A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Review

“The world was hers for the reading.”
― Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Review by Alexa Hinton

I will admit, this book was a bit hard for me to get into. But oh… was it worth it. It was a birthday present from a very close friend so I didn’t have any preconceptions or thoughts going into reading. Even though it didn’t feel like something I would pick up myself, I could tell almost immediately why she had recommended it. Betty Smith’s writing style is so vivid and detailed that you can’t help but fall into the world she created. And, throughout the journey, the more we discover, the more we get to understand our main character, Francie. A tree grows in Brooklyn; and no matter how many times it’s chopped down, it grows again towards the sky. 

Though the focus is definitely on Francie, a young girl growing up in Brooklyn at the turn of the 19th century, we do get glimpses of a third-person omniscient point of view. We understand why Mama works as hard as she does and why she married a drunk who couldn’t take care of them. We understand why Aunt Sissy works so hard to have a baby of her own. And, most importantly, we understand Francie. 

Francie is a lonely kid. However, she makes up for this with a vivid imagination and a drive to succeed no matter the obstacles. And there are many obstacles in her path as a poor child living in a railroad-style tenement in 1910. Once she learned to read and write, friendship no longer mattered to Francie because she could build her own worlds. I remember the feeling of loneliness and otherness that can permeate some childhood memories and I found myself leaning into my creativity as an outlet as well. However, the thing that stuck with me the most was the joy. The whole family, as destitute as they were, were happy and proud. They shared good times and laughed through bad ones. I want to follow their example. 

“She’ll never have the hard times we had, will she?”

”No. And she’ll never have the fun we had, either.”