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Description edit
In 1945, Elsie Schmidt is a naive teenager, as eager for her first sip of champagne as she is for her first kiss. She and her family have been protected from the worst of the terror and desperation overtaking her country by a high-ranking Nazi who wishes to marry her. So when an escaped Jewish... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
This is the story of a young Elsie Schmidt who lived during WWII in Nazi Germany with her parents who ran a bakery, seventy-seven year old Elsie living in El Paso, Texas, who ran her own bakery, and Reba Adams whose life changed when she met Elsie and her daughter Jane in order to write an... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Characters/People edit
- ELSIE SCHMIDT MERIWETHER: A strong-willed, brave German woman who struggles with honoring her family and country while doing what she believes is right. We see her in the 1940s in Germany and in 2007 in El Paso, Texas.
- Mrs. Reba Adams Chavez: A journalist from Virginia who is running from her past and hesitant to put down roots in El Paso
- Jane Meriweather: Elsie's daughter, a baker who befriends Reba
- Riki Chavez: Reba's boyfriend, a border patrol officer
- Deedee Adams: Reba's older sister, an attorney
- Hazel Schmidt: Elsie's older sister, who moves away from her family to be a "companion" to Nazi soldiers
- Sasha Rose: Reba's college roommate who has a "perfect" family and inspires Reba's assertion that she does not eat dairy
- Julius: Elsie's nephew, son of Hazel and Peter, who is a "child of the Fatherland"
- Sergio Rodriguez: A Latino man who frequently visits Elsie's German Bakery
- Max Schmidt: Elsie's father, a baker in Germany
- Tobias Zuckermann: A Jewish boy with a beautiful singing voice
- Robby Lee: An American soldier
- Peter Klaus Abend: Hazel's fiance, Julius's father
- Luana Schmidt: Elsie's mother
- Jane Meriwether: Elsie's daughter, who befriends Reba
- Trudi Abend Spreckels: The sister of Peter Abend, Julius's father.
- Ovidia: Hazel's friend who smuggles her mail to the post office
- Bert Mosley: Riki's colleague at the border patrol station
- Frau Rattelmüller: An eccentric older woman whose family has been killed and who frequently shows up at the Schmidts' bakery before opening time to get her bread.
- Josef Hub: A Nazi officer who is courting Elsie
- Leigh Goldman: The editor of the California magazine where Reba believes she is meant to be
- Günther Kremer: A Nazi officer who is unkind to Elsie
- Friedhelm: Elsie's nephew, the weaker of Hazel's twins
- Lillian: Elsie's niece, the stronger of Hazel's twins
- Richelle Spreckels: A girl in school with Lillian, Hazel's daughter.
- Mr. Adams: Add a description of this character.
- Gabriel
- Achim Thalberg
- Jacquelyn
- Moritz Schneider
- Carmen
- Carol
- Frau Abend: Peter's mother.
- Victor Garcia
- Herr Ahren
- Frau Reimers
- Onkel Albert
- Herr Hochschild
- Sam
- Adrian Rodriguez
- Joachim
- Frau Hochschild
- Garza
- Linda Calhoun
- Brigette
- Cecile
- Bitsy Schneider
- Carlos
- Jase DeLuca
- Sarah McCoy
First Sentence edit
Long after the downstairs oven had cooled to the touch and the upstairs had grown warm with bodies cocooned in cotton sheets, she slipped her feet from beneath the thin coverlet and made her way through the darkness, neglecting her slippers for fear that their clip might wake her sleeping husband.
Glossary edit
- A dirndl <ˈdɪʁndl̩>: a type of traditional dress worn in Germany – especially Bavaria – Liechtenstein, Austria, and South Tyrol, based on the historical costume of Alpine peasants. Dresses that are loosely based on the dirndl are known as Landhausmode. A woman wearing a dirndl Women wearing dirndls Women wearing dirndls is a type of traditional dress worn in Germany – especially Bavaria – Liechtenstein, Austria, and South Tyrol, based on the historical costume of Alpine peasants. Dresses that are loosely based on the dirndl are known as Landhausmode
Series & Lists edit
This book is in 2012 Published Books. (community list)
Authors & Contributors edit
- Sarah McCoy (Author)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: broadway
Country: usa
Publication Date: 2012
ISBN: Add the ISBN.
Page Count: 304
Publisher: broadway
Country: usa
Publication Date: 2012
ISBN: Add the ISBN.
Page Count: 304
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
- Dewey: 813
Subjects edit
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