THE WHISPER SISTER by Jennifer S. Brown - Spotlight

 

Prohibition-era New York:

THE WHISPER SISTER (Lake Union publishing) traces one immigrant family’s fortunes and a young girl’s journey from the schoolyard to the speakeasy.

The streets of New York in 1920 are most certainly not paved with gold, as Minnie Soffer learns when she arrives at Ellis Island. Her father, who left Ukraine when Minnie was a toddler, feels like a stranger. She sleeps on a mattress on the kitchen floor. She understands nothing at school. They came to America for this?

As her family adjusts to this new life, Minnie and her brother work hard to learn English and make friends. When her father, Ike, opens his own soda shop, stability and citizenship seem within reach. But the soda shop is not what it seems; it’s a front for Ike’s real moneymaker: a speakeasy.

When tragedy strikes the Soffers, Minnie has no choice but to take over the bar. She’s determined to make the speakeasy a success despite the risks it brings to herself, her family, and her freedom. At what price does the American dream come true? Minnie won’t stop until she finds out.

Jennifer S. Brown has lived on three of the four corners of the U.S. (Miami Beach, New York, Seattle) and now calls the suburbs of Boston her home. She has a BFA in film & television from NYU and an MFA in creative writing from the University of Washington. Jennifer loves writing historical fiction because the research lets her live vicariously in another time and place.

You can find Jennifer on

Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/brownjennys/

or at www.jennifersbrown.com.