We won the lottery when we connected in friendship and in shared literary passion with Dorothy Caldwell Minor, aka The Book Whisperer, and we look forward always to her thoughtful and honest book reviews. Dorothy finds “a dream of a book club” in Florence Reiss Kraut’s upcoming new novel Street Corner Dreams.
A little about Dorothy:
“I am an avid reader and also enjoy Indie and foreign movies. I retired from teaching English at Tulsa Community College after teaching as an adjunct first and then twenty-four years as a full-time faculty member. I was also involved in faculty development, planning and facilitating workshops for colleagues. I like technology and using technology to enhance learning. As an adjunct, I started a book club on campus, and it is still going strong thirty-one years later! I also belong to two other book clubs.I’ve included a picture from a Chautauqua Tea at TCC, complete with hat and brooch! I enjoy collecting vintage rhinestone brooches.”
Dorothy’s book club, Circle of Readers:
“We meet twice monthly. The first of the month, we all read a book and discuss it; the second time we meet, we discuss other books we’ve read. We enjoy inviting authors to join us! We have 20 members, and we are located in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. We enjoy reading fiction, historical fiction, memoir, nonfiction, YA.”
Dorothy’s review of Street Corner Dreams:
I am truly blessed to have an association with NovelNetwork, Debbie Harpham, and Susan McBeth. That long-distance friendship has provided me with terrific authors who meet on Zoom with my book club. Occasionally, a NovelNetwork author sends an advance copy of a book for review as well. I was delighted to receive an advance copy of Street Corner Dreams by Florence Reiss Kraut. It is historical fiction dealing with the early 1900s in NYC and immigrants.
Golda escapes Poland with Esther, her younger sister, going to NYC to meet Esther’s husband. Esther and Ben are married before he leaves for the US, and Esther is expecting her first baby when the sisters get on the ship. Sadly, and this is no spoiler, Esther dies giving birth to a healthy baby boy shortly before the ship arrives in NY. Golda takes the baby and leaves the ship to wait for Ben Feinstein, Esther’s husband. Of course, there is no way to tell Ben ahead of time about Esther’s death or the baby’s arrival.
Complications immediately arise because Ben rents a room in a house run by Ben’s cousin Surah, a kindly woman. Where will Golda sleep, and how will they feed the baby? Surah takes charge and helps Ben and Golda sort out the arrangements. They are all poor and count every penny, so it is not an easy task.
Golda’s mother has taught her to sew, and Golda is quite talented at looking at fabric and imagining an exquisitely embroidered design on the fabric. She is very much an artist in that respect. That talent earns her a job working from home for a nearby tailor.
Soon, Surah asks Golda when she will marry Ben, a custom often followed when a wife dies, and the husband marries one of her sisters. At first, Golda is horrified, but she comes to see marriage as a solution to several problems. Ben is kind and hardworking, and Golda wants the best for her nephew, Morty, although she must learn to love him as her own child.
Ben and Golda do marry, and they begin to prosper through their hard work, although progress is slow. They do find that they love one another. Of course, they face obstacles like any couple. One of the most devastating is the flu pandemic in 1918. Other problems include the roving gangs of thugs in Brooklyn at the time. They extort “protection” money from business owners, and there is no way out of paying. Those who refuse or who are late with payments pay more dearly with thefts from their stores and even fires destroying everything.
Readers will find a story of family and of survival. Ben and Golda struggle to maintain a wholesome family life and to find some piece of the American dream. While they face adversity, they preserve the love that keeps them together.
Book club members will find Street Corner Dreams a dream of a book club. The topics will range widely from marriage customs to immigration to child-rearing to fulfilling dreams. Street Corner Dreams will captivate readers.
Pre-order now.
Author visits with Florence Reiss Kraut are available via NovelNetwork.com.
Be sure to visit Dorothy’s website, Parkdalear’s Blog, and watch for her reviews of our NovelNetwork authors featured there, and shared right here at NovelNetwork.com.