A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is the story of Francie Nolan, a young woman coming to adulthood in Brooklyn in 1912. Each section of the novel deals with a different period of Francie's life and with aspects of the American Dream. Coming of age, socioeconomic pressures, the trials of womanhood in the first half of the 20th century, and other themes are developed over the course of the story.
Betty Wehner Smiths unique ability to capture the reality of American society in the early nineteen hundreds is seen in the novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn The setting of the novel stems very much from the authors own childhood Society can truly relate to this story as it has a place in every American familys roots The time defying novel evokes sympathy by telling the story of a young impoverished family comparing their rough lives to a relentless tree native to Brooklyn New York Betty Smith was