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.
SYNOPSIS
The Whisper Sister: A Novel by Jennifer S. Brown
Synopsis by Jamie Wendt. What does it mean to be an American woman at the turn of the twentieth century? In Jennifer S. Brown’s captivating coming-of-age novel The Whisper Sister, Malka Soffer adopts the more American name “Minnie.” After emigrating to New York from Ukraine in 1920 with her mother Feige and brother Max, Minnie navigates between developing her identity and staying true to her role in the family.
The Soffer family yearns for the American dream, for their children to be educated and to pursue honorable careers. However, Minnie faces antisemitism and abuse in both her job and on the street, insecurities about money, and stressful memories from her past. After her mother gives birth to two more children in New York and a series of traumas affects the Soffer family, Minnie finds herself the heir to her father’s underground bar. He had purchased the bar soon after their arrival in New York and disguised it as a soda shop due to Prohibition. The family, especially Feige, struggled with the reality of the bar, where questionable Jews were involved in gangs and underground illegal alcohol sales. Feige would pretend she didn’t know what her husband was up to — her personal strategy for avoiding complicity in immoral behavior.
The book is set during the Prohibition era, from 1920 through 1932. Whereas depictions of this time period are sometimes limited to the Jazz Age and flappers, Brown gives readers a glimpse into the dangers and thrills of speakeasies through the eyes of daring and brave Jewish bar owner Minnie. These dangers include secret entryways, drunk men, anger and jealousy, and the need to pay off cops to avoid arrest. Being caught for violating the Volstead Act always remains a possibility, and can result in jail time or deportation.
Minnie finds freedom in the bar, though, and she makes many friends there, who support her through the process of becoming an American citizen. She thrills in her ability to take care of herself, manage the bar’s bookkeeping, fall into romance, and handle the kinds of serious scuffles that undoubtedly occur in this type of profession. Many customers at the speakeasy have not seen a female bartender before, and Minnie prides herself on her strength, which she attributes to her parents’ work ethic and dedication. The biggest insult she receives is in a New Yorker article about her bar, where the writer describes her as a “Yiddishe Momme” with a “guttural accent.” Minnie strives to differentiate herself from the Yiddish culture of her past; however, she realizes throughout the book that the Jewish community will always have her back, especially when she needs help with the challenging, dangerous situations she finds herself in. Minnie is an ambitious, independent entrepreneur whose experiences and decisions show the Prohibition era in a new light.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jennifer S. Brown’s debut novel, Modern Girls, was a USA Today bestseller, a Massachusetts Book Award “Must Read,” and a 2016 Goodreads Choice semifinalist for Historical Fiction. Her second historical novel, The Whisper Sister, takes place in the time of Prohibition. Jennifer teaches writing, both in-person in the Boston area and online through the Loft Literary Center.
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