A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

This novel was extremely popular during World War II. It feels like more of a book of sketches than a full novel. We get insights into the lives of various people living in urban America. Most of the people are from immigrant families. (Though there is one story where somebody who responded that their parents were from Brooklyn when asked where they were from.) Most of the stories involved poverty. A man dying shortly after getting kicked out of his union. Little girls get gifted a doll from others. There are prostitutes trying to make a living, as well as somebody trying to adopt a child from a girl who disgraced her family. People are discovering sexuality and their bodies, but in a world where people don't really talk about it. There are plenty of struggles in adapting to the new world and their language. A girl learns to write and the key difference between imaginative writing and lying.

There are a variety of vignettes in the novel. For some, I would zone out and have no idea what just happened. Others were much more engaging.