Skip to main content

Vivien's Heavenly Ice Cream Shop by Abby Clements: book review



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.


It’s a quick, easy breezy read about the trials and tribulations of ice cream making, and running a business, while reflecting on other work strengths and career dreams. And there are ice cream recipes in the annex.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh  (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. That

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing