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A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Betty Smith

Start date: March 15, 2015

Finish date: April 15, 2015

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May 31, 2015 Nadine in NY Jones rated it it was ok

Shelves: nyc, fiction, historical-fiction, classic, everyone-loved-it-except-me, coming-of-age

I did not enjoy reading A Tree Grows, and I am glad I'm done with it. That's not to say that I don't appreciate its value as a classic. It depicts an important time in US history, a time that my own grandparents lived through. I recognize my Nana in Katie and my Poppop in Johnny, so I know that Ms Smith got it right. But I just did not enjoy this. The story is dreadfully depressing, it drags on and on, and meanders this way and that. It is a character-driven story, I suppose, but I did not care I did not enjoy reading A Tree Grows, and I am glad I'm done with it. That's not to say that I don't appreciate its value as a classic. It depicts an important time in US history, a time that my own grandparents lived through. I recognize my Nana in Katie and my Poppop in Johnny, so I know that Ms Smith got it right. But I just did not enjoy this. The story is dreadfully depressing, it drags on and on, and meanders this way and that. It is a character-driven story, I suppose, but I did not care about any of the characters. The big climactic scene midway through is told in the same detached, plodding fashion as the rest of the book, and (even worse) the character, Francie, does not seem the least bit changed by the trauma. I found the writing style to be wholly insipid, for most of the book it is "See Jane. See Jane run. Run, Jane, run!" for the first three parts:
Mama came home at six with Aunt Sissy. Francie was very glad to see Sissy. She was her favorite aunt. Francie loved her and was fascinated by her. So far, Sissy had led a very exciting life.
then it becomes disjointed in the fourth part, and finally disjointed and rushed in the fifth part. (I wonder if Ms Smith wrote the first three parts when she was much younger, then set it aside when she couldn't figure out how to finish it? Or is this Ms Smith's way of showing how Francie is growing up?) And too many things about this story were just terribly depressing - I'm sure it's realistic, but it's not what I want to read. Plus, the general attitude felt extremely dated, with casual bigotry and sexism at every turn.

The ending was satisfying, which is what saves this from being a one star read for me.
Francie went over to stand at the great window from which she could see the East River twenty stories below. It was the last time she’d see the river from that window. The last time of anything has the poignancy of death itself. This that I see now, she thought, to see no more this way. Oh, the last time how clearly you see everything; as though a magnifying light had been turned on it. And you grieve because you hadn’t held it tighter when you had it every day.
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Sep 03, 2018 Erica rated it it was amazing

Shelves: american-history

I had been meaning to read this book for decades--so glad I finally got around to it. Francie is a character for the ages. Smith's insights into the human condition, into a little girl growing up in urban America, and basic personality types is uncanny. The prose is a bit workmanlike, but the portrait of a struggling family and a girl finding meaning and beauty is gorgeously rendered. ...more

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Nov 01, 2025 Dörte M rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This was such a good meaningful read. Francie Nolan growing up in Brooklyn in the early 1900s and rising above poverty and challenges of that time. Wonderful slow storytelling.

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Dec 18, 2018 Jana rated it it was amazing

Shelves: book-club

I really liked this book. So many interesting tidbits about life in the early 20th century. Some details have changed, but the underlying themes are still the same.

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