The Rye Bread Marriage is an interesting memoir written by Michaele Weissman. This is the story of her courtship and marriage to John Melngailis. Michaele describes him as a dashingly handsome Latvian refugee who loves rye bread. She is an American Jewish young college student looking for adventure. When they first meet, Michaele is not ready to get married and settle down. Years later when John is now divorced from his first wife they meet again now ready to begin a life together.
This book tells the story of their marriage, of compromise and learning to adjust to another's behaviors and ideas. How love if it is strong can keep a marriage together through the day to day disagreements and hurt.
Coming from different backgrounds Michaele works hard to learn about John's difficult Latvian childhood and learn to enjoy the rye bread that he is so passionate about. They travel many times to Latvia, John returning to his childhood memories and Michaele to learn about the family he came from. Finally they also travel to Lithuania to learn a little about her Jewish heritage.
This book shows how much we are shaped by our families and our childhood experiences. They make us the person we are and have a strong impact on the relationships we have. This is a very open look into the messiness of marriage, learning to tolerate and make concessions to stay in a relationship.
It is also about rye bread the difference between the original Russian bread and the American version. It is learning to like the dense dark strong taste of a real rye bread. The book leaves me feeling better about the messiness of my everyday life and also interesting in ordering some of the rye bread from Black Rooster Bakery, John's bakery where he has perfected the Latvian rye of his childhood. I know my husband will love the taste, it will make him happy. That is my goal.
No comments:
Post a Comment