A Tree Grows in Brooklyn tells the story of a young girl’s fight against poverty, ignorance, and grief during the early 1900s.
Written by Betty Smith, who herself grew up in Brooklyn, this classic demonstrates how love, family, and education can shine in the darkest of places. Although at times tragic, you’ll won’t be able to stop turning pages, and once you finish, you’ll want to read it again and again.
Main Characters in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Focusing on the childhood of Francie Nolan, this coming-of-age story features a Brooklyn family poor in possessions but rich in relationships.
Growing up in the hard-scrabble streets of her neighborhood n 1912, eleven-year-old Francie relies on reading and writing to help her weather the difficulties of life. Although she’s small, she stands up to hunger, loneliness, the occasional flying Christmas tree with grit and grace.
Born a year after her, Neely Nolan lives a charmed, if somewhat impoverished, life. With his golden curls and good-natured personality, he wins the favor of all his friends and holds a special place in his mother’s heart.
Lost in his own world of music and dreams, Johnny Nolan, their father, can’t seem to stay in reality long enough to hold a job. Although he struggles with alcoholism, he loves his family dearly, and they are fiercely proud of him.
Because she can’t rely on Johnny to provide for their family, Katie Nolan, their mother, works day and night to make ends meet. Never complaining, she teaches her children the importance of education, good manners, and fighting for themselves. One day she hopes that they will rise above their lowly status in the future.
During tough times, Katie’s sisters Eva and Sissy bring food and laughter to the Nolan home. In a pickle, Francie knows she can always turn to them for advice. Together these women work to keep themselves and their loved ones from sinking under the tremendous hardships that batter them.
Summary of the Plot (without spoilers!)
As children growing up in Brooklyn, Francie and Neeley find joy in simple things like penny candy, baseball games, and listening to their father sing. While Johnny Nolan has a reputation for being a lousy bum, he makes his children feel special and important.
Although Francie loves both her parents, she struggles with Katie. Soon after her marriage, Katie realized her husband would never be able to take care of the family properly. As a result, she poured all her hopes for their future into Neeley, loving him more than Francie. Despite her attempts to hide this, Francie can feel her mother’s distance and tries to reconcile herself with being “needed” and not “loved.” Throughout the book, this mother-daughter conflict colors the decisions Francie and Katie make, and readers long for them to find resolution.
Because of their grandmother’s insistence on education, Katie prioritizes school for Francie and Neeley until they turn 13. In school, Francie falls in love with writing and decides to become an author when she grows up. When she feels lonely and out of place, she turns to books for comfort.
When tragedy strikes, Francie must work to help her family survive, but she never gives up on her dream of attending college. Even if she can’t make her mother love her as much as Neeley, she can make her proud.
Readers however can’t help loving Francie. She will make you think, laugh, cry, and dream, and you’ll finish the book feeling like you’ve made a new friend.
Negative Elements
While I thoroughly enjoyed A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, this book does depict the harsh conditions of life in Brooklyn. As a result, characters curse and discuss vulgar topics (although never in a graphic way). Aunt Sissy is unabashedly unchaste and marries 3 times without divorcing her husbands. (She claims the marriages weren’t technically legal.)
In chapter 35, Francie has an encounter with a molester. While nothing is stated explicitly, some readers might desire to skip this section. Doing so won’t detract from the rest of the story. Although these elements can make A Tree Grows in Brooklyn more challenging for readers, the overall story is certainly worth reading, even if you choose to skip a few pages.
Memorable Quotes from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Betty Smith has a unique talent for dropping nuggets of wisdom throughout her writing, and yet she does it without sermonizing. I hope you enjoy her insight as much as I did!
“There had to be the dark and muddy waters so that the sun could have something to background its flashing glory.”
“They learned no compassion from their own anguish. Thus their suffering was wasted.”
“‘The secret lies in the reading and the writing. You are able to read. Every day you must read one page from some good book to your child. Ever day this must be until the child learns to read. Then she must read every day, I know this is the secret.'”
“‘The child must have a valuable thing which is called an imagination. The child must have a secret world in which live things that never were. It is necessary that she believe. She must start out by believing in things not of this world. Then when the world becomes too ugly for living in, the child can reach back and live in her imagination. . . Only by having these things in my mind can I live beyond what I have to live for.'”
“‘In teaching your child, do not forget that suffering is good too. It makes a person rich in character.'”
“She had the knowledge that she was small but she lacked the courage to be otherwise.”
“‘Forgiveness,’ said Mary Rommely, “is a gift of high value. Yet its cost is nothing.”
“‘We’re too much alike to understand each other because we don’t even understand our own selves.'”
“‘She doesn’t love me as much as she loves Neeley. But she needs me more than she needs him, and I guess being need is almost as good as being loved. Maybe better.'”
“‘Sometimes I think it’s better to suffer bitter unhappiness and to fight and to scream out, and even to suffer that terrible pain, than just to be . . . safe . . . At least she knows she’s living.'”
“Francie came away from her first chemistry lesson in a glow . . . Everything, decided Francie after that first lecture, was vibrant with life and there was no death in chemistry.”
“‘I wait for death with the courage I gained from living.'”
“‘People always think that happiness is a faraway thing,’ thought Francie, ‘something complicated and hard to get. Yet what little things can make it up; a place of shelter when it rains – a cup of strong hot coffee when you’re blue; for a man, a cigarette for contentment; a book to read when you’re alone – just to be with someone you love. Those things make happiness.'”
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