A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is the coming-of-age story of young, sensitive and idealistic Francie Nolan and her bittersweet formative years in the turn-of-the century Williamsburg slums of Brooklyn. This poignant and moving tale is filled with compassion and cruelty, laughter and heartache, crowded with life and people and incident.

From the moment she entered the world, Francie needed to be made of stern stuff, for the often harsh life of Williamsburg demanded fortitude, precocity, and strength of spirit. Betty Smith has artfully caught this sense of exciting life in a novel of childhood, replete with incredibly rich moments of universal experiences.

As a book group, we are no strangers to American classics. We’ve delved into more than a few over the 10 years we have been meeting, and on no occasion have they been described as ‘saccharine’. But there is a first time for everything, and this is exactly what approximately half of our group thought of Smith’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

Francie was too good to be true and many of the outcomes in the story lacked in the reality stakes. Others believed the story was devoid of intensity and some of the more interesting issues were glossed over.

There were of course references made to McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes (which everyone had read), but as A Tree was written in the early 1940s, it was accepted that Smith had obviously written a book of her time, which we generally agreed was to some extent biographical.

On the positive side, others believed it to be a wonderful read and historically correct. There was a strong sense of place and Francie’s character was exactly what the book’s protagonist needed to be. We then proceeded to have a great discussion on the book’s many characters and it was mentioned that there was a clear depiction of pride written into them. Something that everyone felt and agreed was common among Smith’s social class of the time.

It was about here that we began some reminiscing, as several of us could recall similar childhood memories of a time when space and money was short. Growing up stories are always entertaining and a wonderful way of rounding off a great discussion. For, regardless of a book’s original intent, if it inspires thoughtful and enjoyable discourse, it is always a winner with us!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our readers. We look forward to another great year of reading and sharing with you!