The Lost Baker of Vienna

 Today I went to a book talk by Sharon Kurtzman, author of The Lost Baker of Vienna.  It was a wonderful addition to my enjoyment in reading the novel.

Kurtzman talked about how she was able to sit down with her mother years ago in college and hear about her mother's childhood as a Holocaust survivor. It took her many years to finally reach the moment when she could create a novel out of her mother's lived experience.  The Lost Baker of Vienna is that book.

The book is based on her mother's story but the baker and some other facts are changed to create the novel. This is a well researched plot though and the facts are real even the delicious pastries mentioned were researched in Vienna by the author.

This novel is the story of a mother and her two young adult children who have managed to live through the atrocities of the war and finally escape a DP camp to be smuggled into Vienna.  They are trying to get to family in America but the quotas are making it difficult. 

Now in Vienna with nothing they get work in a hotel kitchen and a room in a boarding house.  But life here is also still dangerous for Jews. 

Alongside this plot is the current day story of a young woman, Zoe Rosenzweig, who is working to make a career as a journalist.  When her grandfather dies and leaves her some information about her past she is determined to find out the family history.  She follows a lead to Vienna and members of the family who were connected to her grandfather and the great aunt she never knew. \

A story of love, hardship and perseverance both through the Holocaust and to learn about family history.  A willingness to take chances and work for what you believe in.