From deep in the heart of Texas to the depths of World War II-rav­aged Ger­many, The Baker’s Daugh­ter explores the past and present lives of its engross­ing characters.

The baker’s daugh­ter is Elsie Schmidt Meri­wether. The sto­ry of how she sur­vives almost insur­mount­able tra­vails and even­tu­al­ly owns and oper­ates a Ger­man bak­ery in El Paso, Texas will keep the read­er total­ly absorbed. Alter­nat­ing with the strong and resource­ful Elsie’s his­to­ry is the present-day sto­ry of the unsure and ten­ta­tive Reba Adams. Reba is com­ing to terms with her own life his­to­ry and choic­es. Both women har­bor many secrets and hid­den pasts.

Elsie Schmidt’s fam­i­ly mem­bers are good Ger­mans dis­play­ing blind faith in Nazi ide­ol­o­gy. Elsie’s sis­ter, Hazel, is part of the Lebens­born Pro­gram and proud­ly pro­cre­ates pure Aryans. Her father receives bak­ing sup­plies from high rank­ing Nazis and encour­ages Elsie to mar­ry a much old­er SS offi­cer. He gifts her with a stolen engage­ment ring bear­ing a Hebrew inscrip­tion. Elsie’s heart and brav­ery in the face of great per­il are nev­er more evi­dent as when she hides a young Jew­ish boy in her bed­room for weeks.

Reba Adams, a mag­a­zine fea­ture writer, meets Elsie in 2007 when she inter­views her for an upcom­ing Christ­mas tra­di­tions issue. Reba has left her native Vir­ginia for El Paso, Texas and is involved with Riki Chavez, a U.S. Bor­der Patrol agent. Reba con­stant­ly fluc­tu­ates in her deci­sions and actions about her career, life, and rela­tion­ships. She comes to grow and under­stand her­self through her friend­ship with Elsie and Elsie’s daugh­ter, Jane. Her on/​off rela­tion­ship with Riki is fur­ther com­pli­cat­ed as he strug­gles with his con­science about immi­gra­tion issues he con­fronts daily.

Both women’s sto­ries are deft­ly woven togeth­er with much detail and descrip­tion. They touch upon clash­ing polit­i­cal beliefs, the individual’s respon­si­bil­i­ty for his or her own actions, and the many roles of women in society.

The Baker’s Daugh­ter will con­stant­ly tempt your taste buds with mouth- water­ing descrip­tions and ref­er­ences to hearty Ger­man breads and lus­cious cakes and desserts. As an added bonus the book fea­tures the recipes for many of the sweets men­tioned, as well as some Mex­i­can treats. What a reward­ing end­ing for this riv­et­ing sto­ry of a baker’s life.