Lower East Side

Through the early parts of the novel, the Golds live in Manhattan's Lower East Side at 72 Clinton Street. The fortune teller lives on Hester Street, which is a few blocks away; the children walk past Sara D. Roosevelt Park and their father's tailor shop in order to get there. The area is multicultural. The Golds are Jewish, and it is mentioned that Daniel frequents a kosher Chinese restaurant in the neighborhood. Thirteen-year-old Varya has a friend named Ruby who is Indian, and the two girls swap the traditional cuisine of their cultures, trading kugel for spiced butter chicken. The East River is visible from the neighborhood, "green-brown with muck and sewage" (6). Ilya Hlavacek's magic shop is also a fixture in the community, and this is where Klara gets the early instruction for her future career. Gertie remains at 72 Clinton until the Gold children are grown up...