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A Novel
by Jennifer S. Brown
The author of Modern Girls delivers an atmospheric coming-of-age story set in Prohibition-era New York, tracing 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.
"The Whisper Sister by Jennifer S. Brown is the story of Minnie, a young Jewish immigrant in New York during the Prohibition era who must fight for her family and business by rewriting the rules in a game where men hold all of the cards. Readers will laugh, cry, and root for feisty Minnie, a heroine for all time! Brown's latest dazzles!" ―Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of Code Name Sapphire
"A powerful story about the losses we endure when carving out a new life in America and the transformative force of unwavering resolve. As Minnie navigates her path of survival amidst tragedy in New York's Prohibition era, she finds home and belonging not in a place but in her connection to those she loves. A testament to the power of one woman's strength and the legacy and sanctuary she ends up building in her community." ―Marjan Kamali, author of The Stationery Shop and The Lion Women of Tehran
"I loved every word of this captivating page-turner! The Whisper Sister kept me awake well past bedtime, melding and bringing alive Prohibition, gangster kings, and speakeasies with the riveting story of Minnie Soffer, a young immigrant facing peril in New York who lands behind the bar of the speakeasy, trying to save her family. Minnie grabbed my heart and never let go." ―Randy Susan Meyers, international bestseller, author of Waisted
This information about The Whisper Sister was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Jennifer S. Brown is the author of Modern Girls, which was a Goodreads Choice Award semifinalist for Historical Fiction, a Massachusetts Book Award "Must Read," and a USA Today bestseller. Her writing has appeared in McSweeney's, Fiction Southeast, Southeast Review, Hippocampus Magazine, Cognoscenti, and Bellevue Literary Review, among other places.
Jennifer has a BFA in film and television from New York University and an MFA in creative writing from the University of Washington. She loves writing historical fiction because the research lets her live vicariously in another time and place. Jennifer has two (mostly grown) children, two beagles, and a husband who won't let her get more dogs. You can find Jennifer on Instagram (@brownjennys) or at www.jennifersbrown.com.
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