Book Review: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn got my attention when some of my friends were discussing their favorite books. One person said this book by Betty Smith was her favorite book, and since I was wanting to find something good to read during that time, I went and checked it out from the library.

Right away I noticed how thick the book was. The copy I got was nearly 500 pages long. On the front cover was a picture of the main character, Francie, a young girl, holding a couple dozen dark red roses (or so it was supposed to be). A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was published in 1943 as Betty Smith's first novel, but the copy I read was printed in 1998. This book was a huge success right away when published in 1943, and Betty Smith went on to write 3 other novels, following A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, the last one published in 1963. I've heard that although the other 3 novels are also good books, none quite live up to the first.

Besides the first page of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn being difficult to get through, where the main character (Francie Nolan, an 11-year-old girl at this point in the book), the story's location (Williamsburg, Brooklyn), and the tree (growing in Francie's yard) are all introduced, the other 400+ other pages in this novel engaged my eyes and interest easily. The way the paragraphs in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn are written intrigued me so much that I thought of hardly anything more the few weeks during my spare time that I spent reading this novel. The character, Francie Nolan, is so real in the book that I kept wondering if the author had had the same experiences in life herself.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is divided into 4 books. The first book is about Francie at 11 years of age, and how she spent her Saturdays in Brooklyn. She and her brother, Neely, one year younger than she, would roam the streets of Brooklyn, picking up recyclable trash to exchange for a few pennies or maybe a nickel or two. The change earned would be spent for candy or put into their home-made tin-can bank. They also were responsible for buying each day's worth of food for their family of 4. Francie and Neeley roamed the streets while their mother, Katie Nolan, cleaned homes for a living and their father, Johnny Nolan, tried to get a day's work as a singing waiter.

The second book of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn explained how Francie's mom and dad met and married, one year before Francie's birth, and also about their own parents, sisters and brothers, backgrounds and childhoods. Francie's dad's parents came from Germany, and her mom's parents from Austria, but both Katie and Johnny were born in Brooklyn, and were true Americans, unlike most other Brooklyn residents' parents. This book explains why all the family member characters in the book do what they do later on. Francie is 6 years old when the second book ends.

The third book is the longest of the 4 books within A Tree Grows in Brooklyn; it begins with the family moving into the new apartment, the one where most of the book takes place; it has the yard with the tree in it. This book is mostly about Francie growing up, how her mother pushed for her and Neeley's educations, so that they could rise above the poverty of their current lives. Every single day Katie would make Francie and Neeley read a bit from the family copy of the Gideon Bible and Shakespeare, and, of course, the children went to school, also. Francie's school compositions usually got the highest grade in her class, which is remarkable as her parents had little eduction and her grandparents had none at all.

At the end of book 3, Francie's mom is pregnant with a third Nolan child, and this knowledge seemed to have driven Johnny to drink himself to his grave, which is a huge turning point in the story. Soon after his death, Francie graduates from school and receives roses from her father (who had written out the card and given money to his sister-in-law just to make sure he didn't forget Francie's graduation flowers months before graduation). These are the roses on the cover of my copy of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

The fourth book of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn begins with Francie's first day of work at her first job. It tells of Francie's family's lowest point, where Katie is great with child and can hardly work. Katie wants them to go further in their education, but does not know how it will be possible without anyone working. Francie's quick accomplishments at work move her on to higher pay, and for once the family thrives with enough money. And Francie is able at last to continue her education, skipping high school and going straight to college, where she meets her first love interest, Ben.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn ends with Francie's mom remarrying a good and wealthy man, as well as Francie packing for college (while at the same time packing up to permanently move out of their apartment) and away from all her childhood memories. Francie's new baby sister, Laurie, would never know their loving father, nor the hardships her family lived through without her. The book's main character says goodbye to all of her childhood dreams, and notices that although the tree had been cut down because of complaints from neighbors, another tree has grown in its place, and would probably continue growing with all its strength (despite the cement slab its roots live among), not unlike the growth in Francie's life, as well.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was excellently written and one of the best novels I've ever read. One wouldn't think a story of a poor skinny girl eating stale bread and looking out a window would be so intriguing, but I suppose what makes a book interesting isn't so much the characters and location chosen but the heart of the story. This story's heart is simply one fragile human being not only surviving life but also loving the good she finds from it. The way Francie viewed her life gives a reader hope to find the mystery and romance out of whatever circumstance is given him. Well put, Betty Smith, and I'm off to the library to check out another of your books.