This book is one I read over and over growing up. I’m going
to take a moment to sound terribly cliché, coming of age story, fabulous
writing, good storytelling, timeless classic. Now for why’s of all that. This
book was written in a time (1943 for any one who’s curious) when there was a
lot of competition so to be a good book the writing and story had to be done
well. I reread it because I wanted to see if it still held the same allure for
me as it did when I was a kid. It does.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is about a little girl growing up
in Brooklyn during the Great Depression with a
little bit of how her parents’ relationship started thrown in. I always felt a
little bit like Francie. Few friends, a love of reading, siblings to take care
of: any wonder I identified with the main character? The part that sticks with
me most is the ending. After growing up impoverished, starting work at 14,
having to delay her education, and disappointments in love; the author does not
wave her magic wand and give Francie a happy ending. She does give Francie the
tools to find a happy ending: intelligence, pride, ambition, and a bullheaded
determination to earn what she knows will make her life worth while.
While I have your attention: this book is also
semi-autobiographical. Francie may not exist but the woman who wrote this book
grew up poor during the Great Depression in the same neighborhood she based
this book on. There aren’t many people left who can give us an accurate
personal picture of what it was like during that time. This is as close as many
of us will get to understanding what life was like 80 years ago.
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