A Tree Grows in Brooklyn American Classics Edition - (HarperCollins American Classics) by Betty Smith (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick

"One of the most cherished of American novels. . . . It is the Dickensian novel of New York that we didn't think we had." -- New York Times

In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States, HarperCollins is proud to present this library of American classics drawn from our storied catalog. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is Betty's Smith's beloved novel about a young girl's coming-of-age at the turn of the twentieth century, growing up in the slums of immigrant New York, fortified by the love of her family and her own hunger to learn.

From the moment she entered the world, Francie Nolan needed to be made of stern stuff, for growing up in the Williamsburg slums of Brooklyn demanded fortitude, precocity, and strength of spirit. Often scorned by neighbors for her Irish Catholic's family's erratic and eccentric behavior--such as her father Johnny's taste for alcohol and her Aunt Sissy's habit of marrying serially without the formality of divorce--no one, least of all Francie, could say that the Nolan's life lacked drama.

By turns heartbreaking and uplifting, the Nolan's daily experiences are raw with honestly and tenderly threaded with family connectedness. Betty Smith details the joys and sorrows of a humble immigrant American life, creating a work of literary art that brilliantly captures a unique time and place as well as deeply resonant moments of universal experience. Here is an American classic that "cuts right to the heart of life," hails the New York Times. "If you miss A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, you will deny yourself a rich experience."

Review Quotes

"A profoundly moving novel, and an honest and true one. It cuts right to the heart of life. . . . If you miss A Tree Grows in Brooklyn you will deny yourself a rich experience." - New York Times
"One of the books of the century." - New York Public Library
"Betty Smith was a born storyteller." - USA Today
"A Tree Grows in Brooklyn deserves to be thought of as one of the greatest American novels." - The New Yorker
"One of the most cherished of American novels....It is the Dickensian novel of New York that we didn't think we had." - New York Times
"A poignant and deeply understanding story of childhood and family relationships....[Smith's] book has light and air in it, comedy and pathos, and an underlying rhythm pulsing to the surge and flow of humanity itself. No matter what happens to the Nolans, they never lose their awareness of the sweetness and wonder of life." - Orville Prescott, New York Times
"The quintessential New York immigrant novel, which underscored the power of education." - Min Jin Lee, The New York Times