Journalist and veteran food writer Leah Eskin will discuss her debut novel, “Like Wafers in Honey” (Levine Querido), on the back patio at The Ivy Bookshop, 5928 Falls Road. A former Baltimore resident and owner of Crumble Handmade Pastry, Eskin now lives in Chicago.

“Like Wafers in Honey” opens in 1943 in the Italian mountaintop town of Pitigliano, once called “Little Jerusalem” for its vibrant, centuries-old Jewish community. Mussolini has enacted anti-Jewish laws across Italy, and the family of Stella Fortuna struggles to maintain any sense of their former life. Then one night, a neighbor comes to their door and tells them the Nazis have arrived to help the fascists of Italy enact their own “Final Solution.”

In a separate timeline of the novel, Edda Servi Machlin is a housewife in 1960s Westchester, New York, trying to make sense of a new culture, as well as the “spaghetti-and-meatballs” meals that pass for Italian cuisine.

For nearly 20 years, Eskin’s award-winning column “Home on the Range” ran in the Chicago Tribune and other newspapers. Eskin writes the dessert column for Midwest Living magazine.

“Leah Eskin has woven her passion for food and history into a delicious and moving tale of Jewish survival. Her book will inspire readers from all backgrounds to cook and to persevere,” wrote Gabriella Gershenson, James Beard Award-winning food writer, of “Like Wafers in Honey.”

Baltimore-based writer and food historian Mary Zajac will host Eskin’s talk at The Ivy. For information, visit eventbrite.com/e/leah-eskin-like-wafers-in-honey-tickets-1986715488507.