The Girl in the Italian Bakery

The Girl in the Italian Bakery
by Kenneth M. Tingle

Always intrigued by all things Italian and baked, I chose this book strictly based off the title. It was NOTHING like I expected!

The Girl...is a memoir, of a life that is tattered and broken.

Kenneth, the lead character, lives with his mother, a single mother, and has an absent father who is very open about not having any time for the boys. The boys move from tenement to housing project to apartment, always on the move. We follow Kenneth and his brothers Gary and Tommy (who had mental issues), through their childhood of violence, trouble, and dysfunction.

The book, to me, was difficult to read - very wordy in some cases, with too much detail. But it wasn't a BAD book, it was very interesting.

The Girl is actually a girl, working in an Italian bakery, who he sees from afar. He never gets to talk to her, although he thinks he sees her at various point throughout the book. She comes to symbolize his "missed opportunity".

In the end of the book, Kenneth comes to find God. Having hit his low point, he literally opens a Bible and finds in it the answer to life. He realizes that everything in his life has been for a purpose. Has gotten him to this point.

So while the book wasn't the best I've read, it was a great ending- a good-for-you lesson in life.