Connie A. (jazzysmom) -
Helpful Score: 2
I had this book on my wish list for 2 years. I wanted to read this story about a Russian Jewish immigrant child, raised by Italians in New York in 1913. For me it was worth the wait. I loved the author's style, she had me believing I actually knew these characters. Maybe it's because my husband's family did come to America as immigrants from Italy that this story has such a ring of truth for me. It's sad, it's full of love, it's funny, it's suspenseful, it's really well written and it's just a darn good book.
This book clocks in at 500 pages so it is long but is the story of one woman's very interesting life. Lillian Dunkle starts off life as Malka Bialsky who immigrates from Russia with her family in 1913 when she is about 5 years old. She grows up poor in the NY tenements, suffers a horrible injury when she is run over by a horse and abandoned by her family, but is adopted by the Italian who ran her over and grows up in a large Italian Catholic family. The family has an ice cream business. We travel with Lillian through the ages up until she is 80 when she is telling her story in first person through the depression, two world wars, New York in the 80s. All along she is building an ice cream empire. The parts where she is 80 and speaking directly to the reader are sometimes funny. But overall she is not a likeable character. She has everything one could ever want - money, fame, a successful business, a loving husband, but she never seems really happy. Instead she is greedy, mean, vindictive. It is really sad that she could not learn to enjoy the success that she worked so hard to get. So maybe overall I just felt mostly sad for her. Although she is not really likeable, the story of her life was certainly interesting and worth reading.
