The Sweetness of Forgetting

About the book

From the author of Italian for Beginners, comes a heartwarming novel about a woman embarking on a journey to Paris to uncover a family secret for her grandmother who is on her deathbed - and finding much more than she ever expected.

Hope McKenna-Smith, a single mother to a moody pre-teen daughter, manages the family bakery on Cape Cod while questioning the life choices she made. What if she hadn't given up on her dream of becoming a lawyer? What if she hadn't sacrificed her career to raise her child? What if she hadn't caught her husband cheating on her with a stereotypical blonde bombshell? When her grandmother, Rose, beckons her to reveal a long-held secret, Hope finally has the chance to move past 'what ifs' and focus on 'what now'.

With Rose's memories fading due to Alzheimer's, she is aware that time is running out to share the truth she has kept hidden for seventy years. Entrusting Hope with only a list of names, Rose sends her on a journey that leads her to a synagogue and mosque in Paris, unveiling a history intertwined with the Holocaust and a lost love harboring secrets of his own.

The Sweetness of Forgetting tells a tale of family, love, truth, and of course, delicious baked treats.