Mira, Jun 2002, 6.50, 384 pp.
ISBN: 1551669188
One year ago Grandam Ida's son died leaving Manhattan landmark Bloom's Deli in trouble. With the business in trouble, the family matriarch decides that a new Bloom needs to run the deli. She surprises the entire family by selecting her granddaughter, divorce attorney Julia. Shocked at first, Julia wants to refuse and remain in her safe world, but her sister Susie persuades her to at least try.
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Instead of support from her so-called loved ones, Julia faces sabotage and scorn. Her uncle tries to undermine her and her mother believes that Julia is an interim until she takes over. Then there are the unaccounted for bagels that someone seems to abscond with each week. Worse is Ron Joffe, assigned by Gotham magazine to learn if rumors of Bloom's financial troubles are true, because of her attraction to him. Finally, the most absolute catastrophe of all is dealing with her iron maiden grandma. As Julia works on overcoming the plots to destroy her, she falls in love with the nosy journalist.
This lighthearted romp is a fun to read tale that pays homage to all those Manhattan romantic comedies such as Crossing Delancy. References to the city add to the tour as the Big Apple comes across as a character more than just a locale. The female lead protagonist is an engaging individual struggling with a family that has their own personal interests and agendas above everyone else including the deli that has made and kept the Blooms wealthy. Judith Arnold furnishes a warm amusing excursion of the New York archipelago.
Harriet Klausner
The review of this Book prepared by Harriet Klausner
