THE WHISPER SISTER
Jennifer S Brown
Lake Union Publishing
September 3, 2024
419 pages
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This is the story of the Soffer family, a Jewish Ukrainian family who emigrated to New York during the 1920s, just as Prohibition was declared. The young daughter, Minnie, is our central character.
I really enjoy reading about different time periods. In this case, times were hard for immigrants. New York was full of gangs claiming neighbourhoods as their territories. There were speakeasies, bootlegging and lots of tough times. It was legal on job applications to ask your religion. Many would not hire Jews or Catholics.
Whisper Sister is an expression I had not heard of. It refers to an outlaw woman who runs an underground bar. I’m always happy to learn something new. It might come in handy someday while I’m watching Jeopardy. The story enters the dark world of illegal bars and speakeasies that were so common during the prohibition.
This is a longish book but it flies by. The story is well written and keeps the reader’s interest. The characters are well described, I can picture many of them. Minnie, the main character, turns out to be a very strong and determined woman because of life’s circumstances.
I appreciate it when the author leaves notes at the end. For this book, Ms Brown described how terrible Prohibition was with the dangers of the underworld and payoff demands.
Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.
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