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The Midnight Bakery
A totally gorgeous and unforgettable work about friendship, hope, and love
Nestled at the end of a tiny, cobbled backstreet, is a charming, careworn bakery, its doorstep scrubbed clean and pale green linen blinds neatly drawn. Every night, long after customers have gone and the last crumbs wiped from the shelves, a key turns in the lock. This is a haven, a place where a candle burns through the night for anyone feeling lost or lonely.
Frankie, kneading dough through the night and shaping croissants to bake for morning, hopes the bakery will keep her safe from the heartbreak of her past. But what she hasn’t expected is to meet others who need to heal as much as she does.
William appears one moonlit night. Forging his own new path following years of heartache, he begins to check in on Frankie nightly, his gentle smile letting her know he’s keeping an eye.
Tam, lost and alone, stumbles upon the bakery and it becomes the one place where he can be himself.
Beth, who nurses patients by night and her husband by day, is drawn in by the scent of freshly baked bread and warm sugar, with Frankie’s custard tarts the one bright spark in her long, lonely nights.
Each of them finds comfort, companionship, and hope, as they begin to reveal secrets they’ve kept hidden for so long.
But one night, Frankie finds a letter neatly folded on the countertop. As she unfolds the perfect creases, her heart plummets when she sees the scrawled writing: will everything she’s been working towards be undone in an instant?
Can the four new friends fight for the place they love? Or will they lose the midnight bakery just when they need it most?
Nestled at the end of a tiny, cobbled backstreet, is a charming, careworn bakery, its doorstep scrubbed clean and pale green linen blinds neatly drawn. Every night, long after customers have gone and the last crumbs wiped from the shelves, a key turns in the lock. This is a haven, a place where a candle burns through the night for anyone feeling lost or lonely.
Frankie, kneading dough through the night and shaping croissants to bake for morning, hopes the bakery will keep her safe from the heartbreak of her past. But what she hasn’t expected is to meet others who need to heal as much as she does.
William appears one moonlit night. Forging his own new path following years of heartache, he begins to check in on Frankie nightly, his gentle smile letting her know he’s keeping an eye.
Tam, lost and alone, stumbles upon the bakery and it becomes the one place where he can be himself.
Beth, who nurses patients by night and her husband by day, is drawn in by the scent of freshly baked bread and warm sugar, with Frankie’s custard tarts the one bright spark in her long, lonely nights.
Each of them finds comfort, companionship, and hope, as they begin to reveal secrets they’ve kept hidden for so long.
But one night, Frankie finds a letter neatly folded on the countertop. As she unfolds the perfect creases, her heart plummets when she sees the scrawled writing: will everything she’s been working towards be undone in an instant?
Can the four new friends fight for the place they love? Or will they lose the midnight bakery just when they need it most?
- GenresFiction
324 pages, Paperback
Published April 10, 2025
11 people are currently reading
80 people want to read
About the author
Emma Davies
28 books325 followersEmma Davies once applied for her dream job in the following manner;
'I am a bestselling novelist currently masquerading as a thirty something mother of three.' Well she's now a forty something mother of three, and is working on the rest.
By day she's a finance manager and looks at numbers a lot of the time, but by night she gets to use actual words and practices putting them together into sentences. Her twitter bio says she loves her family, her job, reading, writing, singing loudly in the car, and Pringles, so that must be true then.
Wave to her on twitter @Emdavies68
Letting in Light is her debut novel, and she is currently working on her second.
'I am a bestselling novelist currently masquerading as a thirty something mother of three.' Well she's now a forty something mother of three, and is working on the rest.
By day she's a finance manager and looks at numbers a lot of the time, but by night she gets to use actual words and practices putting them together into sentences. Her twitter bio says she loves her family, her job, reading, writing, singing loudly in the car, and Pringles, so that must be true then.
Wave to her on twitter @Emdavies68
Letting in Light is her debut novel, and she is currently working on her second.
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 13, 2025
I bought this book because the blurb indicated that it was the sort of book I would go for … Maeve Binchy desk… friends/ relationships etc.
And it was written by the mum of one of my daughter’s friends and this was one of the books that she had written that I thought would be a good once to get to know her writing.
It’s a really good read , well written characters and some surprises but not inappropriate ones in the story. I enjoyed it very much. Why not a 5 ? Not sure really … could be.
And it was written by the mum of one of my daughter’s friends and this was one of the books that she had written that I thought would be a good once to get to know her writing.
It’s a really good read , well written characters and some surprises but not inappropriate ones in the story. I enjoyed it very much. Why not a 5 ? Not sure really … could be.
May 20, 2025
delightful read. Lovely how the lives of five people who are strangers become entwined and how true friendship and love prevails.
October 20, 2025
This was a delightful read about unusual characters and how they found themselves as they developed a group of special friends.
Amazon synopsis:
Nestled at the end of a tiny, cobbled backstreet, is a charming, careworn bakery, its doorstep scrubbed clean and pale green linen blinds neatly drawn. Every night, long after customers have gone and the last crumbs wiped from the shelves, a key turns in the lock. This is a haven, a place where a candle burns through the night for anyone feeling lost or lonely.
Frankie, kneading dough through the night and shaping croissants to bake for morning, hopes the bakery will keep her safe from the heartbreak of her past. But what she hasn’t expected is to meet others who need to heal as much as she does.
William appears one moonlit night. Forging his own new path following years of heartache, he begins to check in on Frankie nightly, his gentle smile letting her know he’s keeping an eye.
Tam, lost and alone, stumbles upon the bakery and it becomes the one place where he can be himself.
Beth, who nurses patients by night and her husband by day, is drawn in by the scent of freshly baked bread and warm sugar, with Frankie’s custard tarts the one bright spark in her long, lonely nights.
Each of them finds comfort, companionship, and hope, as they begin to reveal secrets they’ve kept hidden for so long.
But one night, Frankie finds a letter neatly folded on the countertop. As she unfolds the perfect creases, her heart plummets when she sees the scrawled writing: will everything she’s been working towards be undone in an instant?
Can the four new friends fight for the place they love? Or will they lose the midnight bakery just when they need it most?
Amazon synopsis:
Nestled at the end of a tiny, cobbled backstreet, is a charming, careworn bakery, its doorstep scrubbed clean and pale green linen blinds neatly drawn. Every night, long after customers have gone and the last crumbs wiped from the shelves, a key turns in the lock. This is a haven, a place where a candle burns through the night for anyone feeling lost or lonely.
Frankie, kneading dough through the night and shaping croissants to bake for morning, hopes the bakery will keep her safe from the heartbreak of her past. But what she hasn’t expected is to meet others who need to heal as much as she does.
William appears one moonlit night. Forging his own new path following years of heartache, he begins to check in on Frankie nightly, his gentle smile letting her know he’s keeping an eye.
Tam, lost and alone, stumbles upon the bakery and it becomes the one place where he can be himself.
Beth, who nurses patients by night and her husband by day, is drawn in by the scent of freshly baked bread and warm sugar, with Frankie’s custard tarts the one bright spark in her long, lonely nights.
Each of them finds comfort, companionship, and hope, as they begin to reveal secrets they’ve kept hidden for so long.
But one night, Frankie finds a letter neatly folded on the countertop. As she unfolds the perfect creases, her heart plummets when she sees the scrawled writing: will everything she’s been working towards be undone in an instant?
Can the four new friends fight for the place they love? Or will they lose the midnight bakery just when they need it most?
October 30, 2025
I’m wavering between a 3 and a 4. Ok I’m going for 3.75. Mainly because this was the first book I’ve read in ages which I’ve been able to concentrate to read. No back and forth time periods and all over the shop moments just a clear story about four people which had a beginning, a middle and an end which was endearing tbh!
July 4, 2025
I seem to see the light behind the window of the bakery on a cold and rainy night. If miracles exist it's there. Four people, different and everyone with their own story forge a strong friendship. Together will face the future. Great message of hope in this book!
August 25, 2025
Four strangers are brought together by a bakery and find friendship and hope.
August 27, 2025
This was a Book Club read
It’s not a quick read, it has a lot of detail around the characters
Love how the characters come together in the story
And who doesn’t live a happy ending 😜
It’s not a quick read, it has a lot of detail around the characters
Love how the characters come together in the story
And who doesn’t live a happy ending 😜
December 25, 2025
DNF. I tried.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews