The Sweetness of Forgetting: Updated 10th Anniversary edition) [B1325]

2022 PB in excellent condition. The "beautifully complex" (Woman's Day) classic that made Kristin Harmel a superstar follows a woman who travels from Cape Cod to Paris to uncover a family secret for her dying grandmother that could change everything. Updated with a new author's note and recipes for this 10th anniversary edition!

At thirty-six, Hope McKenna-Smith is no stranger to bad news. She lost her mother to cancer, her husband left her, and her bank account is nearly depleted. Her own dreams of becoming a lawyer long gone, she's running a failing family bakery on Cape Cod and raising a troubled preteen. Now, Hope's beloved French-born grandmother Mamie is drifting away in a haze of Alzheimer's. But in a rare moment of clarity, Mamie realizes that unless she tells Hope about the past, the secrets she has held on to for so many years will soon be lost forever. Tantalizingly, she reveals mysterious snippets of a tragic history in WWII Paris. Armed with a scrawled list of names, Hope heads to France to uncover a seventy-year-old mystery. What follows is "an immersive and evocative tale of generations struggling to survive" (Publishers Weekly) as Hope pieces together her grandmother's past bit by bit. Uncovering horrific tales of the Holocaust, she realizes the astonishing will of her grandmother to endure in a world gone mad. And to reunite two lovers torn apart by terror, all she'll need is a dash of courage, and the belief that God exists everywhere, even in cake.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "A lovely story of family and secrets from the past that while trying to protect the future had only caused angst and misunderstandings. From Cape Cod to Paris to NYC. From today back to the 40s. From Judaism to Islam to Christianity. Harmel weaves a grandly interconnected story replete with bakery recipes."; "I always love a beautiful historical fiction romance! And especially when they make me cry! The most beautiful story of long lost love, heartbreak, and never giving up on true love. I loved the way the author creatively acknowledges generational trauma, and overcoming it."; "A beautiful story from beginning to end. Highly recommend."