Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “Bittersweet Brooklyn” by Thelma Adams, Lake Union Publishing, November, 2018 for Suzy Approved Book Tours

Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “Bittersweet Brooklyn” by Thelma Adams , Lake Union Publishing, November, 2019

Thelma Adams , author of “Bittersweet Brooklyn” has written an intense, intriguing, heartbreaking, emotional, and suspenseful novel. The Genres for this story are Fiction and Historical Fiction. The timeline for this story starts at the turn of the century and goes forward to Immigration, the Wars, and the Mob.  Much of the story is told in Brooklyn, where Jewish and Italian immigrants grew up. The author describes her characters as dysfunctional, complex and complicated.

I appreciate the historical background that Thelma Adam provides us with, and her writing vividly describes the characters, poverty and the landscape in the story. Often with family traditions, poverty, and survival, many of the immigrants struggled.

Thelma Lorber as a young child is protected by her brother Abe from her older sister, who is in charge of taking care of her. Thelma’s mother is too depressed after her husband’s death to take care of the family. It seems that Abe has become Thelma’s protector, and Abe has found a way not to live in poverty anymore. As years progress, Thelma has a young son of her own, and as a widow, still depends on Abe. Only Abe harbors deep secrets, and lives a dangerous life that can destroy Thelma.

I found this dark story thought-provoking and intense. I would recommend this to readers who enjoy reading about the immigrants who came to Brooklyn. I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.