A Tree Grows in Brooklyn American Classics Edition

By: Betty Smith

Published by Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2026-05-05

A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick "One of the most cherished of American novels. . . . It is the Dickensian novel of New York that we didn't think we had." -- New York Times In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States, HarperCollins is proud to present this library of American classics drawn from our storied catalog. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is Betty's Smith's beloved novel about a young girl's coming-of-age at the turn of the twentieth century, growing up in the slums of immigrant New York, fortified by the love of her family and her own hunger to learn. From the moment she entered the world, Francie Nolan needed to be made of stern stuff, for growing up in the Williamsburg slums of Brooklyn demanded fortitude, precocity, and strength of spirit. Often scorned by neighbors for her Irish Catholic's family's erratic and eccentric behavior--such as her father Johnny's taste for alcohol and her Aunt Sissy's habit of marrying serially without the formality of divorce--no one, least of all Francie, could say that the Nolan's life lacked drama. By turns heartbreaking and uplifting, the Nolan's daily experiences are raw with honestly and tenderly threaded with family connectedness. Betty Smith details the joys and sorrows of a humble immigrant American life, creating a work of literary art that brilliantly captures a unique time and place as well as deeply resonant moments of universal experience. Here is an American classic that "cuts right to the heart of life," hails the New York Times. "If you miss A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, you will deny yourself a rich experience."