Honors book review: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

"Serene was a word you could put to Brooklyn, New York. Especially in the summer of 1912. Somber, as a word, was better."

Those were the first three sentences of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Having not known what either Serene or Somber meant, I had a feeling that this book was going to be a difficult read.

I found it to be very similar to Angela's Ashes in many ways and thought it was kind of interesting to read both of them at the same time. In both books, the main characters belong to catholic families that are poor, although I would argue that Frank's family (from Angela's Ashes) is considerably worse off than Francie's (from a Tree Grows in Brooklyn). Both books are about Irish families, although Frank's family left America for Ireland while Francie's family left Ireland two generations prior for America, and haven't left since. The fathers of both families have drinking problems, sing songs, and generally have a lack of a job; although the details on the drinking problem are heavier and more frequent in Angela's Ashes than in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

I thought it was interesting that in Limerick, people from northern Ireland were commonly discriminated against and people from America were called "Yanks" while in America, the same was true towards the Irish. Irish people were called "Potato Poachers" in America. Consumption was also a big deal in New York during the early 1900's apparently, as it was also something that occurred frequently in the book. In both books, the family moved due to the mother not wanting to remember/deal with/look back upon past events. In Angela's ashes, these events are deaths of family members. In A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, this event is Johnny's drinking problem.

Similarities aside, I really enjoyed how the ending of the book tied back to the beginning where Florry Wendy, who was 10 years old, was watching Francie from the fire escape, just like Francie would watch others from the fire escape when she was 11.

When I read the first two sentences from this book, I guessed that it was going to be a hard read and therefore, most likely, a boring read. I couldn't have been more wrong. I guess that really puts the saying "don't judge a book by it's cover" into perspective.

All in all, I enjoyed this book a lot. Perhaps it was because I could compare it to Angela's Ashes as I read it. Or perhaps it had the realism of a biography, while having the symbolism and feel that generally only comes with fictional stories. Nonetheless, I would give this book a rating of 4 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed it a lot.