A Bakery in Paris by Aimee K. Runyan (with Croissants): Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

 

Today's Featured Book: 

A Bakery in Paris

by Aimie K. Runyan

Genre: Historical Fiction

Published: August 1, 2023

Page Count: 384 pages

Summary: 

1870: The Prussians are at the city gates, intent to starve Paris into submission. Lisette Vigneau—headstrong, willful, and often ignored by her wealthy parents—awaits the outcome of the war from her parents’ grand home in the Place Royale in the very heart of the city. When an excursion throws her into the path of a revolutionary National Guardsman, Théodore Fournier, her destiny is forever changed. She gives up her life of luxury to join in the fight for a Paris of the People. She opens a small bakery with the hopes of being a vital boon to the impoverished neighborhood in its hour of need. When the city falls into famine, and then rebellion, her resolve to give up the comforts of her past life is sorely tested.

1946: Nineteen-year-old Micheline Chartier is coping with the loss of her father and the disappearance of her mother during the war. In their absence, she is charged with the raising of her two younger sisters. At the hand of a well-meaning neighbor, Micheline finds herself enrolled in a prestigious baking academy with her entire life mapped out for her. Feeling trapped and desperately unequal to the task of raising two young girls, she becomes obsessed with finding her mother. Her classmate at the academy, Laurent Tanet, may be the only one capable of helping Micheline move on from the past and begin creating a future for herself. 

Both women must grapple with loss, learn to accept love, and face impossible choices armed with little more than their courage and a belief that a bit of flour, yeast, sugar, and love can bring about a revolution of their own. 

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY is hosted by Rose City Reader. What book are you happy about reading this week? Please share the opening sentence (or so) on BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY! Add the link to your blog or social media post and visit other blogs to see what others are reading.

Happy Friday and welcome to the FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line.

September 2, 1870 

“Come away from the window, Lisette. I don’t want anyone knowing we’re up here.”

Runyan, Aimie K.. A Bakery in Paris: Two Women, Two Eras, One Bakery of Courage, p. 1. Kindle Edition. 

THE FRIDAY 56 is hosted by Anne of Head Full of Books. To play, open a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% on your e-reader). Find a sentence or two and post them, along with the book title and author. Then link up on Head Full of Books and visit others in the linky. 

Madame Dupuis ushered me in to her apartment with the warmth of someone welcoming an old friend. She walked with a cane, but she never allowed it to detract from her graceful comportment. She somehow managed to glide, despite being dependent on the stick for support. Though I had to be fifty years her junior, perhaps more, she made me feel awkward and gangly.

Runyan, Aimie K.. A Bakery in Paris: Two Women, Two Eras, One Bakery of Courage, p. 56. Kindle Edition.  

This book is two stories---one of a rich girl, Lisette, in 1870, who meets a man, Theo, fighting for the common people; and one of a young woman, Micheline, in 1946, waiting for the return of her mother after the war to relieve of her of the burden of caring for her sisters. 

Both stories involve baking, and both involve a bakery, and, for me, that's the best part of the story.

I shall attempt, for the first time, a croissant. From the book:

“Always start the morning before you plan to serve. Mix four cups flour, two spoonfuls of salt, one-third cup sugar, one spoonful of yeast, one-and-a-half cups milk, and one cup water. Mix well, place in oiled bowl, and chill in icebox or coldest part of cellar overnight. 

The next morning, take three-quarters of a pound cold butter and roll between two sheets of parchment. Shape into a square, roughly half an inch thick. Keep butter as cold as you can. Roll your dough into a square the same width, but twice the length of your square of butter. Fold the butter in the dough and seal edges. Fold the dough-and-butter sheets in half, and then again into thirds. Let dough rest and complete this process two more times. Roll out the dough and cut into triangles three inches at the base. Roll into the croissant shape, stretching the dough as you work. Let rest one hour. Brush the tops with egg whites and bake in a medium oven one half hour. Let cool one half hour before serving. Serve with butter and any variety of jams, jellies, or preserves."

Okay, these might have a few problems. I used the recipe (above) from the 1871 portion of this book, and I might have needed a little more guidance about temperature than "a medium oven," especially as I imagine this might have been a wood stove of some sort. There was a lot (a lake, if I am being completely honest) of melted butter halfway through the bake. They may not be beautiful, but they do have great flavor (as you might expect, with 3/4 lb. of butter in the recipe). 

The purpose of THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, and befriend other bloggers. THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.    

July 11th - 17th - How many weekly bookish posts do you put on your blog and/or social media? (submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Review)

For seventeen years, I've aimed at posting once a week. I've now posted for 884 weeks and I've posted 2,794 times. That's an average of three times a week.