About the Author
Elisabeth (Betty) Smith was born in Brooklyn, New York, on December 15, 1896, to a family of German immigrants. Smith’s father, John Wehner, died when […]
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Setting
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is set in Brooklyn’s immigrant neighborhoods. The novel opens in the summer of 1912 with eleven-year-old Francie Nolan sitting on […]
Themes And Characters
The most significant character in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is Francie Nolan. A lonely child, Francie avoids close companionship with her peers. Although she […]
Literary Qualities
Smith uses a third-person omniscient narrator to relate her story. Thus, although Francie is the book’s central character, Smith develops other characters, even the minor […]
Social Sensitivity
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn remains popular because of its optimism, its feminism, and its philosophical ties to more recent novels for young readers. Women […]
Topics for Discussion
1. What is the meaning of the novel’s title? How does the tree function as a symbol throughout the novel? 2. Who seems stronger in […]
Ideas for Reports and Papers
1. Betty Smith has said that she began writing A Tree Grows in Brooklyn after she read Thomas Wolfe’s Of Time and the River. Read […]
Related Titles and Adaptations
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn began as a play entitled Francie Nolan and a short story, “Death of a Singing Waiter.” Smith eventually transformed the […]