Well written interesting novel.A book about the. daughter of holocaust survivors and their relationship.Strange episode when her friend Pearl disappears and then reappears later on in the story.#NetGalley #fandomhouse

This book is an intimate look at complex family dynamics, both blood bonds, and those we consider family. The story brings you back in time, and really shows you how the past can echo through to future generations. It’s a ripple effect, generational trauma that continues to be passed on, tearing families apart and making them distant instead of pushing them closer. War devastates, and even though Lena didn’t directly experience it, she still feels the ways in which it left her parents scarred. I got lost in the memories and emotions that flowed off the page, Wachtel truly brings both characters and setting to life around the reader. It’s like stepping back through time. If you’re looking for an emotional, and at times heartbreaking, read, then you’ll want to grab this.

It took me awhile to get into this one. I'm glad I stuck it out but it did drag in places. Overall, a good read!

Rich, poignant, and haunting!

The Baker of Lost Memories is a simmering, heart-tugging tale that transports you to Brooklyn during the 1960s and into the life of one Jewish family, especially the youngest daughter Lena, who even though was born after the war, struggles to understand and overcome the family’s extreme loss and silent pain caused by the Nazis.

The prose is tight and intense. The characters are multilayered, vulnerable, and scarred. And the plot is a tender tale of life, loss, trauma, tragedy, grief, guilt, loneliness, desperation, familial drama, secrets, survival, redemption, and new beginnings.

Overall, The Baker of Lost Memories is a compelling, evocative, immersive story by Wachtel that I thoroughly enjoyed and which had just the right amount of intrigue, harrowing history, and palpable emotion to be a captivating tale for lovers like myself of the historical fiction genre.

Lena just wants to be a baker like her mother was in Poland before World War II. But really, she wants to make her mother love her, like her sister who disappeared. Lena goes to college and gets married. Her husband ends up buying her a bakery and they become part of the community where many stop for cookies and cakes. Lena’s life is not what she pictured it, even if she is baking.

The Baker of Lost Memories is a nice historical novel of love, and memories, and community. Also how we comfort ourselves when life doesn’t look like we want it to.

Thank you NetGalley and Little A #TheBakerofLostMemories #NetGalley

My thanks to Net Galley and Little A for this arc to review.

I liked this book. Josef and Anya were very likeable characters that you felt something for with their first daughter s fate and them escaping to American , having their second daughter, and opening the bakeries. Great family saga, and well written.

My issues. The Pearl part of the story. Where did she go when she popped back later in the book? The explanation of her story by her father, then the last chapter with her. What was that? Then Lena. How she treated her parents through most of the book. And Luke! Lol...don't get me started with him.

I just couldn't connect to this book - the characters are fully developed, but I just didn't feel anything about them. The storyline is full of historical detail and that part was interesting. It seemed slow starting and dragged a bit, I found it hard to stay interested.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a temporary, digital ARC in return for my review.

A wonderful read!
This novel drew me in from the very first page and kept me hooked until the end. The characters were vibrant and relatable, the writing was engaging, and the story had just the right balance of heart and humor. Highly recommend!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

This is a story about a family in two time periods. The undertone of generational trauma from WW2 has penetrated their relationships. Lena’s decisions and sometimes their painful outcomes provide depth to her character as she struggles to obtain her goals. as We are also privy to the agony Lena’s parents faced in Poland. The dual time periods and characters made this an interesting read.

This had potential but then fell flat for me and I couldn't get the energy to pick it up. Sad because the plot sounded interesting and the cover is gorgeous but it was not engaging my historical fiction heart. Sorry = thank you for the advanced read.

This was an interesting story of historical fiction that focuses on the effects of a hidden family history and generational trauma. While the storylines were interesting, I feel that at times, the story was stretched too long and at other times, it seemed rushed. Overall, a good book. Thanks #NetGalley

"The Baker of Lost Memories" is enjoyable but loses steam around the halfway mark. Lena's constant indifference and annoyance of her parents coupled with Luke's narcissistic abuse and manipulation got to be tiresome. The ending was rushed and I had hoped for more of a storyline with Kenny.

**Thank you Net Galley for a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.**

The Baker of Lost Memories is nothing short of an emotional roller coaster, it will tug at your heart strings even more so if you are a parent. This novel is told in dual timelines past and present. We begin in the old country of Poland in the 1940's during the Nazi occupation, we meet the Lodz family, Anya and Josef. Anya was raised in a bakery, upon her father's passing the bakery is given to Anya and Josef, Anya has always desired to have a child and really wanted a daughter especially. Anya gives birth to her first child Ruby, and is head over heels, the little girl wants for nothing. Ruby is very much like her mother, loves baking, very curious and steadfast little girl. Ruby is however born with a deformity which makes her parents even more conscious about the attention that is drawn to Ruby. After being placed into a ghetto and the loss of their beloved Ruby, Anya and Josef surviving Auschwitz, they find a family member in America that is willing to sponsor them. Upon, leaving the old country Anya finds out some changes along the way.

Then our book arrives in 1960's and fast forward to New York City. Lena had never felt loved, accepted or wanted by her mother Anya. Lena's greatest joy in life is her best friend, Pearl. But when a horrific accident happens, and Pearl vanishes without a trace Lena tries to be the best daughter that she can and win over her mother. This book continues on into Lena's adult life, where she goes to college, meet her future husband gets married and opens her own bakery. (Thinking this is her real dream). Lena finds herself miserable as this is not her dream life.

By alternating between Lena's current hardships and her parents' horrific recollections, the novel's intergenerational viewpoint gives it depth. As she starts to comprehend the nuances of her ancestry, Lena discovers tidbits of her parents' background in both eerie and hopeful situations. The contrasting warmth and weight of familial bonds are masterfully captured in Wachtel's writing, particularly in the tender moments between Lena and her mother Anya.

I felt as the reader you experience every emotion, action and adventure, trial and tribulation that the characters go through. I find the characters very relatable and likable aside from Luke. Luke I personally found selfish and egotistical. The moment a man told me I wouldn't have something if it wasn't for him. He would have been on the curb. Anya, I resonated with greatly, the hurt and gut wrecking heart ache that she experienced as a mother. Losing a child is never easy and I feel like Anya in her fear to lose another let that affect her parenting, as a parent of lose you want to love your child and get close to them but at the same time, you're so scared to lose another.

Overall, I really loved this book and would love to read another by this author. Thanks to Net galley and the publisher for an ARC of this masterpiece. I will be recommending it to all of my historical fiction- nonfiction friends and readers.

It’s 1960, and Lena is living in Brooklyn with her parents and hoping to be a baker like her mother. Her parents owned a bakery in Poland, before they ended up in under Nazi control. While she doesn’t always feel loved by her parents, she is always loved by her best friend Pearl. As they grow up, the families traumas become more pronounced, and Lena pulls away.

So while reading I felt like the synopsis of this book was not really an accurate representation of the book. However, When I went to write my own, I realized that you can’t say too much without giving things away. I really struggled with the mother/daughter relationship in this one. I understood why Anya would have a hard time with motherhood after everything she had been through, but at the same time I felt so much for Lena and the shoes she felt she needed to fill in order to make her parents love her. This was a slow burn for sure, and I wish we got a bit more in the ending as it felt a bit abrupt, but I really enjoyed the story.

Thank you to @otrpr for my gifted copy of this book!

The Baker of Lost Memories by Shirley Russak Wachtel is a recommended family drama/historical fiction.
Anya and Josef lost their first daughter, Ruby, but they survived the Holocaust before moving from Poland to America. There they had another daughter, Lena. While growing up, Lena always felt her parents distance from her but she had a best friend, Pearl, who tragically disappears from Lena’s life. The narrative goes on to follow Lena growing up, marrying, and owning a bakery in 1960's Brooklyn.

The quality of the writing is good and has a lot of potential as it deals with trauma and the effects of it on a family. The plot is interesting, mainly follows Lena's struggles with her marriage and her work at the bakery, but the pacing is uneven, verging on glacially slow at times. The narrative alternates between the point-of-view of Anya and Lena and provides insight into the distance between mother and daughter and the struggles in continuing their relationship. Most of the interpersonal problems, both with Lena's marriage and with her mother, could have been resolved with an open, honest discussion.

Honestly, I never felt emotionally invested in the characters or the novel, likely due to the uneven pacing. Introducing Pearl suddenly coming back into Lena's life was an unbelievable aspect to the plot. I deduced what was up right away, could not suspend disbelief, and rejected the premise. Perhaps people who relish all historical fiction novels will enjoy this more than I did.
Thanks to Little A for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published on Edelweiss, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the chance to read and review this book. All opinions are my own.
This is the story of Lena and her relationship with her parents. Her parents have suffered a great tragedy right before WWII in Poland. Now they live in Brooklyn with their grown daughter Lena, who has tried all of her life to please and understand her parents (especially her mother). Through loss, understanding and a lot of love, their relationship starts to mend. I liked this book and especially enjoyed reading about the bakery. Overall, this is a good book that deals with the tragedies of war, and the effects it can have on a family for many years.

Definitely a little confused at this book at the revelation about Pearl and put off by the relationship between Lena and her parents. Almost to the point of being uncomfortable as the reader and not sure if I wanted to finish.

There was life before the war came to Poland, and there was life ‘after’.

This was painful to read as is the case for any WWII based story. Unimaginable physical and mental pain like that maybe never leaves us. And it has colored her second daughter’s life.

Lena tries to live up to the daughter who didn’t come home from school. I’m not sure there was any sort of communication about things, just Lena in her head.

There came a point where I was frustrated by all of the pain which could have been lessened by communication.

Rather depressing to the end.


NetGalley/ June 01, 2025 Little A

Not sure this book was a favorite. It started out strong…I was really invested in Anya’ and Josef’s life and story… I was loving the bakery element as well. But as it continued I felt the story became a bit disjointed and went in directions that didn’t seem to flow well.
Overall just ok for me

A very good premise and plot, but pacing was a major issue and many important parts felt massively underdeveloped and wrapped up too neatly to be plausible.

I had hoped for more from this.



Thank you to Little A and NetGalley for the DRC