A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

This book was amazing. It pulled me in straight from the start. Be warned, there's not really a plot, it's more just following Francie as she grows up in Brooklyn. However, the story of her growing up and exploring and learning about the world around her is so captivating and intriguing that you'll barely notice the lack of plot. The characters have such interesting stories and lives and you get so invested into. And the characters are far from cookie cutter! They each have their own rises and pitfalls, their roses and their thorns. Also be warned if you're a cryer; the latter half of the book made me cry about three times. The last 20% of this book gave me such feelings of hiraeth, the way everything is so beautiful worded and lovingly described. This book is absolutely one of my favorites ever.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn tells the story of Francie Nolan and her family, from her childhood to her young adulthood. Francie grows up fast, often hungry, with her mom working in the poorly-paid job of janitor, and her dad seldom working. It's a powerful story, set in early-20th century Brooklyn, and Francie suffers many setbacks including the early loss of her father and having to quit school to go to work.

I really enjoyed the story in this book, and found the characters relatable and interesting. I hated the voice though. The syntax was jolted with lots of short sentences and weird internal conversations inserted randomly. I'm glad I read it, but would definitely not reread, or necessarily recommend...

I can appreciate this book as a well loved classic. However, I think that my expectations of it were set too high from the beginning. I found it overly detailed and dense and by the end was not really that invested in the outcome.

I do appreciate the writing and the story had some high points for me especially those that were funny. In spite of that, I always felt that I was at a distance from what was happening and not really connecting with any of the characters who mostly felt flat and predictable. I would recommend this book to lovers of literary fiction who like a lot of detailed story telling and don't mind a slow moving plot.