Street Corner Dreams: A Novel

by Florence Reiss Kraut

Overview

A suspenseful family saga, love story, and gangster tale, wrapped into one great book club read . . .

Just before WWI, Golda comes to America yearning for independence, but she tosses aside her dreams of freedom and marries her widowed brother-in-law after her sister dies giving birth to their son, Morty.

In the crowded streets of Brooklyn where Jewish and Italian gangs demand protection money from local storekeepers and entice youngsters with the promise of wealth, Golda, Ben, and Morty thrive as a family. But in the Depression, Ben, faced with financial ruin, makes a dangerous, life-altering choice. Morty tries to save his father by getting help from a gangster friend but the situation only worsens. Forced to desert his family and the woman he loves in order to survive, Morty is desperate to go home. Will he ever find a safe way back? Or has his involvement with the gang sealed his fate?

Another stunning work of historical fiction by Florence Reiss Kraut, Street Corner Dreams is an exploration of a timeless question: how much do we owe the families that have sacrificed for and shaped us—and does that debt outweigh what we owe ourselves and our own hopes and dreams for a better life?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781647425913
Publisher:	She Writes Press
Publication date:	11/14/2023
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Florence Reiss Kraut is a native New Yorker, raised and educated in four of the five boroughs of New York City. She holds a BA in English and a master’s in social work. She worked for thirty years as a clinician, a family therapist, and the CEO of a family service agency before retiring to write and travel widely. She has published personal essays for The New York Times and her fiction has appeared in journals including The Evening Street Press, SNReview, The Westchester Review, and others. She has three married children and nine grandchildren and lives with her husband in Rye, New York.

Editorial Reviews

2023 Firebird Book Awards First Place Winner in Women's Fiction

“. . . guaranteed to satisfy the readers, and is highly recommended.”
—Readers’ Favorite, 5-stars

“Book clubs seeking lively discussion material about Jewish culture, gang activity, immigrant experience, and Brooklyn’s past will find Street Corner Dreams thoroughly engrossing and filled with points perfect for debate.”
—Diane Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

“In Street Corner Dreams, Florence Kraut weaves a dramatic story of family, romance, and suspense set in Brooklyn’s Jewish neighborhoods in the 1930s, where immigrants are desperate to get ahead, and pressure from gangs is part of life. The characters’ dreams of a better life have their price, and irrevocable choices are made. The enduring power of family is at the heart of this compelling read, proving that sometimes the dreams you give up can lead to something better.”
—Virginia Weir, author of Stay a Friend as Long as You Can: A Memoir and The Two Elizabeths

“Captured in beautifully written and tender descriptions of an immigrant family, the characters’ dreams coursed through me as I read Kraut’s story of grief, nostalgia, pity, and terror. Every word invited me to feel, care, love, and understand family, good and bad individuals, a struggling Brooklyn, and our country offering hope. This is writing at its most open, forgiving and tender—which is to say, this is a crucial, sense making, compassionate book that I couldn’t put down.”
—June Gould, PhD, author of The Writer in All of Us, Beyond the Margins, and In the Shadow of Trains

“In Kraut’s beautifully written, captivating tale of an immigrant family in New York City between the world wars, the Feinsteins struggle to attain their dreams. Sometimes love and sacrifice aren’t enough, but hope glimmers through for this unforgettable family that you will root for to the very end.”
—Rebecca D’Harlingue, author of The Lines Between Us and The Map Colorist

“Street Corner Dreams will grip you. Florence Kraut has researched the Jewish gangs of immigrant Brooklyn and spun their stories into gold. The book is a tear-jerker at times, but also so much more—Kraut’s ear for dialogue and her ability to portray the small, telling gesture make the book a pleasure to read. The book opens a chapter of history that most of us are unfamiliar with, and brings it to life.”
—Mary Fillmore, Sarton Women’s Book Award–winning author of An Address in Amsterdam

“Florence Reiss Kraut’s welcome second novel is a carefully researched and compellingly written story of an immigrant Brooklyn family during the tumultuous years between world wars. Ever the master of richly drawn settings, Kraut creates the teeming streets, crowded apartments, daily struggles, and crushing weight of survival for a family formed out of tragedy and hope. Through their dashed dreams, hard work, attempts to save each other from the threat of gang life, and an inter-religious love story, this wonderful cast of characters’ resilience, forgiveness, and loving ties bring to fruition Street Corner Dreams.”
—Barbara Stark-Nemon, author of Hard Cider

From the Publisher