Betty Smith didn’t just write a book. She basically bottled up the smell of hot asphalt and old trash and turned it into poetry. Honestly, if you grew up in a place where money was tight—or even if you didn't—A Tree Grows in Brooklyn feels less like a classic novel and more like a shared memory. It’s gritty. It's beautiful. It's a little bit gross sometimes.
Most people think this is just a "coming-of-age" story about a girl named Francie Nolan. That's part of it, sure. But the real heartbeat of the book is about how people survive when the world feels like it’s actively trying to crush them. The tree in the title, the Ailanthus altissima, or the "Tree of Heaven," is the ultimate metaphor for that. It grows in the cracks of cement. It thrives on nothing. It’s stubborn.
Francie is that tree.
The Real Williamsburg Nobody Tells You About
If you go to Williamsburg, Brooklyn today, you’ll see $15 lattes and people wearing beanies in the middle of July. It’s one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the world. But when Betty Smith was writing about it in 1943—setting the story in the early 1900s—it was a literal slum.
Life was hard.
Francie and her brother Neeley used to collect scrap metal and rags just to get a few pennies for candy or stale bread. Think about that for a second. We’re talking about kids walking through the streets of Brooklyn looking for junk so they can eat. It wasn’t "quaint." It was survival. Smith doesn't sugarcoat the poverty. She describes the "mixed-up smell" of the neighborhood: sweat, beer, fried fish, and the faint scent of the sea.
You’ve got to appreciate the honesty here. A lot of literature from that era tried to make the poor look "noble" and "pure." Smith didn't do that. She showed the bitterness. She showed the way Francie's mother, Katie, became hard and cold because she had to be the one to hold the family together while her husband, Johnny, drank himself into a hole.
Johnny Nolan: The Father We Love and Hate
Johnny Nolan is maybe one of the most heartbreaking characters in American literature. He's a singing waiter. He’s charming. He's handsome. He’s also a hopeless alcoholic who can’t keep a steady job to save his life.
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It’s complicated.
Francie adores him because he represents the "dreamer" side of life. He’s the one who tells stories and makes life feel like it’s not just about scrubbing floors. But Katie is the one who actually pays the rent. This tension—between the dreamer who fails and the realist who survives—is what makes A Tree Grows in Brooklyn so relatable even a century later. We all know a Johnny. We all probably have a bit of Katie in us, too.
Why the "Tree of Heaven" Matters So Much
The tree itself is a character. It's the only thing that grows in the yard of the tenement.
"It grew in boarded-up lots and out of neglected rubbish heaps and it was the only tree that grew out of cement. It grew lushly, but only in the tenements."
Smith wasn't choosing a random maple or an oak. She chose the Ailanthus. In the botanical world, this tree is actually considered an invasive species. It’s tough to kill. It’s messy. People hate it because it’s "weedy." But that’s the point. The people in the tenements were seen as weeds by the rest of New York society. They were the ones who weren't supposed to thrive, yet they did.
They pushed through the cracks.
The Education of Francie Nolan
Francie’s journey through the school system is another reality check. She faces "educational discrimination" before that was even a buzzword. Because she was poor and smelled like the "long-drawn-out smell of the tenements," teachers treated her like she was invisible or stupid.
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She had to lie about her address just to get into a better school.
Think about the guts that takes. A young girl walking blocks away from her home, pretending to live in a nicer neighborhood just so she could have a teacher who didn't look at her with disgust. It’s a reminder that the "American Dream" has always had a high entry fee.
The Controversy You Might Not Know
Believe it or not, when the book first came out, it wasn't universally praised. Some critics thought it was too "sordid." They didn't like the frank talk about childbirth, or the scene where a predator tries to attack Francie in the hallway. It was considered "too much" for a "girl's book."
But the soldiers loved it.
During World War II, the Council on Books in Wartime printed special "Armed Services Editions" of novels to send to troops overseas. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was a massive hit with the GIs. Why? Because it reminded them of home. Not a fake, postcard version of home, but the real, gritty, struggling home they were fighting to get back to. They wrote letters to Betty Smith by the thousands. They felt like she was the only one telling the truth about what it meant to be an American.
How to Read It Today (Without Feeling Like It’s Homework)
If you’re picking it up for the first time, or maybe re-reading it as an adult, don't look at it as a "classic." Look at it as a survival guide.
The prose is deceptively simple. Smith uses short, punchy sentences that hit you right in the gut. There's a scene where Francie gets a library card, and the way Smith describes the library—the "quietness" and the "smell of old paper"—will make anyone who ever escaped into a book feel seen.
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Surprising Details from the Text
- The Coffee Rule: The Nolans were so poor they couldn't afford much food, but Katie insisted they always have a pot of coffee. Even if they didn't drink it, they could pour it down the sink just to feel like they had something to waste. It was a way of maintaining dignity.
- The Tin Can: They had a "tin can" nailed to the floor in the back of the closet where they put pennies for the future. It’s a brutal look at how slow and painful saving money is when you're living hand-to-mouth.
- Sissy’s Husbands: Francie’s Aunt Sissy is a fascinating character. She had a string of "husbands" (all named John) and was way ahead of her time in terms of her views on life and men. She provides the warmth that Katie’s pragmatism lacks.
Common Misconceptions About the Story
People often remember this as a "sad" book. It’s not.
Actually, it’s incredibly hopeful. But it’s a realistic kind of hope. It’s the hope that comes from knowing you can handle whatever the world throws at you. It’s about the "mean" Brooklyn—the one that exists before the gentrification and the boutiques.
Another misconception is that it’s just for girls. That’s nonsense. The themes of class struggle, the failure of the father figure, and the crushing weight of economic pressure are universal. If you’ve ever felt like an outsider, this book is for you.
Taking the "Francie Nolan" Approach to Life
So, what can we actually take away from a book written over 80 years ago about a girl living 120 years ago?
Basically, it's about the "Tree of Heaven" mindset. You don't need a perfect environment to grow. You don't need the best soil. Sometimes, the cement actually makes you stronger because it forces you to find the cracks.
Next Steps for the Inspired Reader:
- Read the Original Unabridged Text: Many school versions are edited. Find the full version to get the raw, unfiltered experience of 1900s Brooklyn.
- Visit the Site: If you're in New York, go to the corner of Bogart and Grattan Streets. That’s where the "tree" was located in the story. It’s industrial and gritty even now, which helps you visualize the setting.
- Watch the 1945 Film: Directed by Elia Kazan, it’s one of those rare cases where the movie actually captures the soul of the book, even if it has to trim some of the plot.
- Journal Your "Tenement": Francie found beauty in the mundane. Try writing down three things in your current environment that most people would find "ugly" but that you find interesting or meaningful.
The world changes. Brooklyn changes. But the struggle to become who you are—despite where you started—that never goes away. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn remains the gold standard for telling that story. It’s messy, it’s loud, and it’s absolutely essential.