The story focuses on an impoverished but aspirational adolescent girl and her Irish-American family living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City, during the first two decades of the 20th century. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a 1943 semi-autobiographical novel written by Betty Smith. opensource 365-Books-by-Women-Authors additionalcollections. From Book 1/Chapter 2 Francis goes to the Library. Her other novels include Tomorrow Will Be Better (1947), Maggie-Now (1958) and Joy in the Morning (1963). A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, Betty Smith, American Literature, Classic Literature, Fiction. Throughout her life, Smith worked as a dramatist, receiving many awards and fellowships including the Rockefeller Fellowship and the Dramatists Guild Fellowship for her work in drama. She teamed with George Abbott to write the book for the 1951 musical adaptation of the same name. There she married Joseph Jones in 1943, the same year in which A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was published. In 1938 she divorced her husband and moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She was a student in the classes of Professor Kenneth Thorpe Rowe.

There she honed her skills in journalism, literature, writing, and drama, winning a prestigious Hopwood Award. Although Smith had not finished high school, the university allowed her to enroll in classes. At this time, she gave birth to two girls and waited until they were in school so she could complete her higher education. Smith, a fellow Brooklynite, she moved with him to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he pursued a law degree at the University of Michigan. These experiences served as the framework to her first novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1943).Īfter marrying George H. See this thread for more information.īetty Smith (AKA Sophina Elisabeth Wehner): Born- DecemDied- January 17, 1972īorn in Brooklyn, New York to German immigrants, she grew up poor in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Smith betty a tree grows in brooklyn