A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (novel)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| A Tree Grows in Brooklyn | |
 A 2006 edition of the book. |
|
| Author | Betty Smith |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Harper & Brothers |
| Publication date | 1943 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) |
| Pages | 443 p. |
| ISBN | NA |
A Tree Grows In Brooklyn is a novel by Betty Smith first published in 1943. It relates the coming-of-age story of its main character, Francie Nolan, and her Irish-American family struggling against poverty in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City. The novel is set in the first and second decades of the 20th century. The book was an immense success, a nationwide best-seller that was distributed to servicemen overseas. It was also adapted into a popular motion picture, the first feature film directed by Elia Kazan.
Much of the book can be thought of as thinly disguised autobiography. Many of the characters derive from actual inhabitants of Williamsburg with whom the author grew up.
The central metaphor of the book is the hardy Tree of Heaven, of Asian origin, now considered invasive, and commonplace in the back lots of New York City.
[edit] Plot summary
In pre-World War I Brooklyn, young Francie struggles to keep her idealism alive in the face of grinding poverty, the comedies and tragedies of ordinary life. Her mother, Katie, is a realistic woman who works as a janitor in their tenement to make ends meet. Her father, Johnny, is an alcoholic singing waiter who is more of a dreamer. Along with her brother Neeley, the four of them live in a poor apartment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City.
The novel begins with Francie and Neeley going to the pawn shop on a Saturday, after scraping through garbage and such for foil. They receive pennies for this task from the shop owner, and they split the earnings, with some of it going into the family star bank. Neeley spends his money on candy, and Francie has a nickel that she holds on to while she browses stores. The neighborhood children all follow the same weekend routine as the Nolans. Johnny has a job that night to perform at a wedding, and comes home to freshen up. He is a proud union member, and always tells his family about the wonderful benefits of being a union member. Francie loves her father but has a strained relationship with her mother. The mother admits to loving Neeley more than Francie, though only to herself. When Johnny is drunk, he is quiet, which leads people to think he's sober, and he's happy and singing when he's sober, which makes people think he's drunk. Since it's Saturday, Francie is allowed to sleep in the front room, which is one of her favorite things about Saturdays (besides going to the library and her cup of coffee to do with as she pleases). She stays awake to wait for her father to come home from his job.
As the Nolans scrape by on pennies, the novel focuses on Francie's struggle for a better life despite all the pressures. We come to know these people well through big and little troubles: Aunt Sissy's scandalous succession of "husbands"; Aunt Evy and her always down-on-his-luck husband, her grandmother, and various other people that come into their lives. The story also tells how Katie and Johnny met, and leads up to when the novel starts with the current apartment that they're living in.
Francie and Neeley both attend school, with Francie going to a better school in a nicer location. She starts writing short stories to entertain herself. The family takes piano lessons from an old spinster that lives in their apartment building. Johnny gets kicked out of the union because of his drinking. Aunt Sissy adopts a baby girl, and has a surviving biological child of her own, after giving birth to ten stillborn babies. She also finally settles down with her husband Steve, and gives up her promiscuous ways. Katie becomes pregnant for the third time, and Johnny gets fired from his job as a waiter/singer. Soon after, Johnny dies of pneumonia, never seeing his third child. Katie tells the doctor to put pneumonia on Johnny's death certificate instead of acute alcoholism. Meanwhile, Francie and Neeley both take on part time jobs, but then Francie has to work full time to help make ends meet with the new baby and the death of Johnny. This upsets her because it means that she will have to leave school, despite her being the more academically inclined than Neeley. World War I has started, and Francie meets a soldier that she falls in love with. Only, the soldier turns out to be engaged, and she gets a letter from his wife explaining everything. She heals her heartache with time and another young man. Katie marries a retired police officer, Sergeant McShane, who is running for a government office position, ensuring a better life for her family.
[edit] Adaptations
- The book was adapted into a 1945 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. James Dunn also won an Academy Award for the film, for Best Supporting Actor.
- In 1951, George Abbott produced and directed the story as a Broadway musical, collaborating with the author on the book, and with music by Arthur Schwartz and choreography by Herbert Ross. The show starred Shirley Booth, Marcia van Dyke, and twelve year old Nomi Mitty played Francie. It ran for 267 performances. The story of this musical is told for the first time in Love Is The Reason For It All...The Shirley Booth Story by Jim Manago, with radio research by Donna Manago, and foreword by Ted Key. BearManor Media, ISBN 978-1-5939-3146-9
- There was also a short-lived 1974 television series, starring Cliff Robertson and Pamelyn Ferdin and based on the film's screenplay.
