Book Review STREET CORNER DREAMS Florence Reiss Kraut

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 Libby 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

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