Shirley Russak Wachtel

4 days ago | writersdigest.com | Shirley Russak Wachtel

It was as elusive as reaching the holy grail, and at times I feared my dream of becoming a published writer would never be attained. But lo and behold, just as I was on the cusp of turning 70, it happened. I had finally reached my lifelong dream. (Losing Your Champions Amidst Success.)My journey to becoming a writer stemmed from my love of reading. I recall spending hours filling my arms with books by Beverly Cleary and other favorites when I was as young as eight.

2 weeks ago | jewishbookcouncil.org | Shirley Russak Wachtel

At the heart of Shirley Russak Wachtel’s new novel, The Baker of Lost Memories, is Lena, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, who grows up in the shadow of both her parents’ trauma and the absence of her murdered sister, Ruby. As the story unfolds, Wachtel weaves together themes of love, loss, and self-discovery, culminating in a surprising and emotionally satisfying conclusion. Lena’s childhood is shaped both by her parents’ resilience and their emotional distance.

2 months ago | libraryjournal.com | Shirley Russak Wachtel

As Lena grows up in 1960s Brooklyn, she dreams of becoming a baker like her mother, Anya, who worked in the family’s bakery in pre–World War II Lodz, Poland, alongside her husband, Josef, and their firstborn daughter, Ruby. When the Nazis occupy Poland, Anya and Josef survive persecution and internment, but Ruby does not. They start a new life in the United States and rarely talk about the past with Lena, who wonders about the sister she never knew.