Stephen Kiernan: The Baker’s Secret Book Launch
Sunday, April 30 at 4:00 pm
Join Stephen P. Kiernan to celebrate the launch of his new novel, The Baker’s Secret. This event is a fundraiser for the Vermont Foodbank.
Thank you to August First for providing the delicious pastries and pumpkin bread that we’ll enjoy at this event!
ABOUT THE BOOK: From the critically acclaimed author of The Hummingbird and The Curiosity comes a dazzling novel of World War II—a shimmering tale of courage, determination, optimism, and the resilience of the human spirit, set in a small Normandy village on the eve of D-Day
On June 5, 1944, as dawn rises over a small town on the Normandy coast of France, Emmanuelle is making the bread that has sustained her fellow villagers in the dark days since the Germans invaded her country.
Only twenty-two, Emma learned to bake at the side of a master, Ezra Kuchen, the village baker since before she was born. Apprenticed to Ezra at thirteen, Emma watched with shame and anger as her kind mentor was forced to wear the six-pointed yellow star on his clothing. She was likewise powerless to help when they pulled Ezra from his shop at gunpoint, the first of many villagers stolen away and never seen again.
But in the years that her sleepy coastal village has suffered under the enemy, Emma has silently, stealthily fought back. Each day, she receives an extra ration of flour to bake a dozen baguettes for the occupying troops. And each day, she mixes that precious flour with ground straw to create enough dough for two extra loaves—contraband bread she shares with the hungry villagers. Under the cold, watchful eyes of armed soldiers, she builds a clandestine network of barter and trade that she and the villagers use to thwart their occupiers.
But her gift to the village is more than these few crusty loaves. Emma gives the people a taste of hope—the faith that one day the Allies will arrive to save them.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Stephen P. Kiernan is a graduate of Middlebury College, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. He spent more than twenty years as a journalist, winning numerous awards for excellence in the field, before turning to fiction writing. The Baker’s Secret is his third novel.
DATE: Sunday, April 30th at 4pm
LOCATION: Phoenix Books Burlington
ADMISSION: Proceeds from ticket sales will go to the Vermont Foodbank. Your $3 ticket comes with a coupon for $5 off a copy of The Baker’s Secret. Coupons expire at closing the evening of the event.
BENEFICIARY: Founded in 1986, the Vermont Foodbank has grown to be the state’s largest hunger-relief organization, serving Vermont through a network of food shelves, meal sites, schools, hospitals, and housing sites. The Foodbank’s mission is to gather and share quality food and nurture partnerships so that no one in Vermont goes hungry. In FY2016, the Vermont Foodbank distributed more than 12 million pounds of food to 153,100 Vermonters. The Vermont Foodbank, a member of Feeding America, is nationally recognized as one of the most effective and efficient nonprofits and food banks in the nation.
COSPONSORS: August First is a locally-owned bakery/cafe in downtown Burlington, Vermont serving from-scratch breakfast, lunch, pastries, and bread. Their space is a big renovated garage where it’s bright and warm in the winter, and breezy and open in the summer. The open space lets customers see the bakers in action, creating the bakery’s European style breads and pastries.