The Book Club is intentionally choosing a diverse selection of books, including some classics. Please join us from 10:00 am until 12:00 pm, on the first Tuesday of each month. 

August 6, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

A 1943 semi-autobiographical novel written by Betty Smith. The manuscript started as a non-fiction piece titled They Lived in Brooklyn, which Smith began submitting to publishers in 1940. After it was repeatedly rejected, she sent it in as an entry for a contest held by Harper & Brothers in 1942. At the editors’ suggestion, Smith expanded and revised the piece, re-classified it as a novel, and changed the title. It proved so popular upon release that it went into a second printing even before the official publication date. The book was an immense success. It was also released in an Armed Services Edition, the size of a mass-market paperback, to fit in a uniform pocket. One Marine wrote to Smith, “I can’t explain the emotional reaction that took place in this dead heart of mine… A surge of confidence has swept through me, and I feel that maybe a fellow has a fighting chance in this world after all.” The American classic about a young girl’s coming-of-age at the turn of the century.

From the moment she entered the world, Francie needed to be made of stern stuff, for the often harsh life of Williamsburg demanded fortitude, precocity, and strength of spirit. Often scorned by neighbors for her family’s erratic and eccentric behavior-such as her father Johnny’s taste for alcohol and Aunt Sissy’s habit of marrying serially without the formality of divorce-no one, least of all Francie, could say that the Nolans’ life lacked drama. By turns overwhelming, sublime, heartbreaking, and uplifting, the Nolans’ daily experiences are tenderly threaded with family connectedness and raw with honesty. Betty Smith has, in the pages of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, captured the joys of humble Williamsburg life-from “junk day” on Saturdays, when the children of Francie’s neighborhood traded their weekly take for pennies, to the special excitement of holidays, bringing cause for celebration and revelry. Betty Smith has artfully caught this sense of exciting life in a novel of childhood, replete with incredibly rich moments of universal experiences–a truly remarkable achievement for any writer.

Upcoming schedule:

• September 3,The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels by Jon Meacham

• September 24, The River We Remember by William K Krueger