Book Club Guide

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

by Betty Smith · 1943 · Literary Fiction

Key themes

Poverty as a condition that requires art to survive — and the tree that grows through concrete
The father who is beautiful and insufficient — and the daughter who loves him anyway
Brooklyn as a landscape of aspiration and grime — and the library that saves Francie

About this book

Francie Nolan grows up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in the early 20th century — in a family defined by a charming, alcoholic father and a relentlessly practical mother, by poverty and by an extraordinary hunger for books and beauty. Smith's novel is one of the great American coming-of-age stories and a portrait of immigrant aspiration that never sentimentalises the struggle.

Published in 1943, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was Smith's debut and was an immediate bestseller. She drew directly on her own childhood in Williamsburg. It was one of the first books selected by the Book-of-the-Month Club.

Discussion questions

The ailanthus tree — the 'tree of heaven' that grows through concrete — is the novel's central symbol. How does Smith develop it — and what does it say about Francie's own resilience?
Francie's father Johnny is charming, loving and alcoholic — unable to provide what his family needs. How does Smith develop the complexity of Francie's love for him?
The novel is full of the specific details of early 20th-century Brooklyn poverty. How does Smith render this specificity — with nostalgia, with bitterness, or with something that holds both?
Books and reading are Francie's salvation. How does Smith develop this — and what does she say about what literature does for those whose lives have few other outlets?
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is one of the great American coming-of-age novels. What does it give young readers — and what does re-reading it as an adult reveal?