by Lauren Fox
First published 2021
Annelise spends her days at her parents' bakery in Feldenheim, Germany, dreaming of her future as the 1930s unfold around her. She and her family barely practice their Jewish faith, so the growing anti-Jewish rumors feel distant and unreal. But as Annelise falls in love and marries, the threats creep closer. A brick crashes through her window. Childhood friends abandon her. Customers stop coming to the bakery. When Annelise and her husband get the chance to escape to America, they must leave her parents behind, not knowing if they will survive. Decades later in Wisconsin, Annelise's granddaughter Clare discovers a collection of letters from Germany that reveals the true cost of her family's survival. The letters force Clare to confront an impossible decision between honoring her grandmother's sacrifices and pursuing her own dreams.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, 21st-century, antisemitism, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-drama, generational-trauma, historical-fiction
Setting: America, Feldenheim, Germany, Wisconsin
Period: 1930s, Decades Later
272 pages · Hardcover · Knopf Publishing Group
Content warnings: violence