A "Classic" for Good Reason: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn


My friend from high school recommended A Tree Grows in Brooklyn when I asked for reading suggestions, commenting that it was worth another read. Confession: this is my first time. Betty Smith’s novel seems like it launched a thousand books like it, and feels like an American story. The wonder of Smith’s writing is that, it’s hard to name many who have done it as beautifully.

The book’s main character, Francie Nolan, is an intelligent little girl who loves reading and grows up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in the first quarter of the 20th century. Her mother Katie works as a cleaning lady and her father Johnny does odd jobs, struggling to hold onto just one because he’s an alcoholic. Francie is reserved, but you can see the New Yorker in her as she grows. She finds ways to make it there: attending the schools she wants, defending her little brother Neeley against neighborhood bullies and a world that wants to put a poor kid like her, and/or a girl, into her place. Francie reads as strong, destined to end up where she wants, determined to live as she decides.  

Smith write about Francie from age 11 until she is a young woman working in publishing. A reader feels a sense of pride when she lands her first big job that tests her intelligence, and we feel compelled to steer her in different directions when we see her stumble away from meeting her potential. Throughout her journey, we see the love she has for her family, and we fall for a character with a firm yet developing sense of how the world works.

The nearly 500 pages of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn feel as though they’re just half as much. Smith pushes the events of Francie’s life along skillfully, allowing for rich and well-chosen details to push the reader along. By the end, we want to know what happens next for Francie. The book also feels like a glimpse into many American families in that same time in the country.

Thanks to my friend Tara Misra for recommending A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

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