical phases of medieval history, from the Magna Carta to the survival of the Angevin/Plantagenet dynasty. Asbridge introduces this storied knight to modern readers and places him firmly in the context of the majesty, passion, and bloody intrigue of the Middle Ages.

The Greatest Knight features 16 pages of black-and-white and color illustrations.

Book Review: The Resistance Bakery by Siobhan Curham

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Pub Date: Sep 24 2024 by Bookouture

Book Description:

Paris, 1943. The scent of fresh baguettes hangs in the air as Coralie unbolts the door to her bakery with trembling fingers. She must get out of the city. Hiding her precious leather recipe book inside her coat, she promises never to let the secret locations of the people she worked tirelessly to save fall into German hands…

Present day. Raven is unhappy about being shipped off to the other side of the country for the summer to stay with the mysterious French grandmother she barely knows. And discovering a tattered, leather-bound book with yellowed pages full of handwritten recipes and coded numbers, she is stunned.

Her grandmother has never baked for her. And she refuses to talk about Paris, or the past. Flipping through the book, a faded photograph of a laughing couple falls out. As Raven scans the writing on the back she can scarcely believe her eyes…

What really happened in that tiny French bakery all those years ago? And could this forgotten recipe book finally bring healing to a woman still haunted by wartime secrets? Or has Raven’s discovery shattered any chance of bonding with hergrandmother, before her time runs out?

My thoughts:

I have read many world war II historical novels over the last two decades and I must say, “The Resistance Bakery”, is now at the top of my list of favorites. There are some stories that are so engaging, thought provoking, and so brilliantly told, one can’t exactly find the right words to express their appreciation for such immersive story-telling. This is one of those stories in my opinion.

One of the many topics explored in this story I admire Curham depicting is of forbidden love or love in the most dire and dangerous scenarios-if you will- and the consequences that results either in its tragic end or happy ends and new beginnings.

I must say she also touches greatly on relationships and interactions between people that we consider the enemy or evil at best during war and afterwards. It is certainly a taboo subject and even today more times than not, people still can’t have an open and honest conversation about the subject. You see, Curham brings humanity to the table and gives you food for thought. No pun intended. In this story, not everything is cut and dry and often times not everything is what it seems. I respect that aspect of the story and it allows us to know-as humans-how wrong or misinformed our personal assumptions and beliefs can be towards a person or people and the situation they’re in themselves. This just goes to show that our hearts will deceives us.

Curham’s descriptions of the pastries Coralie baked activated my senses of wonderful scents and imagination of being transported to a bakery so much so I immediately thought of the French bakery not four miles from my home and the delectable treats it has to offer. This just goes to show how atmospheric this story is told.

I love a good resistance story and a French one to boot. There is suspense, mystery, secrets, courage, forgiveness, love, laughter, music, sorrow, anger, danger, heroism, and then some… A truly beautiful story. I will be thinking about, “The Resistance Bakery” for a very long time.

Stephanie Hopkins

I reviewed an ARC of this book from the publishers through NetGalley for an honest review.