num_pages: 313
description: From the critically acclaimed author of The Hummingbird and The Curiosity comes a dazzling novel of World War IIa shimmering tale of courage determination optimism and the resilience of the human spirit set in a small Normandy village on the eve of D-DayOn June 5 1944 as dawn rises over a small town on the Normandy coast of France Emmanuelle is making the bread that has sustained her fellow villagers in the dark days since the Germans invaded her country. Only twenty-two Emma learned to bake at the side of a master Ezra Kuchen the village baker since before she was born. Apprenticed to Ezra at thirteen Emma watched with shame and anger as her kind mentor was forced to wear the six-pointed yellow star on his clothing. She was likewise powerless to help when they pulled Ezra from his shop at gunpoint the first of many villagers stolen away and never seen again.But in the years that her sleepy coastal village has suffered under the enemy Emma has silently stealthily fought back. Each day she receives an extra ration of flour to bake a dozen baguettes for the occupying troops. And each day she mixes that precious flour with ground straw to create enough dough for two extra loavescontraband bread she shares with the hungry villagers. Under the cold watchful eyes of armed soldiers she builds a clandestine network of barter and trade that she and the villagers use to thwart their occupiers. But her gift to the village is more than these few crusty loaves. Emma gives the people a taste of hopethe faith that one day the Allies will arrive to save them.
language: English
title: The Baker's Secret
publisher: William Morrow