Saturday Review: “A Family by Any Other Name,” a review by Sheryl Cornett of Sharon Kurtzman’s The Lost Baker of Vienna (2025) in NCLR Online Spring 2026
Like the smell of bread from a bakery, this review invites readers to take “a bite” of the book themselves. Cornett observes, “the author does not leave the reader too long in the world of grinding hardship and fear for one’s life; she weaves throughout the novel bright spots of friendship, of gratitude for bellies full of basic nourishment.” What makes The Lost Baker of Vienna so compelling to Cornett is its depiction of “love on so many levels that it brings forth miracles.”
“With the currently available abundance of WWII books revealing the Nazi atrocities and detailed murders of millions of innocent Jewish people, do we need yet another?” Cornett asks. Her question isn’t unfounded; there are countless books about World War II and Nazi cruelty. But Cornett notes the importance of these stories:
“The Lost Baker of Vienna and novels of this substance keep these truths in our public consciousness as the first generation of Holocaust survivors passes away along with World War II Veterans the world over. And, as we mark the eightieth anniversary of that war’s end, let us keep their stories alive and accessible to current and future generations.”
Read Cornett’s review here. Buy your own copy from Bookshop.org.
