A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

The beloved American classic about a young girl's coming-of-age at the turn of the century.

From the moment she entered the world, Francie needed to be made of stern stuff, for the often harsh life of Williamsburg demanded fortitude, precocity, and strength of spirit. Often scorned by neighbors for her familys erratic and eccentric behavior-such as her father Johnnys taste for alcohol and Aunt Sissys habit of marrying serially without the formality of divorce-no one, least of all Francie, could say that the Nolans life lacked drama. By turns overwhelming, sublime, heartbreaking, and uplifting, the Nolans daily experiences are tenderly threaded with family connectedness and raw with honesty. Betty Smith has, in the pages of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, captured the joys of humble Williamsburg life--fromjunk day on Saturdays, when the children of Francies neighborhood traded their weekly take for pennies, to the special excitement of holidays, bringing cause for celebration and revelry. Betty Smith has artfully caught this sense of exciting life in a novel of childhood, replete with incredibly rich moments of universal experiences--a truly remarkable achievement for any writer.