I thought this was a great story and I agree, if not has heartily as some, that the "current" story was not as strong or as interesting as the story of Elsie during the war. The ending was a bit abrupt. I would, however, recommend this to friends. ( )

A haunting story told with warmth and comfort. Right up there with Sarah's Key! ( )

I probably need to shy away from anything that is written about Nazi Germany, but there is so much potential for good material there and so much excellence in some of the things already written that I find myself being pulled in again and again. Can you say "cliche"? You cannot humanize a man who runs a concentration camp by having him kill a fellow soldier who kills a Jewish woman while arresting her husband. Why can't you tell the story of a normal German family who find themselves almost automatically joining the Nazi party, but aren't fanatics, without having the story of a saved Jew interwoven? I doubt the American servicemen were so charming that every German girl fell hopelessly in love with one look. She might have explored the Lebensborn Progam, which is introduced as a side track, and take a route that isn't already over-trodden, but she didn't.

I'm sorry to say that I found her characters stilted and I never felt connected to any of them. The bouncing between then and now, with the parallel stories of Elsie (our WWII German) and Reba (our modern day American) distracted rather than added to the story. Had she stuck to Elsie's story alone, I might have remained a bit more engaged, but the stops and starts killed whatever chance there was of caring for the characters.

Then there was the attempt to draw similarities between the Nazi treatment of Jews and the mission of the border patrol in Texas. She may see those as two sides of the same coin, but it was ludicrous in my mind. Two very different issues that should be treated as such. One group is trying to destroy an entire segment of the population by murdering them...the other is trying to protect a national border from illegal entry. You might find flaws in the later and you can surely find tragedy there, but they are far from having anything in common.

I considered DNFing at several points but stuck it out to the end. It didn't really matter, she had lost me far before the end.

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This story jumps from 1945, during the Nazi Germany reign, to 2007 in El Paso, Texas. It spans the life of Elsie Schmidt, who now runs a German Bakery in El Paso, 60 years later. Reba Adams is trying to get a feel-good Christmas story from this woman and as Reba gets to know Elsie, Elsie and her daughter also get to know Reba, and you grow to understand her and how she got where she was at in her life. It was an interesting story and an eye-opening look at what the people in Germany had to endure during that time in history. As it says so well on the back cover, both women are "forced to confront the uncomfortable truths of the past and to seek out the courage to forgive". ( )

So it’s no secret based on my GR read list that I books involving WWII and the Holocaust is a Genre that I enjoy reading. I think its goes back to my childhood and growing up In Germany.
Anyway, that background leads me to The Baker’s Daughter by Sarah McCoy. Another book I learned about while on GR, and by an author whose previous work- The Time it Snowed in Puerto Rico, I enjoyed.
Once I learn that a book is about the Holocaust, I tend to not read the descriptions because I’ve found that it makes me compare books to others and I like reading with a fresh slate.
The Baker’s Daughter is written in the same tone as others such as Sarah’s Key and Those Who Save Us, in that it parallel’s two story lines- one present day and one in Europe during the 1940’s. This particular story focuses on Elise, a young teenaged girl goring up during the last months of the war. The daughter of a Baker, her family struggles under a crippling war and rations that threaten what’s left of their livelihood. Elsie’s older sister is away in the Nazi’s Lebensborn Program ( which I never heard about until reading this book) and it interesting to see a factious Pro-Nazi account ( even if it was only briefly).
The current day story involves Elsie as and the elderly co-owner of a German Bakery in Texas with her daughter when journalist Reeba walks in to write an article on her. Reba’s story follows her love-affair with an Immigration and Customs official and her struggle to understand her family.
I was much more interested in Elsie’s story than Reba’s but found Reba an enjoyable character. I just struggled to place her within the context of the story and felt that Riki’s full story would probably be a better tie-in with the overall story in terms of Riki’s struggle with his job. I was a little worried that when his job was instructed there would be a parallel between that and what was happening in Elsie’s story, but there wasn’t.
I really enjoyed this story, again Elsie’s much more than Reba’s and I think this book is a great addition to my shelves. I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys this “genre” as well as to those who enjoyed Sarah’s Key and Those Who Save Us.
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