Monday, August 3, 2015

Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street by Susan Jane Gilman

From the outset, the author of this novel captured my heart when one of her dedications was to none other than Frank McCourt. When USA Today calls your book "A rich literary feast", you know you have a book that will delight readers. To think of a child being abandoned on the streets of New York, and rising from that tragedy to transform her life is a marvel. There was something truly endearing about the thought of selling ice cream across America, rising from the ashes of ruin to make something of yourself. As with most people who rise to fame, often that popularity can involve infamy.  Fate can deal you both a full deck, and the next card could involve you losing everything. Lillian is a character who believes in fate, and the story is one readers will not forget. Fans of the Historical Fiction genre will truly enjoy this novel, which is now available in paperback.  
The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street by Susan Jane Gilman

Synopsis
As a child in 1913, Malka Treynovsky flees Russia for New York with her family--only to be crippled and abandoned in the streets. Taken in by a tough-loving Italian ices peddler, Malka survives. When she falls in love with Albert, they set off together across America in an ice cream truck to seek their fortune; slowly, she transforms herself into Lillian Dunkle, "The Ice Cream Queen of America"--doyenne of an empire of ice cream franchises and a celebrated television personality.

Spanning 70 years, Lillian's rise--fraught with setbacks, triumphs, and tragedies--is inextricably linked to the course of American history itself, from Prohibition to the disco days of Studio 54. And when her past starts catching up with her, her world implodes spectacularly.


Happy Reading!

1 comment:

  1. Oh man I was in the hospital and totally missed this one. I've heard so much about it I'm wondering how you liked it... the cover sucks me in and makes me want it! Lol

    Amanda www.amandanicolebooks.wordpress.com

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