by Betty Smith, 1943
A gift from Christie for my birthday last year, I finally read it and absolutely loved it. All of the characters are so lovable and endearing, and the setting and time (1912-1919 Brooklyn) are captivating. It’s 481 pages long but so well-written and engrossing, it was enjoyable and hard to put down. LOVED this book, especially every single one of the characters: Francie Nolan, our narrator from the time she is a little girl until she is a young lady of 19, going off to college; Katie Nolan, her mother, a beautiful, young, hard-working and sensible woman; Johnny Nolan, her Papa, a lovable, very handsome and charming singing waiter who dies too young of his alcoholism; Neely, sweet brother of Francie, only 1 year younger, as handsome and talented as his Papa but determined to never be a drunk; and baby sister Laurie, who is born 5 months after her Papa dies.
There is also Sissy, Katie’s older sister, who never learned to read and write and who absolutely adores men. She calls them all John and finally settles down with her 3rd husband. She bears 10 children but every child dies. When she finally gets pregnant again at age 37 with her 3rd and final John (really named Steve), she insists on having the baby in a hospital delivered by a Jewish doctor. The child (a boy) is born but is not breathing and she thinks he is dead, but the doctor cries, “oxygen,” and her baby boy thrives! She’s as loving as a person can be! She comforts Johnny (Francie’s Papa) when he is going through the delirium tremors. When Francie graduates from grade school, she makes sure there are flowers on Francie’s desk just like all the other girls.
They live in poverty, close to starvation, freezing in the winter, never having enough, working so hard. When Francie and Neely are 14, after their Papa has died, they both start working and times become better and better for the little family. Mr. McShane, who has been in love with Katie for years, after an appropriate time for grieving, asks Katie to marry him and they will never be poor again! The book ends with Francie going off to college in Michigan, fully paid for by Mr. McShane, a loving and generous man. The tree that grows in Brooklyn was a tree that she looked down on as she read books on her fire escape and watched her neighbors through their windows. That tree was cut down and yet it didn’t die–a new tree grew again from the stump.
Beautiful book! Loved it!