This historical novel starts in 1920, when young Jewish girl Malka (who soon takes the American name Minnie) arrives with her mother and brother from Ukraine to join her father in NYC. We follow Minnie and her family over the next decade or so as they adjust to the new world, she grows up, and eventually starts working at the speakeasy her father started during Prohibition.

This was such a good one, I seriously couldn’t put it down! There’s a fair amount of sad stuff, especially in the first half, but I also admired Minnie’s strength and perseverance - the kind of character the word “plucky” was invented for. The Jewish immigrant story with a healthy sprinkling of Yiddish was great, as was the Prohibition plotline.

Funnily enough, this is the third book which I’ve read in the last two months that involved a young woman from a Jewish immigrant family in NYC in the 20s, and I loved all three. In fact I can totally imagine Minnie being friends with Augusta from The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman and Bea from The Trade Off by Samantha Greene Woodruff! So if you enjoyed either or both of those books I’d recommend this one, and vice versa if you enjoyed this one.

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 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.

Loved it

In flapper-speak, a “whisper sister” was a female barkeep during Prohibition, a daring woman who kept booze flowing for eager customers in underground establishments. A more unlikely career choice could hardly be imagined for ten-year-old Malka Soffer when she arrives at Ellis Island in 1920 with her Mama and older brother, having traveled from Ukraine to join her father in New York after a long separation. Her Papa seems barely recognizable without his long beard and yarmulke, and at school she gets a new American name: Minnie. Remarkably, her story of transformation, assimilation, and blood and chosen family never loses its believability through many sudden plot twists.

As with her debut, Modern Girls, Brown has a confident hand with character, and Minnie has vulnerabilities and a deep emotional strength. Young Minnie soon learns that her Papa has mysterious sources of power through connections to organized crime (though that phrase is never uttered), and when he buys a soda shop, she gleans it’s a front for a bar. She’s right – and rapidly falls in love with the unprepossessing joint on Baxter Street. Some years later, awful circumstances compel her to take over the place herself, leading her ever deeper into excitement and danger, to her brother Max’s dismay.

Minnie’s two spheres of existence feel immediate and real: the strong Jewish traditions her Yiddish-speaking Mama upholds at home, versus the alluring world of the speakeasy, where Minnie crafts original drinks and socializes with an affable trio of regulars. Brown pulls no punches in illustrating the era’s prejudices and violence, which was brutal and often premeditated. The prologue generates instant intrigue with a magnificent (and suspenseful) opening scene that repeats later on. A bravura performance, led by an original heroine who takes risks in bending rules. (from the Historical Novels Review, Nov 2024)

This book was gripping and stayed with me o ce I insisted reading. The main character came alive on the page and I was rooting for her throughout the story. I appreciated the meticulous research and really enjoyed the Jewish perspective of immigration in those years.
This is yet another story from Jennifer Brown that I love! I will highly recommend it to friends.

I almost didn’t make it through this because it was so emotional. The next day I knew I had to keep reading so I powered through and I’m glad I did. I could not put it down in the second half.
The Whisper Sister is a Jewish immigrant story on the Lower East Side of New York City in the 1920s. It reminds me of books I read as a teenager, when these were the Jewish stories that were being told. While I am immensely grateful for the Jewish joy in many more recent novels, I still love a Jewish immigrant story, and I think they are important to tell.
Minnie’s story is probably similar to many immigrant stories at the time. She goes through some traumatic events and becomes determined to succeed, which was challenging in depression-era NYC. I love all the side characters that really become Minnie’s found family and ultimately, I think this really a story of finding where you belong.
I’ve never read a book about a speakeasy during prohibition, much less one owned by a Jewish woman. You know I enjoy reading about female entrepreneurship and this was no exception, even if it was a century ago, in a dangerous time and place. I loved it. I also loved all the Jewish rep and references.
4.5 Stars

I loved this book! Browns writing was beautiful. I will definitely be reading her previous books soon. The story was both heartbreaking and hopeful. I loved how Minnie learned that “home is where your people are”, just like her mom had tried to teach her when she was a child. Found family at its best! This was a 5 star read for me and I highly recommend it.

Reading 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗛𝗜𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗥 𝗦𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥 is like drinking one of the cocktails made by the titular character - it's heady, biting and goes down easy.

Brown tells the riveting story of Minnie, a Ukrainian Jewish girl who immigrates with her family to New York's Lower East Side in the 1920s. It's Prohibition and her father opens a speakeasy that eventually Minnie takes over.

The author does a wonderful job of world-building, richly depicting Minnie's experience as a woman coming of age, an immigrant trying to achieve the American dream and a Jew exploring her religious identity while regularly faced with anti-semitism. The book has everything I love in historical fiction - a propulsive plot, complex characters, believable drama and a bit of romance. It would make a wonderful TV series!

Thanks to Amazon Publishing for the copy to review.

I was interested in this book having read others set during Prohibition. Add in a family immigrating from Ukraine and I was fascinated.

In The Whisper Sister we follow the Soffer family as they immigrate to and then adjust to life in the United States.

As Minnie and Ike learn English and adjust to a whole new world, their father is working to make money for their survival. What seems like an innocent soda shop is so much more.

Minnie and Ike each have different reactions to their father’s business and this is only intensified by the loss of their mother.

This book is full of Prohibition history. Watching Minnie take on quite an unexpected role was so fascinating to me.
I wondered many times if I would have been as brave and determined as she was throughout the course of this story. It’s amazing to me how many people underestimated her because of her gender. Then again, all of the things she could do because of her gender too showed many of the characters a thing or two.

I enjoyed learning the meaning of the title and loved how it all came together.

There are a couple of scenes that are hard to read in this book. The way the author ties it together in the end was uniquely and well done.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing via Get Red PR for the copy of this book. All views are my honest opinion.

I've read books by new authors a few times this year. Jennifer S. Brown is a new to be author. I adored this book. It was SO GOOD. I haven't read very much about prohibition so learned a few things reading this story.

Minnie Soffer, along with her brother Max and mother come to America to live with their father. He has been here a few years and finally sent for his family. They have high hopes for a better life here. Things start out ok for them but do eventually take a turn. After the birth of two daughters their mother loses her life. Minnie has to take over the care of a newborn and a toddler. Also her brother and father. It's a hard life for Minnie as she is so young and has dreams. But she does the best she can.

Minnie eventually takes over the bar/speakeasy that their father started. She's very good at what she is doing. She falls in love and is doing all she can. There are lots of ups and downs in this story. In Minnie's life. Some very heartbreaking choices she has to make. She's a survivor though and fights for what she has worked so hard to make.

This is a beautifully written account of how things happened in New York during the Prohibition Era. The ups and downs of one family that came to this country for a better life. How hard Minnie worked to become a citizen of America. How her friends rallied behind her. Helped her and cheered for her. I liked most of the characters in this book. Minnie had my heart from the start. She made me laugh and cry. She had my heart beating so hard at times. I wanted her to find love and peace.

This book will definitely pull at your heartstrings. Make you do some ugly crying and give you some chuckles. Parts will make you cringe also. You get an inside seat as to the goings on in the 1920s speakeasy. How things worked. What price you had to pay.

Don't miss the acknowledgements at the ending. These are always so helpful.

Thank you #NetGalley, #LakeUnion, for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

Five big stars.

This is a great book for any historical fiction lover and for Jewish representation. I could not put this book down! The 1920s era during the prohibition was so vividly described and what it was like to immigrate to the United States.

Minnie was such a strong FMC with extreme survival skills for surviving as a young, Jewish, immigrant learning how to navigate around adapting American culture. Minnie learned quickly what it took to survive in New York with ties to probation while caught in between religion and deep family roots. It was interesting to read about how she got caught in the middle of family affairs and had to turn a blind eye sometimes,.

The story was extremely fast paced and captures your attention with every turn of the page. You are constantly rooting for all the characters as you feel their pain and emotions. I highly highly recommend this book!

I'm such a fan of Jennifer Brown's first book, Modern Girls, and I'm thrilled to get my hands on The Whisper Sister, her new novel. And this book is such a fun read -- Think speakeasies, memorable cocktails, and characters you want to root for -- just what you want to read this autumn!

This book was riveting. I was so engrossed in this read that I put everything aside. There were parts of the book that were heart wrenching. It had me crying ugly tears, but if you asked if I regret reading it then the answer is no. I would read it again tomorrow. This book takes place in the prohibition era in New York City. It is the story of Minnie, a young immigrant girl who has to navigate the hardships of the world. It was such a beautiful representation of an immigrant’s journey to the American dream. Filled with love, loss, heartache, joy and humor. I highly recommend this book. You won’t regret picking this one up! I’ll be thinking about this book for a good while.

So much unique and enjoyable content:
🍸 Historical fiction
🥃 Speakeasy
🍷 Crime and morality
🥂 Family responsibility
🍹 Immigrant experience
🍻 Prohibition
🍾 Strong female FMC

Quotes:
🥃 “…you just arrived. You will see how America works. Everything is different.”

🧊 “Drink your bourbon neat, pay your debts on time, and trust no one!”

🥃 “Home is where your people are, Mama had once said. My people were here. In America.”

Thank you to the author Jennifer S Brown, Get Red PR and NetGalley for the advanced copies of the book.

Well this one was a beautiful surprise!

It's prohibition and Minnie is a child immigrant from the Ukraine.

We watch Minnie through her school life to taking over her fathers speakeasy.

The plot was amazing and the characters... CHEFS KISS!!

I enjoyed the heck out of it.

Wow, I had no expectations for this book when I downloaded it. But wow, was I impressed. I devoured this one. As a fan of Boardwalk Empire, especially the Jewish mob, I loved the premise. I loved the characters, the setting, the flow. I kept coming back for this one. This was a great work of historical fiction, and I’d like to follow where the author goes from here. Watch out, Kate Quinn.

Malka and her family came from Ukraine to the United States to join her father. It was the start of Prohibition, and her father had become involved with the Jewish mobsters Rothstein and Lansky. Malka becomes Minnie, out of necessity when her mother dies in childbirth and her father goes to jail. Trying to keep her little sisters fed and clothed, Minnie takes over her father’s speakeasy. Although her brother Max, a law student, advised her to stay clear of the mob, Minnie feels she has to in order to survive. The story of this Jewish immigrant family to the Lower East Side of NY is absorbing. Well written with strong characters, I recommend this book. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

When Minnie Soffer’s family arrives at Ellis Island from Ukraine, she realizes life in 1920 in New York City isn’t what she dreamed it would be. She sleeps on the kitchen floor, only speaks Yiddish, and is placed in a class with much younger kids at school. Minnie, however, works hard to fit in and truly become an American. 

Her father, Ike, works running errands for gangster Arnold Rothstein, and he’s making a name for himself in the community. Soon Ike makes enough money to open a soda shop. Things are finally looking up for the family. They can afford a bigger apartment, Minnie is able to dress like her friends, and her older brother starts college. Yet the soda shop is not what it seems: It’s a front for an illegal bar. When tragedy strikes, Minnie is faced with an unexpected responsibility: taking over Ike’s gin joint. 

Determined to keep her family afloat and uphold their newfound stability, Minnie dives headfirst into the secret world of speakeasies. As she struggles with the risks and rewards of her choices, Minnie heads on a quest to uncover the true cost of the American dream.

💭My Thoughts:
I love books set in the 1920’s and ‘30’s, during the American Gangster era, full of speakeasies and secrets! It’s such a fun era to read about. And of course, it’s no secret I love Historical Fiction. The Whisper Sister comes out September 3rd, so add this to your fall TBR.

This compelling story revolves around Jewish immigrants pursuing the American dream. Our FMC, Minnie Soffer, makes heartbreaking sacrifices to support her family and their business. However, her resilience shines through as she takes over her father's speakeasy, becoming a formidable female bar owner—aka a Whisper Sister. In this role, she must tangle with the Jewish mob to keep the bar open and afloat.

What I loved:
✨Prohibition setting: vivid descriptions and well-researched details that include speakeasies such as The Cotton Club, dangerous yet influential Jewish mobsters such as Rothstein and Lansky, and the omnipresent Volstead Act. Similar vibe to Broadwalk Empire on HBO.
✨Immigrant Experience: challenges of balancing work and family responsibilities, navigating assimilation while preserving Jewish cultural identity, and navigating the challenging naturalization process.
✨Narration: Helen Laser is absolutely perfect! She effortlessly captures all the accents, vividly portrays Minnie's unwavering determination to succeed, and masterfully builds tension throughout the story!

If you're a fan of historical fiction, have a fascination with the 1920s, or enjoy championing the underdog, then you absolutely need to read The Whisper Sister! This story captivated me, I literally could not out it down!! And I know Minne's character will stay with me for a long time. 5 glorious stars!!!! ⭐

In 1920, Minnie (Malka) Soffer emigrates with her mother and brother Max (Schmerka) to the US, from Ukraine. She barely recognises her father Ike (Isaac), who has been in the US for some time, but he soon comes to realise that Minnie is a chip-off-the-old-block, far more like him in spunk and determination than her brother. At age 12, no longer able to attend school, Minnie is sent to work in a factory doing gruelling work for a pittance, so she challenges her father to let her do what Max does part-time – running for the mob. Her father, himself heavily involved with the mob, forbids her, but the 19-year-old Meyer Lansky steps in to give her a try. When financial problems overtake the family, Ike opens up a soda bar as a front for a low-class basement speakeasy, running expenses as soda shop supplies, all purchased from mob bootleggers. But when tragedy after tragedy strikes the family, Minnie steps up, against all advice, and takes over the bar. There she unwisely falls for Duke, her mob supplier, and by crossing the wrong people, brings extreme danger to herself and her loyal employees.

Brown’s novel is a speedy read which keeps readers on their toes with constant action and plot tension. Dialogue is effortlessly smooth. Details of time and place move with the times, as the novel progresses from the early twenties into the thirties, the Depression and Prohibition, when mobsters made a killing on illegal bootlegging. Minnie refuses to be torn apart by family tragedy and just gets stronger throughout the novel, despite facing extraordinary odds. Brown’s novel spotlights the coming-of-age of a feisty female lead who is prepared to fight for her place in a man’s world. A definite recommendation for TBR lists.

The Whisper Sister
Author Jennifer S. Brown
Available now!

Thank you, @getredprbooks, @brownjennys, and #lakeunionpublishing, for my #gifted copy of this beautiful novel!

Friends, I loved this one! Minnie is absolutely amazing - fiery, determined, resilient, and an absolute force to be reckoned with. Written solely from her point of view, she is my latest leading lady! I learned so much from this unique historical fiction novel - all about the Prohibition era and the danger, crime, and underground mobs associated with it and so much about the Jewish religion, customs, and traditions. I was completely engrossed and read this just over 400- page novel in 3 days. Filled with loyalty and deception, prosperity and hardship, friendship and love, and the power of community, Minnie's speakeasy is a place I loved to experience through Jennifer's storytelling.

It’s been awhile since I’ve been completely engrossed by a historical fiction novel, but I’m happy to say The Whisper Sister is absolutely the book that did it for me.

When I saw the synopsis, I thought oh fun, a book about the 1920s - flappers, speakeasies, good times! But I quickly realized that this wasn’t a romanticized look at a period in U.S. history that was tumultuous and dangerous for so many. Instead, it’s a gritty, often heartbreaking look at the life of Minnie Soffer, a Jewish immigrant who continues to persevere against all odds.

After coming to the U.S. from Ukraine as a young girl, Minnie tries her best to assimilate to her new life. As the years go by, her family flourishes and struggles in turn, and experiences a horrible tragedy. Left reeling and suddenly in charge, Minnie struggles to find her place in the new role and is forced to make a devastating choice that impacts the rest of her life and the decisions she makes from that point on.

The opening chapter absolutely hooked me and I had to continue reading to find out the story behind this amazing “whisper sister” - a female proprietor of a speakeasy. Minnie is truly a force to be reckoned with, and this novel was unputdownable. I highly recommend for anyone who enjoys historical fiction about Prohibition, immigrant stories, and organized crime.