Zoe Rosenzweig is a food journalist, covering food trucks and writing about what could be the best grilled cheese around. She comes by her love of food writing honestly. Her grandfather, Aron, also worked in the food industry, taking her along to grocers conferences when she was a child.

When Zoe’s parents were killed in an accident, her grandparents stepped in to raise her. Growing up, Zoe knew very little about her family’s history. Her grandfather, a survivor of the Holocaust, never talked about his experience, even though she asked about it on occasion. What she did know was that she resembled his sister in likeness. Zoe believed that her great-aunt Chana died in a fire shortly after World War II, before she was able to make it to America.

"This is a wonderful book, full of both tears and moments of joy. At certain points, your heart will feel wrung out, but Kurtzman makes it all worthwhile and brings the story together in a most marvelous way."

When Aron passes away, Zoe is devastated by his death and feels alone in the world. Her financial situation is also precarious, and she stands to lose his house, which is the only tie she has to her family. Digging through old papers, she uncovers clues that lead her to a conference in Vienna and notes about a mysterious family of bakers that her grandfather seemed to know. On a whim, she reaches out to them and gets an invite to meet at the conference and an opportunity to learn more about Chana and her family.

What transpires is a love story --- a love of baking, a love of family, and a love for life. Chana yearns to bake again, to reimagine recipes and create new ones in honor of her father, who was killed during the war. Working as a dishwasher in a hotel kitchen, she spends her nights baking with the apprentice pastry chef, who is a bright light in her life. Baking gives her space to heal and allows her to open her heart to love and thoughts of a new life. But she faces a dilemma. Does she want a safe romance with the apprentice baker, or a passionate relationship with the black-market dealer who helped her family and offered protection?

Sharon Kurtzman takes us back in time, introducing us to Zoe’s family, who arrives in Vienna following the end of World War II. They are slowly recovering from their horrific experiences in a concentration camp and, newly reunited, learning to be a family again. We meet Chana, Aron, and their mother, Ruth (Zoe’s great-grandmother), as they haltingly begin to live again and trust those willing to help them. That trust does come with new dangers, which they are willing to accept in order to start their lives anew. Zoe begins to fully comprehend all that they had been through, which is much more daring and dangerous than she ever imagined.

I adore novels that allow both readers and the main character to discover something at the same time. We are there as Zoe learns about Chana’s strength and determination to make something more of her life, to rebuild and fully explore who she is and what she is capable of as a baker. We see Chana find herself and excel at baking once more, which is the one thing that brings her peace and keeps the memory of her father alive. The love story that began among survivors in 1946 continues in Zoe’s timeline as she finally understands her family’s history. 

Kurtzman’s mother, aunt and grandmother, all of whom were Holocaust survivors, inspired THE LOST BAKER OF VIENNA, which adds significantly to the novel’s power and resonance. It is heartbreaking and devastating in one chapter, and a heartwarming and touching love story in the next. I love how Kurtzman takes us back in time while still keeping us rooted in the present. This is a wonderful book, full of both tears and moments of joy. At certain points, your heart will feel wrung out, but Kurtzman makes it all worthwhile and brings the story together in a most marvelous way.