Vivien’s HeavenlyIce Cream Shop (2013) is set in Brighton, England. In this novel, Vivien McAlvoy
established the Sunset 99s ice cream shop, with her husband Stanley, in July
1953.
When the lawyer
read Vivien’s will to her family after her death, it was a surprise that she
had not left the shop to either of her two sons, Tom who lived nearby with his
with Jan, or Martin who lived in Paris with his wife Francoise. Francoise was
particularly miffed, as she would have liked to convert it into a French
restaurant.
Instead,
28-year-old Anna and her younger sister Imogen – Tom and Jan’s daughters –
inherit their grandmother’s ice cream shop. But both had their own lives. Anna
was a marketing director in England and Imogen was a budding photographer in
Thailand. Anna had just moved into a new apartment with Jon and his
one-year-old son from his ex-partner, Mia. Imogen had fallen in love with
American, Luca. Anna and Imogen had no intention of operating the shop.
At the funeral,
Anna and Imogen took a look at the ice cream shop next to Finn’s surf shop on
the Brighton coast. It was “shabby, full of junk.” A family feud led the two
sisters to decide to give it a go. They change the shop’s name to Vivien’s
Heavenly Ice Cream Shop and set about refurbishing it. On its first day, under
a new banner, it poured with rain.
How were two
inexperienced sisters going to make a success out of an ice cream business?
Customers were few, they had no hygiene certificate, the weather was rainy and
gloomy, and they had bad online reviews.
Anna goes to Pisa
in Italy for a week to learn the craft of gourmet ice cream making, leaving
Imogen to look after the shop. With a newfound inspiration, they sell gourmet
treats, such as hazelnut with chocolate and pretzel pieces, Earl Grey tea
sorbet, praline indulgences, espresso granitas, blueberry sorbet, and salted
caramel.
Imogen was
getting on nicely with Finn, but she still yearned to continue her photography
in Thailand, and Anna yearned to continue concocting new flavors with Matteo
whom she met in Italy. All the time, a photograph of grandmother Vivien hung
above the counter keeping an eye on her former business.
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