The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, The History of Ice Cream and our BookBrowse Review of The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. Lillian frequently attributes moments in her life to fate: her accident, her arrival in New York City the same year that continuous freezing was invented, et cetera. Do you believe it was fate? How does Lillian's assertion about fate "shaping" her destiny square with her story?
2. Do you like Lillian? Do you understand her? How do these two judgments differ? Would you say she's in any way the hero of the book?
3. Lillian's world broadens in almost unimaginable ways, from her fleeing the pogroms to heading an ice cream empire. Do you think this is a specifically American story—or could such radical change take place in another country?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Grand Central Publishing. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.