Authors Interviewing Characters: Shirley Russak Wachtel

The Baker of Lost Memories 

From the author of A Castle in Brooklyn comes an epic novel spanning decades about the broken bonds of family, memories of war, and redemption and hope in the face of heartbreaking loss.

Growing up in 1960s Brooklyn, Lena wants to be a baker just like her mother was back in Poland prior to World War II. But questions about those days, and about a sister Lena never even knew, are ignored with solemn silence. It’s as if everything her parents left behind was a subject never to be broached.

The one person in whom Lena can confide is her best friend, Pearl. When she suddenly disappears from Lena’s life, Lena forges college, love and marriage with a wonderful man, the dream of owning a bakery becoming a reality, and the hope that someday Pearl will return to share in Lena’s happiness—and to be there for her during the unexpected losses to come.

Only when Lena discovers the depth of her parents’ anguish, and a startling truth about her own past, can they rebuild a family and overcome the heart-wrenching memories that have torn them apart.

An Interview with Lena of The Baker of Lost Memories by Shirley Russak Wachtel

Hello, Lena. You are probably best known as the baker of Lena’s Creations, but you gave that all up rather suddenly and are now working as an attorney. Why the change in careers?

Actually, the change was not as sudden as you might think. The Brooklyn Girl’s Bake Shoppe in Bensonhurst, our first store, was successful initially, but as the population changed and costs grew, we were forced to give it up. Our second bakery in Williamsburg was even more successful, especially once I started baking my custom cookies, but then the Grand Supermarket opened across the street, and it was hard to keep up. Sadly, the fire made the store irretrievable.

It is sad, but as an entrepreneur, wasn’t there some part of you that wanted to start again? 

Not really. You see, the bakeries were my husband’s idea, and while I have loved baking ever since I was a child, I think I would have been happier to keep it as a hobby. I enjoy the challenges in the courtroom, so once being a fulltime baker was no longer tenable, I pursued a career as a lawyer. 

Was pleasing your husband the real reason you went into the bakery business?

It was a part of it, yes. But I also did it to prove something to my parents. My parents owned a bakery in Lodz before the war. They were good bakers and proud ones too. I had a sister who worked with them in the bakery before I was born. Sadly, she died in the war, and I think I set out to prove to them that I could be just as good at baking, just as good as my sister.

Can you describe what life was like for you as a child?

From the outside, my life seemed idyllic. As an only child, I was protected and coddled. I had everything I could want, a warm bed, plenty of food to fill my belly, and during the winter, multiple sweaters underneath a warm woolen coat. My parents made sure that I had all the things they were deprived of. Summers we would stay in a bungalow colony in the Catskills where there were other families who were “greenhorns,” other survivors trying to establish new lives in this country. I didn’t have many friends then, but often kept to myself. It’s strange, but I sometimes felt as if I were the parent, having to take care of my mother and father. I am talking about emotionally, of course.  It was as if they carried an invisible cloak, especially my mother, concealing a deep sadness which I was a witness to on occasion. Sometimes tears would come to her eyes when she would brush my hair or take warm rolls out of the oven. Other times, I would catch her staring out a window, looking up at the moon. I think she was reliving the past then, and I sensed her desire to go back to happier times. Those were the times I tried to protect them by not asking too many questions, even though there was so much I wanted to find out, particularly about the sister I never knew.  

How were you able to adjust to the pressure of being your parents’ caretaker?

Well, I never complained, never divulged my feelings. I poured my energy into school and tried to get the best grades I could and made a plan to attend college. I became more outgoing and had a few friends, even though I never invited them to come to our apartment in Brooklyn. I confess that part of the reason is that I was somewhat ashamed by my mother who didn’t speak English very well, didn’t dress like the other mothers. I was also afraid that they would see the other side of me, the person who lacked confidence, the one who felt inferior. I did have someone in my life who listened to my concerns and would calmly give me advice. She was a child, but a very wise one, someone I could confide in. I think I needed that. There was a time that I fell in love, thought that my husband could understand me and fill the empty spaces in my heart. I was wrong, and although it was a hard lesson, it was one I had to go through to get a better understanding of myself and my strengths.

What do your parents and your husband think of your change in career?

What I never realized was that I never needed to prove myself to be accepted. We have opened the lines of communication, and they show me every day how much they love me for who I am. As for my husband, Luke, we are divorced and I neither know nor do I care what he thinks. I am in a new relationship now, one that evolved from a close friendship, and finally my future looks bright.

PREORDER HERE

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Shirley Russak Wachtel is the author of A Castle in Brooklyn. She is the daughter of Holocaust survivors and was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Shirley holds a doctor of letters degree from Drew University and for the past thirty-five years has taught English literature at Middlesex College in Edison, New Jersey. Her podcast, EXTRAordinary People, features inspiring individuals who have overcome obstacles to make a difference. The mother of three grown sons and grandmother to three precocious granddaughters, she currently resides in East Brunswick, New Jersey, with her husband, Arthur. For more information, visit www.shirleywachtel.com.

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: Contemporary Women Writers, On Writing