A MODERN CLASSIC · Named one of the books of the century by the New York Public Library
From 1902 to 1919 the Nolan family lives in the tenements of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, getting by on very little. Johnny is charming, musical and drinks too much; Katie scrubs floors and puts pennies into a tin-can bank nailed to the closet floor. Their children, Francie and Neeley, know more than their share of the hunger and hardship that come with being poor in a great city.
But this is above all Francie's book. Imaginative, watchful and fiercely resourceful, she finds her way through it all by reading — a book a day from the public library — and by paying attention to everything. Like the tree of heaven that pushes up through the cement of the tenement yard, she keeps growing whatever the conditions.
First published in 1943, Betty Smith's novel has never gone out of print. It is funny, unsentimental and deeply tender about family, poverty and the stubborn beginnings of a young woman's wisdom — one of the great American coming-of-age stories. The Daily Telegraph said the story radiates life.
About the author
Betty Smith (1896–1972) was born and raised in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the setting of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, which drew heavily on her own childhood. A playwright and novelist, she also wrote Tomorrow Will Be Better, Maggie-Now and Joy in the Morning. The novel was adapted into a celebrated 1945 film directed by Elia Kazan.
Edition details
- Paperback, Penguin Random House UK
- First published 1943
