Born in Transylvania in 1899, Bella Spewack arrived on the streets of New York's Lower East Side when she was three. At twenty-two, while working as a reporter with her husband in Europe, she wrote a memoir of her childhood that was never published. More than seventy years later, the publication of Streets recovers a remarkable voice and revivifies a lost world.
In her critically acclaimed writing, Bella describes the sights, sounds, and characters of urban Jewish immigrant life after the turn of the century. Witty, street-smart, and unsentimental, Bella was a genuine American heroine who went on to become a celebrated author. Booklist comments, “The book provides a startling, clear-eyed look at the difficult life millions endured."
In her critically acclaimed writing, Bella describes the sights, sounds, and characters of urban Jewish immigrant life after the turn of the century. Witty, street-smart, and unsentimental, Bella was a genuine American heroine who went on to become a celebrated author. Booklist comments, “The book provides a startling, clear-eyed look at the difficult life millions endured."
