The Ice-Cream Makers

Ernest van der Kwast (trans. Laura Vroomen)

‘A delightfully quirky and sensual exploration of an Italian family’s obsession with two of the greatest pleasures in life: ice-cream and poetry. What’s not to love?’

Jo Riccioni, author of The Italians at Cleat's Corner Store

‘The passion for making good ice-cream, the alchemy of creating a new flavour and the historical background of ice cream makers who used to make their ice-cream from mountain snow lend this page-turner its charm.’

Dagblad van het Noorden

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‘A moving story about two brothers growing apart.’

Algemeen Dagblad

‘The Ice Cream Makers is a rewarding novel. A second reading reveals just how perceptively it pits family pressures against the desire for freedom down the generations. The contrast between Giovanni’s world of high culture and that of his ice cream making brother Luca is cleverly realised. Van der Kwast leaves the reader in no doubt as to who the real poet is: the ice cream maker, of course.’

NRC Handelsblad

‘It is an ode to poetry and to women. A tale of the tradition of ice cream making and the price is exacts. But above all The Ice Cream Makers is a book that sweeps you along like an avalanche.’

Noordhollands Dagblad

‘Van der Kwast is simply magnificent when he describes the voluptuousness of pretty girls: you can feel the curves under your fingers. I want to sleep with all of these paper women. There are some truly moving scenes in The Ice-Cream Makers.’

Humo

‘A beautifully poetic family saga.’

Glamour

‘A compelling novel about the yoke of family relations.’

Elle

'Van der Kwast tells his multigenerational tale with great sensitivity, demonstrating through powerful observations the long-term effect of one person's decision upon others throughout the generations. A delightful read; smooth as ice cream on a hot summer day.'

Kirkus Reviews

A dazzling novel about an Italian ice-cream dynasty, tradition, ambition, and the sensation of lemon sorbet melting on your tongue.

In the far north of Italy lies the valley of the ice-cream makers: about a dozen villages where, for generations, people have specialised in making ice cream. Giuseppe Talamini claims it was actually invented here. Every spring his family sets off for the ice-cream parlour in Rotterdam, returning to the mountains only in winter.

Eldest son Giovanni Talamini decides to break with this tradition by pursuing a literary career. But then one day his younger brother Luca approaches him with a highly unusual request. Now Giovanni faces a dilemma: serve the family’s interests one last time or choose his own path in life, once and for all.

‘A delightfully quirky and sensual exploration of an Italian family’s obsession with two of the greatest pleasures in life: ice-cream and poetry. What’s not to love?’

Jo Riccioni, author of The Italians at Cleat's Corner Store

Dagblad van het Noorden

View all reviews

‘A moving story about two brothers growing apart.’

Algemeen Dagblad

NRC Handelsblad

‘It is an ode to poetry and to women. A tale of the tradition of ice cream making and the price is exacts. But above all The Ice Cream Makers is a book that sweeps you along like an avalanche.’

Noordhollands Dagblad

Humo

‘A beautifully poetic family saga.’

Glamour

‘A compelling novel about the yoke of family relations.’

Elle

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Details

Format:Paperback

Size: 234mm × 153mm

Extent:272pp

ISBN (13):9781925321203

RRP:$29.99

Pub date:31 Oct 2016

Rights Held: World English

Rights Sold: North America (Simon & Schuster)

High-res cover:Download Image

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AUTHOR

Ernest van der Kwast

Ernest van der Kwast is a Dutch author born in Mumbai, India, in 1981. He made his debut in 2005 with the novel Sometimes Things Are Better When People Applaud. His breakthrough book is Mama Tandoori, which became a bestseller in the Netherlands and Italy upon publication, and has to date sold more than 100,000 copies. Giovanna's Navel is the third of his books to be published in English. He lives in Rotterdam.

TRANSLATOR

Laura Vroomen

Laura Vroomen was born in the Netherlands and now lives and works in London. She was educated at the University of Amsterdam and Warwick University, and spent several years teaching English literature and cultural studies before switching to translation.