“Street Corner Dreams” is a fresh, compelling, fascinating, and well written book. I learned a great deal from it about various Jewish customs with which I wasn’t familiar, including relationships between family members of people who have died, and their responsibilities and obligations to the surviving spouses and children. I was surprised to learn that even prior to WWII, many Jews in the United States began practicing a much more liberal form of Judaism than their parents and ancestors, who were more likely than not to be extremely conservative, Orthodox Jews. And, despite there being plenty of antisemitism in those days, some people were beginning to lesson their prohibitions against interfaith marriages, both Jews and non-Jews. The most revelatory aspect of the book, however, is its portrayal of the Jewish mobsters and gangs that ruled much of Brooklyn in the early part of the 20th century just as ruthlessly and violently as did the Italian mafia with which most of us are acquainted.

There is a lot of action in the book. It begins with an eventful voyage from Eastern Europe to New York; it reveals the devastating effects of the great Spanish Flu epidemic that swept the country and the world beginning in 1918; it depicts the 1929 stock market crash and effects of the Great Depression on individuals and countries; it touches on some of the pogroms carried out against Jews in Russia and Ukraine in the late 1800s and then the rise of Naziism and Hitler and the beginnings of WWII; and finally, it concludes with Japan’s cataclysmic attack on Pearl Harbor, thrusting the United States unwillingly into the war, both in Europe and in the Pacific.

At its heart, though, the book is really a love story; it’s the story of sibling love, parental love, and romantic love. I couldn’t wait to finish the book to learn whether the story had a happy ending or not, but I will let future readers find out for themselves. I highly recommend reading this book to anyone interested in history, Jewish history, European history, and the two world wars. Thank you to the talented author of “Street Corner Dreams,” Florence Reiss Kraut, her publisher She Writes Press, and to NetGalley for giving me an advanced readers copy of the novel. I’m leaving this review voluntarily. -

Street Corner Dreams is a heart-aching tale about Jewish immigrants in New York City in the first quarter of the twentieth century. Readers who are looking for a tearful, emotional read will find the novel delivers; by its end, readers will find they have lived lifetimes of suffering and joy alongside the characters.

This is a novel perfect for undergraduates and readers new to this genre of immigration literature as it offers an introduction to the lived experience of this period, as well as highlighting the historical context of the age: WWI and the Interwar Years before WWII, American nativism, anti-semitism, and the Prohibition Era of the 1920s. Edifying as it is, Kraut’s approach is literary, making it an easy, entertaining read at the same time. Sweet Corner Dreams fits into the genre of novels I read during my own undergraduate years: Out of This Furnace by Thomas Bell, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair.

The novel begins with Morty, who is born on the voyage over from Europe to America, and the tribulations his aunt and parents face as they navigate the hardships of building a new life in the United States for him and themselves. Morty represents the clash of generations and cultures; as he matures he finds himself torn between tradition and survival, caught up in the criminal and deadly world of NYC in the days of Prohibition. This is also a world of multiethnic plurality: denizens of differing — sometimes conflicting — religions and worldviews must find a way to coexist, recognize their shared humanity. celebrate their diversity.

The story is immediately captivating, and readers will find their interest sustained by the depth of Kraut’s characters. These are people we would recognize today among our own friends and families.

3.75- I love Jewish historical fiction, especially when it’s not your typical WW2 setting. Street Corner Dreams takes place in NYC from the mid 1910’s up until the start of WW2 and that’s what drew me to this.
Italian gangs and Jewish gangs were of New York Morty, the baby, grows up on the streets of Brooklyn trying to stay away from both the Italian and Jewish gangs. When something happens that has him asking an old friend for money he finds himself in the middle of one of the biggest crime laden Jewish gangs in all of New York. Unable to escape he ends up deserting the only life he knows- including his family and the girl he loves, leaving them to think he died a gangster.
I really loved the idea of this book since books about Jewish families set in the 1920’s-1940’s in New York always make me think of my grandparents as children. I enjoyed pretty much all of it but endings can often break a book and this ending certainly did. In the acknowledgments, Ms. Kraut mentioned this was a work of fiction heavily inspired by a real family member. It left me wondering, did she end the book as abruptly as she did because she didn’t know what happened in real life or did she end it so abruptly because she ran out of time or steam? In either case she should have had an ending that tied things up instead of leaving loose ends.
Thank you to NetGalley and She Writes Press for an advanced copy of this. I’m sorry it took me so long to get to it. Street Corner Dreams hit the shelves on November 13, 2023.

A very compelling immigrant story with a lively plot. Easy to read and engaging. I enjoyed how the story developed and struggles the main character worked through.

Golda put aside her dreams of independence when she married her brother-in-law. They wed as a matter of convenience because her sister had died leaving behind a newborn baby boy, while they were immigrating to the U.S. Golda, Ben and Morty built a good life in Pre-WWI Brooklyn that lasted until Ben borrowed money from the wrong people during the 1930s Depression. Morty gave up his career plans to pay off the debt by working for these shady people.

Would he ever get to live his street corner dreams?
Interesting, believable plots, characters and settings make this book well worth reading.

Two sisters set off to America. A new life in the United States. The youngest, Esther, is married to a young man who has sent for her. They are expecting a baby. Her older sister, Golda, has traveled with her. After losing Esther in childbirth Golda had to meet and tell Ben of his loss and his new baby boy.

Golda had no idea what this strange new country had in store for her. She was in for a life very much different than the one she had left behind.

Filled with so much sadness Ben doesn't do much in the beginning but his cousin finally gets him going in the right direction. He has a son to raise. A baby boy he named Morton. Ben asked Golda to marry him as it seemed was custom during this day after the loss of her sister. She agrees and raises Morty as her own.

This story takes you through the life of a Jewish family in America. The gangs. The ups and downs of living in New York during these turbulent times. As Morty grows and Golda and Ben's family, they have a pretty good life. They had lost one son during the flu pandemic and Golda had a time getting through that. Eventually they do have a daughter and all seems right in their world.

During this time there are many gangs. They terrorize people. Take things from them. Make them pay protection money. Give loans that seem impossible to pay back. Somehow Morty gets involved with these gangs and has to drop out of college. His dream to be an engineer are at a standstill. But he really felt he had no choice.

As their world comes crashing down around them a war is breaking out. World War Two. They find out they have a granddaughter from an Italian girl that Morty loved with all his heart. No one seems to know what life has in store.

This story will take you through all these people endure. All the ups and downs. The tears. The happiness and the love. This book is about immigrants who came to this country to make a life. To make things better for themselves and the country. It was hard but they sacrificed a lot and made it. After all that is what this country is made from Immigrates.

This author did a great job of taking you into this family's hearts. Helping you see what they went through. The things they had to do and the life they lived. From the beginning when Golda stepped off the ship until the day she watched as someone she loved dearly got on a bus to join a War... A heartfelt story. Heartbreaking and hopeful.

Thank you #NetGalley, #FlorenceReissKraut, #SheWritesPress, for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

Five huge stars. I highly recommend this book.

Street Corner Dreams is about a Polish Jewish family & their struggles during the Great Depression including gang activity from that time era. I didn’t particularly like this one, it wasn't bad - just not gripping or fascinating to me.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me a free eARC of this book to read in exchange for my review!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
While this was a decent historical novel it fell a little bit short for me.
There was a lot of extras that didn’t need to be included that you can kind of skim through.
There could have been more depth to make it more interesting.
I liked the idea of the plot and the time setting.

A family drama full of responsibility ,secrets,, and love. I can’t imagine how hard it must have been to come to a new country and to learn the culture and how to exist.
Many thanks to She Writes Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

It's been said that in order to comprehend what someone else has gone through, "you must walk a mile in their shoes." Author Ms. Kraut puts us in the "shoes" of the Feinstein family in this gripping account of one family's immigration odyssey from Poland to Brooklyn in the years between World War I and World War II, all in the sake of achieving their aspirations.

My heart was captivated by this historical account and tale. This family not only had to deal with the socioeconomic challenges of the time, but also the Great Depression, the Spanish Flu, and the emergence of organised crime in New York. These people had to make many sacrifices in order to survive in the face of antisemitism, poverty, and the possibility of being homeless. They could not have advanced into the future in their recently adopted homeland without love, tenacity, perseverance, and hard work.

For those who enjoy family drama or historical fiction, I would suggest this book.

This book captured my attention from the first pages and didn’t let go until the end.

This story takes the reader on a journey with the Feinstein family. From Europe to New York, we initially follow Golda as she travels with her sister,

As the story progresses, and Golda’s sister dies tragically, we watch Golda and Ben build a life for themselves, while thriving in their new home, and raising Morty.

When the Depression happens, Ben has to make hard choices to try to keep his business running and his head above water.

Woven into the background of this story are the Italian and Jewish gangs so popular during this time. Often people became indebted to these gangs after accepting help from them.

What follows are some hard choices and heartbreaking situations.

This family drama will take the reader through a time different from ours in some ways and not so different in others. Choices made to protect people, and heartbreaking events that show the true power of love and family.

This history woven into this story was eye opening and this book is one I am still thinking about days after finishing it. I highly recommend it.

Thank you to GedRed PR and She Writes Press for the copy of this book. All views are my honest opinion.

Thank you to the author Florence Reiss Kraut, publishers She Writes Press, and Get Red PR Book Tours, for an advance paperback copy of STREET CORNER DREAMS. Thank you also to NetGalley for an accomanying widget. All views are mine.

Opening quote: She thought how lucky she had been to have a friend like Cousin Surah , strong and wise and loving. A place to stay. Food to eat. Even piecework, stitching bespoke dresses and embroidering shirtwaists... where she could earn money and help pay their expenses. Loc 732

Three (or more) things I loved:

1. The pace is very fast, which keeps the narrative relevant and cohesive, but honestly at the expense of certain detail.

2. This story is brilliant and so important, the history of the single mother in America before the existence of social safety nets.

3. Internal monologues are absolutely gorgeous.

4. Kraut handles transitions deftly. I'm always amazed when the narrative slides from deep introspection of the main character, Golda, to an exchange between Golda and someone else, in a step so seamless I hardly even notice the narrative distance has changed.

5. I love this narrative! The romance is so dangerous and heart-rending, which makes it absolutely gripping. The two lovers' family problems complicate everything, increasing the tension to a wonderful pitch!

6. I love how the mob enters out of nowhere, sliding into a story about a family. Uncanny!

Three (or less) things I didn't love:

This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.

1. Writers sometimes underestimate how much time conversations like the one at loc 1003 take. This amount of material, especially of this sort, cannot always be covered in one brief visit of an hour or two, or even a whole afternoon. This is just a small pacing issue that I always notice!

2. At about the halfway point, the plot really abandons the family narrative in favor of the later introducing mob story. I can't say I'm a fan of this, as updates with Golda all but cease. For me, this character was a real draw into the first half of the book.

3. I found the turn at the climax a little outlandish, but it makes sense in light of previous material.

Rating: 🍝🍝🍝🍝 spaghetti dates
Recommend? Yes!
Finished: Nov 12 23
Format: paperack, GetRed, ebook, Libby
Read this book if you like:
⌛️ historical fiction
🏙 New York
💅 women's fiction
🕴🏾 mob stories

Street Corner Dreams by Florence Reisskraut

This novel published by She Press Writes spans from 1914 to the U.S. involvement in WWII. It explains that hundreds of immigrants came into New York City hoping for a new beginning. Most did not speak English and had a long road ahead to find a better life.

The story tells of the lives of Jewish immigrants Ben Feinstein, Esther, Morty, Golda and other family members and friends. They all strive to set and reach goals. If you enjoy the minutiae of daily life in that time period, this story will excite you. On the other hand, I was surprised that the largest historical events of that time were glossed over quickly.

I skimmed portions of this book due to the simplicity of the writer’s style. There is no guesswork involved in the plot, no twists, no highs or lows. It’s just mundane day-to-day activities, and some events restated later in the story. I will give it three stars, partially as a nod to the author’s success of writing this story and getting it published.

There is an old saying that "you must walk a mile in someone else's shoes" to understand what they went through. Ms. Kraut, the author of this book, puts us in the "shoes" of the Feinstein family in this very compelling story about one family's immigration journey, from Poland to Brooklyn between WWI and WWII, in search of fulfilling their dreams.

This piece of history and this story captured my heart. Along with all the socioeconomic struggles that they faced during those times, this family had to contend with the Spanish Flu, the Great Depression, and the rise of organized crime in NY. These characters faced poverty, the threat of homelessness, and antisemitism, while sacrificing so much just to get by. It is only with love, determination, hard work, and perseverance that they were able to move ahead into the future in their newly adopted country.

I would recommend this book to readers who love historical fiction or family drama. This would also be a good book for Book Club discussions, or anyone wanting to learn more about the immigration experience in the early part of the 20th century.

My sincere thanks to NetGalley and She Writes Press for allowing me to read an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you for the advance copy of this novel for review.

This book sadly was not a fit for me. The writing was just okay, and while the topic and time period could have been interesting, the lack of execution ultimately hurt the story and the book overall. I couldn't connect with the characters or story and ultimately found it unsatisfying.

STREET CORNER DREAMS, by Florence Reiss Kraut, is an intensive family drama and the story of the early Jewish immigrants arriving in New York at the beginning of the 1900’s. Golda is crossing the ocean with Esther, her pregnant sister, to meet Esther’s husband Ben who is already living in Brooklyn. But Esther dies during the journey. The story continues in the Jewish community in New York, with the struggles they faced: the poverty, the harshness of everyday life, and the uprising of mafia-type gangs. There are strong themes of family, of faith, and also of romance.

The narrative is strong and the characters are well-developed, each with his or her own distinct voice, weaknesses, and desires. Ben, Golda, Morty, and Anna—they will live in the reader’s mind long after the last page is read. The author has done a stellar job of researching the time period, but there was also a distinct emotional impact felts, for the basis of this saga came from her own family’s experience. Thanks to her for sharing a piece of history that we need not forget.

Street Corner Dreams by Florence Reiss Kraut is a complex, heart felt story of hardship, struggle and dreams.
Golda arrives in America just before WWII and marries her widowed brother in law Ben. Her sister Esther dies giving birth to Ben's son Morty on the ship coming to America. Both sisters were planning to start their new lives.
The story of Jewish immigrants coming to America in the 1900's definitely had an impact on my emotions. As this was the time my grandparents were coming to America as young children with their parents for what they hoped would be a better life.
As I read of the hardships of Ben and Golda, I could imagine the challenges trying to make a life my great grandparents must of had.
Gangs, protection money, illegal activities, realistic characters made this an engaging story and put perspective to life of those coming to America for a better opportunity.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.

Street Corner Dreams tells the story of Jewish immigrants from Poland coming to America around WWI and trying to make a better life. The reader learns of the struggles of learning the lay of the land, trying to earn money and support a family. Golda travels with her sister, Esther, who is pregnant and joining her new husband in Brooklyn, NY. Unfortunately, Esther dies during childbirth and Golda takes her son to Ben, Esther's husband. They become a family amidst financial hardship. The neighborhood is rampant with gangs collecting protection money from the shopkeepers who are struggling to make money. The saga continues through 1942 and the involvement of the US in WWII. This is a well researched historical fiction novel. Thanks to Florence Reiss Kraut, the author and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A historical novel dealing with immigrants relocating to Brooklyn in the early 1900"s. I did not care for this book evne though I finished it. The story of the gangs of New York was not new to me, some people did what they had to do in those difficult times and turned to the gangs for money to get by. I didn't find the characters particularly interesting and the ending left me unsatisfied. I will not be recommending this book.