About this book
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith is a classic coming-of-age novel set in the early 20th century. It follows the story of Francie Nolan, a young girl growing up in the impoverished Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Despite her challenging circumstances, Francie finds solace and inspiration in books and the natural world. The novel explores themes of poverty, family dynamics, resilience, and the power of education. Through Francie's eyes, readers witness her struggles, dreams, and triumphs as she navigates the complexities of adolescence and strives to rise above her circumstances. Smith's poignant storytelling captures the essence of hope, determination, and the indomitable spirit of a young girl yearning for a brighter future.
An instant best-seller, 300,000 copies were sold just in the first six weeks after publication. In 1945 was adapted into a film directed by Elia Kazan starring James Dunn, Dorothy McGuire, Joan Blondell, and Peggy Ann Garner, who won a Special Academy Award for Outstanding Child Actress of 1945.
First line
Serene was a word you could put to Brooklyn, New York.
From the rear cover
The beloved American classic about a young girl's coming-of-age at the turn of the century, Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a poignant and moving tale filled with compassion and cruelty, laughter and heartache, crowded with life and people and incident. The story of young, sensitive, and idealistic Francie Nolan and her bittersweet formative years in the slums of Williamsburg has enchanted and inspired millions of readers for more than sixty years. By turns overwhelming, sublime, heartbreaking, and uplifting, the daily experiences of the unforgettable Nolans are raw with honesty and tenderly threaded with family connectedness -- in a work of literary art that brilliantly captures a unique time and place as well as incredibly rich moments of universal experience.
First Edition Identification
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was published by Harper and Brothers in 1943. Binding in green cloth with printed paper spine label. It was 443 pages. First edition is stated on the copyright page above "D-S" and below "8-43". Pictorial dust jacket has the price of $2.75 printed on the upper corner of the first flap and "5338" is on the bottom.
Details
- Title A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
- Author Betty Smith
- Binding Paperback
- Edition LATER PRINTING
- Pages 528
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher Harper Perennial, New York
- Date 2006-05-30
- ISBN 9780061120077 / 0061120073
- Weight 1.04 lbs (0.47 kg)
- Dimensions 8.29 x 5.51 x 1.49 in (21.06 x 14.00 x 3.78 cm)
- Reading level 810
-
Themes
- Chronological Period: 20th Century
- Chronological Period: 1900-1919
- Cultural Region: Mid-Atlantic
- Cultural Region: Northeast U.S.
- Geographic Orientation: New York
- Topical: Coming of Age
- Topical: Family
- Library of Congress subjects Domestic fiction, Bildungsromans
- Dewey Decimal Code FIC
Media reviews
Citations
- Booklist, 08/01/2007, Page 37
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