LIFE

Dark Times Lie Behind iconic children's treats

B Magazine, Jennifer Szalai, Published on 05/08/2018

» Jell-O might be the glistening dish of picnics and potlucks, but for Allie Rowbottom -- a descendant of the Jell-O fortune -- it's both a burden and an abyss. In Jell-O Girls, she weaves together her family history and the story of the classic American dessert to produce a book that alternately surprises and mesmerizes. Despite its title, this isn't a bland tale that goes down easy; Jell-O Girls is dark and astringent, a cutting rebuke to its delicate, candy-colored namesake.