From Betty Smith, author of the beloved classic A Tree Grows in
Brooklyn, comes a poignant story of love, marriage, poverty, and hope
set in the Williamsburg and Bushwick sections of 1920s Brooklyn.
Tomorrow Will Be Better tells the story of Margy Shannon, a shy but
joyfully optimistic young woman just out of school who lives with her
parents and witnesses how a lifetime of hard work, poverty, and pain has
worn them down. Her mother's resentment toward being a housewife and her
father's inability to express his emotions result in a tense home life
where Margy has no voice. Unable to speak up against her overbearing
mother, Margy takes refuge in her dreams of a better life.
Her goals are simple--to find a husband, have children, and live in a
nice home--one where her children will never know the terror of want or
the need to hide from quarreling parents. When she meets Frankie Malone,
she thinks her dreams might be fulfilled at last, but a devastating loss
rattles her to her core and challenges her life-long optimism. As she
struggles to come to terms with the unexpected path her life has taken,
Margy must decide whether to accept things as they are or move firmly in
the direction of what she truly wants.
Rich with the flavor of its Brooklyn background, and filled with the
joys and heartbreak of family life, Tomorrow Will Be Better is told
with a simplicity, tenderness, and warmhearted humor that only Betty
Smith could write.
