#61: The Baker's Secret

I read The Baker's Secret by Stephen P. Kiernan from start to finish today. Although not the easiest read, it was hard to put down.

On June 5, 1944, Emmanuelle (Emma) rises early to make bread for the occupying army, as she has done every day for the past few years. Little does she know that this is the last day she will do this.

At the age of thirteen, Emma became the apprentice to Ezra Kuchen, Uncle Ezra to the villagers of Vergers. Only 22 when our story begins, Emma watched in shame first as Uncle Ezra was forced to don a gold star, and in horror as he was arrested by the occupying army and summarily executed. After her father is arrested Emma begins to engage in acts of resistance, although she is never part of the Resistance.

Every morning Emma adds straw to the bread dough, enough to make 14 baguettes; 12 for the Germans, and 2 for her fellow villagers. Little by little, Emma becomes the center of a network of bartering and exchange among the villagers: bringing fuel, eggs, bread, and other necessities to friends.

Until June 5th. On that day, the network collapses. Emma, Didier (The Goat), and Odette (the owner of the cafe) are denounced by their fellow villagers and by the occupying troops. Facing execution at the hands of the brutal Nazi Captain who occupies her house, Emma once again acts courageously and leads the villagers on the path to redemption.

I really liked the last few paragraphs of The Baker's Secret. Amidst the bombings and gunfire on June 6, with their fate still unknown, "Who should swagger into the barnyard just then, but Pirate [Emma's rooster]. Feathers scorched and disheveled, he strutted before the soldiers undaunted, crowing at them in full volume: get out of his barnyard, get away from his roost" (page 304). Pirate, le coq, symbol of France, is the villagers of Vergers. Battered and beaten, but not defeated, he and they crow once again.

The events and invasions of D-Day on June 6, 1944 play a role in the novel, especially at the end. Vergers is situated one kilometer from the sea, along the Normandy coast. I did a brief search and Vergers seems to be a fictional town. However, in the acknowlegments, Kiernan mentions the book 100 Places in France Every Woman Should Go by Marcia DeSanctis and a guided visit around the villages, battlefields, and other historic sites of Normandy with Claire Lesourd. These and other secondary sources provided the historical background for the novel. Vergers appears to be no village and any village in Normandy at the time. I've visited the American Cemetery at Colleville-Sur-Mer twice.: the cemetery is humbling, the beaches are impressive, and the museum is excellent.  Here is a link to the cemetery's website: Normandy American Cemetery