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Cambridge Street
Italian American Foundation Book Review by Linda Binkley
“Cambridge Street is Mr. Decker’s first novel, and I really must compliment him on his outstanding character development. Not just the main characters but all the peripheral characters are multi-dimensional and unforgettable. It was an enjoyable read and the pages just flew by. Mr. Decker – you are an amazing author.”
Logline: A young Sicilian immigrant family struggles to survive violent mobsters and crooked cops in Chicago's Roaring Twenties.
Synopsis
Forced to leave Sicily, a young family immigrates to Chicago. They arrive on Christmas Day and quickly learn that they are not wanted or welcomed. It is the dawning of the Roaring 20s.
The sprawling, dirty city is not like anything they could have imagined or dreamed. The family moves into a fourth floor apartment in a run-down tenement building in the Little Sicily part of the city, known as Little Hell to the locals.
As husband Paolo labors at the slaughterhouse for little money, wife Gianna holds the family together through sheer grit and determination.
When an act of terrible violence is committed against their family by their own countrymen, Paolo swears revenge. The local mob boss cannot tolerate disrespect and orders Paolo to be murdered publicly as a warning to the neighborhood.
While killers wait outside their front door, Paolo and Gianna’s dreams and hopes for their future and for their children hang in the balance as they are forced decide on the course of action that will define them as people and determine their futures.
Plots and tensions simmer and boil over in a shocking conclusion early one morning on Cambridge Street.
“Cambridge Street is Mr. Decker’s first novel, and I really must compliment him on his outstanding character development. Not just the main characters but all the peripheral characters are multi-dimensional and unforgettable. It was an enjoyable read and the pages just flew by. Mr. Decker – you are an amazing author.”
Logline: A young Sicilian immigrant family struggles to survive violent mobsters and crooked cops in Chicago's Roaring Twenties.
Synopsis
Forced to leave Sicily, a young family immigrates to Chicago. They arrive on Christmas Day and quickly learn that they are not wanted or welcomed. It is the dawning of the Roaring 20s.
The sprawling, dirty city is not like anything they could have imagined or dreamed. The family moves into a fourth floor apartment in a run-down tenement building in the Little Sicily part of the city, known as Little Hell to the locals.
As husband Paolo labors at the slaughterhouse for little money, wife Gianna holds the family together through sheer grit and determination.
When an act of terrible violence is committed against their family by their own countrymen, Paolo swears revenge. The local mob boss cannot tolerate disrespect and orders Paolo to be murdered publicly as a warning to the neighborhood.
While killers wait outside their front door, Paolo and Gianna’s dreams and hopes for their future and for their children hang in the balance as they are forced decide on the course of action that will define them as people and determine their futures.
Plots and tensions simmer and boil over in a shocking conclusion early one morning on Cambridge Street.
351 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 29, 2017
489 people are currently reading
2256 people want to read
About the author
Steven Decker
1 book19 followersBorn and raised in Chicago. Illinois, Steven Decker enlisted in the military right out of high school. He spend several years overseas where he was assigned to a U.S./NATO air base as an air traffic controller.
Decker married his high school sweetheart and they raised a large family. Steve spent his career in marketing and sales and retired as a sales director of a large travel company.
As of this writing, the Decker clan has grown by two great grandchildren with another on the way.
After retirement, Decker had the time to research Chicago's Roaring 20s. Overlaying that research with stories of the 1920s from his immigrant grandparents, Decker gave the world the novel Cambridge Street.
Decker married his high school sweetheart and they raised a large family. Steve spent his career in marketing and sales and retired as a sales director of a large travel company.
As of this writing, the Decker clan has grown by two great grandchildren with another on the way.
After retirement, Decker had the time to research Chicago's Roaring 20s. Overlaying that research with stories of the 1920s from his immigrant grandparents, Decker gave the world the novel Cambridge Street.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
September 28, 2021
Cambridge Street by Steven Decker
Cambridge Street is a work of fiction inspired by true events of the author’s life. I highly recommend this novel, but the recommendation comes with a caveat. Many of us whose parentage hails from the south of Italy and whose ancestors arrived in America before the second world War have a tendency to romanticize the old country. This book rather shatters that impression of sweetness and beauty. The book might startle you with its explicit scenes of violence. Between 1880 and 1980 15 million Italians left Italy permanently. If you wonder why, reading Cambridge Street will make it abundantly clear. Decker’s descriptions of the life in Sicily and Naples is far from lovely. Actually, it’s quite horrifying. The extreme poverty, mafia rule, unpoliced violence, ongoing vendetta, the absence of schools and medical care all combined to make life there impossibly challenging.
The Tomasso family, however, will endear itself to you. The great love the family holds for one another and for their faith balances the surrounding evil, but certainly does not sugar coat it. The family had to leave Sicily. Their lives depended upon it. This particular family decided to immigrate to Chicago where they had some familial connections. They ended up in Little Sicily on Cambridge Street, a sub-section of Little Italy. Sadly, here they found mafia working hand-in-hand with the crooked police, they found deep-seated prejudice against them, more vendetta and people being gunned down in the middle of the street in broad daylight with no police interventions. This was Chicago of the roaring 20’s, Al Capone’s Chicago. The Tomasso family landed in an ugly place indeed.
And so, the family once again finds themselves in survival mode. They realize that here, unlike in Italy, if they can get through this transition, there is a future for their children. It’s all about sacrificing so their children can have an education and a future. There are schools for all and doctors when they need them. There is light at the end of the tunnel.
Cambridge Street is Mr. Decker’s first novel and I really have to compliment him on his outstanding character development. These folks, not just the Tomasso family, but all the peripheral character, especially Father Edo and the satanic Gazzo are multi-dimensional and unforgettable. Mr. Decker's reflections on the First World War were also very moving. It was an enjoyable read and the pages just flew by.
Cambridge Street is a work of fiction inspired by true events of the author’s life. I highly recommend this novel, but the recommendation comes with a caveat. Many of us whose parentage hails from the south of Italy and whose ancestors arrived in America before the second world War have a tendency to romanticize the old country. This book rather shatters that impression of sweetness and beauty. The book might startle you with its explicit scenes of violence. Between 1880 and 1980 15 million Italians left Italy permanently. If you wonder why, reading Cambridge Street will make it abundantly clear. Decker’s descriptions of the life in Sicily and Naples is far from lovely. Actually, it’s quite horrifying. The extreme poverty, mafia rule, unpoliced violence, ongoing vendetta, the absence of schools and medical care all combined to make life there impossibly challenging.
The Tomasso family, however, will endear itself to you. The great love the family holds for one another and for their faith balances the surrounding evil, but certainly does not sugar coat it. The family had to leave Sicily. Their lives depended upon it. This particular family decided to immigrate to Chicago where they had some familial connections. They ended up in Little Sicily on Cambridge Street, a sub-section of Little Italy. Sadly, here they found mafia working hand-in-hand with the crooked police, they found deep-seated prejudice against them, more vendetta and people being gunned down in the middle of the street in broad daylight with no police interventions. This was Chicago of the roaring 20’s, Al Capone’s Chicago. The Tomasso family landed in an ugly place indeed.
And so, the family once again finds themselves in survival mode. They realize that here, unlike in Italy, if they can get through this transition, there is a future for their children. It’s all about sacrificing so their children can have an education and a future. There are schools for all and doctors when they need them. There is light at the end of the tunnel.
Cambridge Street is Mr. Decker’s first novel and I really have to compliment him on his outstanding character development. These folks, not just the Tomasso family, but all the peripheral character, especially Father Edo and the satanic Gazzo are multi-dimensional and unforgettable. Mr. Decker's reflections on the First World War were also very moving. It was an enjoyable read and the pages just flew by.
March 17, 2025
Won through a Goodreads giveaway.
I'm incredibly torn over this book. On one hand, there were some incredibly touching and emotional moments. Gianna was the most well-developed character in my mind, and I would've loved it if the entire book just focused more so on her rather than bouncing around a huge cast of characters, and I think it could've been powerful. Speaking of focus, however...
It was kind of all over the place. For the first half of the book especially, there was a lot of jumping around between times and people, and I had a hard time - particularly at the start - following who was who and what year they were in. Flashbacks definitely do have a time and place, but this could have benefitted from being a bit more linear than it was. Then the last third or so of the book took place in the course of just a few days. So overall, the organization and pacing didn't really work for me.
The writing, though, was generally good despite some scattered typos (they weren't too distracting, but there were enough of them where it could have certainly used another proofread), and I found myself forming emotional attachments to some of the characters (particularly Gianna and Leonardo).
Overall, the emotion and connection to some of the characters and their fates was there, but I didn't find the story executed in the best format.
I'm incredibly torn over this book. On one hand, there were some incredibly touching and emotional moments. Gianna was the most well-developed character in my mind, and I would've loved it if the entire book just focused more so on her rather than bouncing around a huge cast of characters, and I think it could've been powerful. Speaking of focus, however...
It was kind of all over the place. For the first half of the book especially, there was a lot of jumping around between times and people, and I had a hard time - particularly at the start - following who was who and what year they were in. Flashbacks definitely do have a time and place, but this could have benefitted from being a bit more linear than it was. Then the last third or so of the book took place in the course of just a few days. So overall, the organization and pacing didn't really work for me.
The writing, though, was generally good despite some scattered typos (they weren't too distracting, but there were enough of them where it could have certainly used another proofread), and I found myself forming emotional attachments to some of the characters (particularly Gianna and Leonardo).
Overall, the emotion and connection to some of the characters and their fates was there, but I didn't find the story executed in the best format.
July 5, 2022
CAMBRIDGE STREET is a MUST READ!!! Steven Decker is a master story teller; I was unable to put the book down until I finished it! Mr. Decker portrays, informed in part by his own family’s history, the love, courage, determination, strength, harsh realities, painful decisions, and hope all intertwined in the immigrant experience. This story celebrates family and the triumphant power of selfless, unconditional love in the face of countless obstacles and even great evil. Cambridge Street is a heartfelt, realistic, and thought provoking glimpse of the great immigrant story that is the United States.
September 22, 2025
A GR giveaway win, this was an enjoyable book and one that was very informative about the immigrant experience of that era. I was captivated by stories of the characters, in both The Old World and in Chicago during a time that was rife with organized crime in both places. The struggle that was portrayed in a very stark way still continues today among people who long for a better life, a future for their family, yet are also brokenhearted to feel they must leave their homeland to achieve it. Cambridge Street shows the reality of how some find ways to prosper through education, adherence to the law and hard, honest work even though it often means being subjected to ill-treatment and prejudice. It also highlights the way others tragically choose to simply bring with them the problems and illegal activity of their old life into their new country. As good historical fiction should, the book blended real personalities of the time with interesting characters created and fully developed by the author.
August 31, 2025
Excellent story about a family who came to America to make their lives
A family, in Italy had to come to a very hard decision. Either stay where they were, and starve to death. Or, for the young and strong to go to America. The parents and grandparents would stay behind.
And so the family went to America. Chicago, in the 1920's.
They lived in a tentament, and made their lives.
Out of all of this, the one son was a rotten apple.
This son, because he dared to steal from the Mob, caused his good brother to be killed. The mobsters thought it was the bad son.
Alas, it was not.
The family escaped to Michigan for a decade.
Eventually coming back to Chicago.
One of the daughters, was a Senator and the rest of the clan met at the hospital for their dying Mother. To see her one last time.
A family, in Italy had to come to a very hard decision. Either stay where they were, and starve to death. Or, for the young and strong to go to America. The parents and grandparents would stay behind.
And so the family went to America. Chicago, in the 1920's.
They lived in a tentament, and made their lives.
Out of all of this, the one son was a rotten apple.
This son, because he dared to steal from the Mob, caused his good brother to be killed. The mobsters thought it was the bad son.
Alas, it was not.
The family escaped to Michigan for a decade.
Eventually coming back to Chicago.
One of the daughters, was a Senator and the rest of the clan met at the hospital for their dying Mother. To see her one last time.
September 27, 2025
The writing was very simple (I usually enjoy very descriptive writing) however the story was so intense and so Italian that I couldn’t put in down This story brought you into the lives of a Sicilian family tired of the corruption they were surrounded by and the realization that there was no future for their children. They immigrated to America only to be subjected to more corruption and crime. So interesting how this family rose above it all
This story is gory so if you don’t care for brutal stories this is not the book for you.
This story is gory so if you don’t care for brutal stories this is not the book for you.
February 1, 2021
I felt like the descriptions of what it was like back in Palermo was very realistic and illuminating. The customs, the beauty and the brutality seemed to go hand in hand along with the ever-present threat of crime and corruption. The characters held my interest. They were colorful and realistic and the story engaging. There was quite a bit of exposition and a bit of over explaining, but I would definitely recommend it.
February 21, 2023
A wonderful book as long as you remember who was in which part of the family and who did what job. A family history from Italy to Chicago and how the people stood together. As you finally figure who is who you will become a part of he family. Then there was the mafia and the Don's who ruled the streets. It took a bit to get going but it was a glimpse into he area where my mother grew up and I was seeing her stories in these words.
June 3, 2025
Logline: A young Sicilian immigrant family struggles to survive violent mobsters and crooked cops in Chicago's Roaring Twenties.
I expected random violence but found
lots of violence that is not random in either location, brought about by stupid actions. Frustrating. A difficult read for me. So many people/stories that don't seem connected, but hang in there, they do connect. Thank you Steven Decker and Goodreads for the book. Would not have found/read it otherwise.
I expected random violence but found
lots of violence that is not random in either location, brought about by stupid actions. Frustrating. A difficult read for me. So many people/stories that don't seem connected, but hang in there, they do connect. Thank you Steven Decker and Goodreads for the book. Would not have found/read it otherwise.
September 14, 2023
family
The family and God were everything to the Tomasos.
No matter what they were challenged by, they were together as family.
Beautifully written and carefully told we follow their lives from Italy to America. Easily learning to love and care for them we watch their lives and mourn with them in their sorrow
The family and God were everything to the Tomasos.
No matter what they were challenged by, they were together as family.
Beautifully written and carefully told we follow their lives from Italy to America. Easily learning to love and care for them we watch their lives and mourn with them in their sorrow
March 4, 2024
Pick up this touching and exciting multigenerational story that makes the reader feel the love and loss of an immigrant family. The perspectives of the different characters really help bring the past alive. Highly recommend giving it a read! Time for me to book a trip to Sicily to see the beautiful descriptions in real life!
March 23, 2025
2 1/2 stars rounded up. This story had such promise. I listened on audible, and I can’t decide if it was the narrator’s sing-song voice or the actual dialog that ruined it for me, but it made what could have been a good story feel like a children’s book. I enjoyed the characters, especially Gianna, but it was hard to follow who was who. I did finish it though, so it wasn’t a total waste.
September 4, 2025
I related so much to this as I think about my grandparents immigrated from Italy. They thought America was the land of opportunity only for my grandmother to come here to dirt floors and outhouse. My grandfather worked on the railroad bridge where the Italians were the lowest paid at 8 dollars a week and they were whipped to keep working.
October 31, 2021
This was a very good read from this author. Wanted to keep reading and not have to put it down. The author did a good job of making the characters real. Will want to see more from him! I'm from the Chicago suburbs and know some of the issues he describes in the book. Good job!
April 23, 2023
Great book
This was hard to put down. The struggles of the immigrants. And The love they had for family. And knowing that they were doing it for them. The unselfish. Of parents. We need today.
This was hard to put down. The struggles of the immigrants. And The love they had for family. And knowing that they were doing it for them. The unselfish. Of parents. We need today.
August 19, 2023
Wonderful Read
I just loved this story. The characters were so real. Knowing it was based on a true story is what drew me to it as I love this Era. Its a wonderful read,one of those books you don't want to end!
I just loved this story. The characters were so real. Knowing it was based on a true story is what drew me to it as I love this Era. Its a wonderful read,one of those books you don't want to end!
August 21, 2023
Outstanding book with historical value as well as an insight into incentive to immigrate to America from Italy. The hardships experienced in this family's journey demonstrated the strengths and struggles with a family. Highly recommend this book.
April 25, 2024
Disappointed
I am very disappointed in this book! I was under the impression there would be more history of the Tomaso family and their struggles adapting to America. It seems there should have been stories of the kids growing up.
I am very disappointed in this book! I was under the impression there would be more history of the Tomaso family and their struggles adapting to America. It seems there should have been stories of the kids growing up.
April 10, 2025
Action packed!
Really good book! Leaving Sicily that was controlled by the mob to America, only to find out it was much worse, but through the help of friends and sheer determination they fought their way through. Keeps you entertained
Really good book! Leaving Sicily that was controlled by the mob to America, only to find out it was much worse, but through the help of friends and sheer determination they fought their way through. Keeps you entertained
June 22, 2025
The story of a family that journeys in the 1920s from Sicily to America looking for a better life for the family and to escape the violence of the Sicilian Mafia. The family finds in Chicago that the Mafia controls their life there, too.
July 10, 2025
Fiction story about the Italians from Sicily coming to America for a new life in 1911. to get away from Mafia, government and taxes, to settle in Chicago in Little Italy and face the same problems. interesting History.
August 14, 2018
Amazing love story of a family.
I loved it. I felt I was living in that time with the family, feeling all the emotions, they were going through. It drew you.
Love love love it.
I loved it. I felt I was living in that time with the family, feeling all the emotions, they were going through. It drew you.
Love love love it.
August 20, 2022
The novel, Cambridge Street, was moving, sentimental and rich with history. Well worth the read.
August 28, 2023
loved this book
I enjoyed how devoted this family was to each other and also their faith. They were hard workers during difficult times
I enjoyed how devoted this family was to each other and also their faith. They were hard workers during difficult times
September 17, 2023
I enjoyed this book so much. Very interesting family saga. Quite a bit of violence but not gratuitous.
January 6, 2024
I really enjoyed this book. Very interesting you want to just keep reading reading and reading. Could not wait to get to the end.
April 22, 2025
I read this as a paperback but this option does not appear. The book was great!
April 28, 2025
I loved the story and writing. It placed my mind into the era when the book took place.
May 17, 2025
This was a very good book . I recommend it to everyone. I cried at times. Couldn’t stop reading until the end.
July 29, 2025
Heartwarming & Heartbreaking
An absolutely beautiful story that brought back so many memories of my grandparents coming to America from Italy. Definitely should be on your TBR list!
An absolutely beautiful story that brought back so many memories of my grandparents coming to America from Italy. Definitely should be on your TBR list!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews