Judith: I think it might have been set in NYC, assuming that the Simmons component could be placed at Barnard (not sure). While there is no "North End", the immigrant populations here were diverse and certainly included Italians, Irish, and Jews. We have the "Lower East Side" and East Harlem, where my maternal grandparents and children lived, as well as the Bronx, where my father's family lived.
In reply to <p>It was really fun reading by Judith Rosenbaum
Judith: I think it might have been set in NYC, assuming that the Simmons component could be placed at Barnard (not sure). While there is no "North End", the immigrant populations here were diverse and certainly included Italians, Irish, and Jews. We have the "Lower East Side" and East Harlem, where my maternal grandparents and children lived, as well as the Bronx, where my father's family lived.