A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick
The beloved American classic about a young girl's coming-of-age at the
turn of the twentieth 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 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. Smith has created a work of literary art that brilliantly
captures a unique time and place as well as deeply resonant moments of
universal experience. Here is an American classic that "cuts right to
the heart of life," hails the New York Times. "If you miss A Tree
Grows in Brooklyn, you will deny yourself a rich experience."
