Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Michael Brooks (West Chester University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1943

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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In 1940 Betty Smith (1896-1972) began submitting a manuscript entitled

They Lived in Brooklyn

to publishers. It was repeatedly rejected. In 1942 she submitted it to a contest at Harper and Brothers for a non-fiction book. The editors urged her to reclassify her manuscript as a novel. They also suggested that she extend her story of Francie Nolan's life, which originally ended with the death of Francie's father. Finally, they urged their author to find a new title.

The book was published the following year as A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. It reached a second printing before publication day and has been one of the most popular of literary classics ever since. Many young women felt that Francie Nolan's story was theirs. Many still do. Although Smith published three more relatively successful

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1571 words

Citation: Brooks, Michael. "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 October 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=23003, accessed 22 November 2024.]

Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

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