Place in the City — Howard Fast

Fast's stunning third novel, about neighbors on one New York City street, struggling to achieve their dreams during the Great Depression

On Apple Place, John Edwards aspires to poetry and love, while his neighbor Claus Silverman dreams of a life of music. Meyer runs a cigar stand, saving each penny to build a better future for his family, while Mary sells herself on the corner to provide for her children. Ground down by poverty during some of the city's bleakest years, the characters that mix and mingle in Place in the City all yearn for more, striving constantly for the American Dream lying just beyond their reach.