When they first met, John, a dashing Latvian refugee, a physics Ph.D, is hoping to settle down. Michaele, a fast-talking American college student, a secular Jew, is hungry for an independent life as a writer and historian. When they meet again years later, Michaele is ready. Or so she thinks. And anyway, opposites attract, right? This might be a simple story of two people who meet, fall in love, and get married. But of course, no marriage is simple. The life Michaele and John build together intermingles sweetness — their love of good food, entertaining, and family — and complications — their ethnic and religious differences, the trauma John endured during WWII and its aftermath, Michaele’s thwarted ambitions, and John’s preoccupation with rye bread! As he opens a rye bread bakery, Michaele embarks on a European journey to understand where John grew up, excavating poignant stories of war, privation and resilience. She reevaluates her assumptions and prejudices, appreciating how rye bread represents everything about John’s homeland that he loved and lost. Michaele comes to love rye bread, too.

Nonfiction
The Rye Bread Marriage: How I Found Happiness with a Partner I’ll Never Understand
- From the Publisher
September 1, 2021
Discussion Questions

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