A review by abby_writes
The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street by Susan Jane Gilman

3.0

3.5/5, if I am being honest. This is a story of poor Russian-Jewish immigrant who grows up in an Italian-Catholic home and learns the ins and outs of the ice cream business, eventually earning her the title of "The Ice Cream Queen." To me, Lillian was a female anti-hero who needed to possess not only business acumen but a whole lot of "pluck" to be taken seriously by the male-dominated society of her time. Overall, this was a fun, fluffy read -- an antidote to some of the literary slogs I've been reading lately. I really enjoyed Lillian's narrative voice. I know she used some trite phrases -- "darlings" and "so sue me" -- when addressing the reader, but I thought she was a well-developed (if somewhat vain and unlikable) character. Plus, historical fiction and ice cream make for a good holiday weekend read!