The Baker's Secret by Stephen P Kiernan

I had to post about The Baker's Secret – it is about how a village close to the coast in Normandy copes with German occupation in the time leading up to D Day.  It is well written but the casual and sadistic violence of occupation and war generally doesn't make it an easy read.

I have seen reviews of this book that wax lyrical about how brave all the French people were – in fact I expect they did what they had to – in that respect I do feel the book maybe put the French on too high a pedestal and also depicted the Germans pretty much as unmitigated evil.

I guess this helped the story.  The story is a gripping one with a heroine who stoically and with despair about the future sets about helping others in small ways through an intricate barter system.

The cover is attractive but is unresponsive to the story.  The baker does not have a bicycle  - in fact the Germans pick up her baguettes every morning on a motorcycle.