The Underground Bakery by Gosia Nealon

I always love a good WWII novel and it’s especially interesting to read about those who Resisted in Europe. This new novel from Bookouture was an engaging and exciting read that those who love this genre will enjoy! Nela and her father are sent to the Lodz ghetto and work to run their bakery and support their friends, to help them survive the Nazi occupation.

Thank you to my friends at Bookouture for a review galley!

Here’s the scoop:

Poland, 1943. “The Germans are here,” Jakub whispers over the pounding at the bakery door. I snatch my baby from her crib but there’s no time to hide, the footsteps are coming closer. Jakub and I exchange a glance: they know what we’ve done…

Present day. Heidi arrives in Poland, a scribbled address in her hand. It has been one week since she found the photo of her grandmother Nela holding a baby outside a bakery and gazing at a man who nobody knows. With her grandparents gone and her mother’s illness getting worse, Heidi wants to find out the truth before it’s too late.

Stepping inside the bakery, Heidi inhales the scent of sweet apple cakes and fresh bread. She shows the photo to the man behind the counter, but her hopes are shattered when Olek orders her out of his shop, cursing the couple who led the Nazis to his family’s door during the war. But Nela was Jewish. Why would she risk her own life?

Determined, Heidi forces Olek to confront what he is so desperate to bury. As his resolve crumbles, they uncover stories of an underground network hidden within the bakery’s walls. But will the truth about Heidi’s grandfather give her mother the peace she needs, or will it tear apart her family for good?

An absolutely gripping and page-turning World War 2 historical fiction novel by Polish American author Gosia Nealon. Fans of Siobhan Curham, Lorna Cook and The Nightingale will be hooked.

About the Author:

While Gosia Nealon is a proud New Yorker, she was born and raised in Poland. Her journey to the Big Apple revealed a wealth of cultural differences, but also the values that connect us all. Like the fierce desire to protect family, find love, and ultimately, discover who we are and why we’re here.
Gosia’s award-winning short stories have always delved into life’s biggest questions, but it was the drama, sacrifice, and tragedy of WWII that led her to pen her debut novel, which won a gold medal in the 2022 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY).
Growing up in Poland, Gosia heard many firsthand accounts of the war, told from a perspective rarely captured in mainstream literature. She was compelled to breathe life into two young people falling in love in the midst of the most terrifying conflict of our time.
When Gosia isn’t tapping away at her laptop, she’s often walking the streets of New York. With her husband and two young sons in tow, they search for the most succulent pierogi, transporting them back to the cobbled streets of her childhood.