A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is the coming-of-age story of young, sensitive, and idealistic Francie Nolan and her bittersweet formative years in the turn-of-the-century Williamsburg slums of Brooklyn. This poignant and moving tale is filled with compassion and cruelty, laughter and heartache, crowded with life and people and incident.§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 family s erratic and eccentric behavior-such as her father Johnny s taste for alcohol and Aunt Sissy s 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-from "junk day" on Saturdays, when the children of Francie s 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.§Since A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was first published in 1943, printing has followed printing, and at one time it became necessary to print simultaneously in four different plants to satisfy demand. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn has sold millions of copies, has been translated into more than fifteen languages, and was made into a musical and a memorable motion picture. The title itself has become a common reference within American cultural life. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a true American classic, and has been called by the New York Public Library "one of the books of the century."