Today on Too Opinionated, we talk with author Sharon Neiss-Arbess about her new book, The Most Amazing Department Store.

Stepping onto the floor of Sunderland's means stepping into a whole new glamorous world for two women whose lives and loves are forever changed by their time working at the famous Department Store in downtown Montreal in the 1940s and 1950s.

Sunderland's is the place to be — The Mecca of Luxury — when shopping for a blouse, a pair of shoes, lipstick, or fragrance was met with displays of lavishness and luxuriousness, shoppers met with impeccable sales manners, and where women could spend entire days, enjoying a slice of independence acceptable during these eras.

After Lilly leaves her husband, she can't believe her luck getting a job at Sunderland's, where she finds more than the self-sufficiency she yearns for. She meets another Jewish woman, Vivian, a sharp-tongued, vivacious, whirlwind. They become best friends and face antisemitism, sexism, and rejection — all imposed on them, when Jews were not "normally" hired — while also testing the limits of their own very different ambitions.

When Vivian almost loses everything, she's worked so hard for, and Lilly decides on a fresh start, the pair will never be the same. Their friendship might not survive, no matter how significant it played in their lives.

Sharon's debut novel and middle school cult classic was Me and My So-Called Friends. Once published and distributed, the feedback was tremendous and triggered a need for additional related resources. Together with an educator, Sharon produced a teacher's manual called Brave the Waves. Sharon's love for writing YA was continued with her second book Get Up, which contains a collection of meaningful short stories, functional exercises, and inspirational quotes from mentors.

Sharon has written for several online magazines, has been featured in Living Legacies, a Collection of Narratives by Contemporary Jewish Women, The Toronto Star, and writes blogs on her website about really cool people, insanely easy recipes, and what she thinks the world should know.

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