Named one of the books of the century by the New York Public Library, this is the profoundly moving classic about a young girl coming of age at the turn of the century. Born in 1901 in the slums of Brooklyn, Francie Nolan has grown up under the burden of suffering that is the lot of the great city's poor. Romantic like her father, an Irish singing waiter, yet pragmatic like her mother, a housecleaner and fierce survivor, Francie uses her imagination and tenacity to thrive in the world in spite of these harsh conditions. By turns overwhelming, sublime, heartbreaking, and uplifting, the daily experiences of the Nolans are raw with honesty and tenderly threaded with family connectedness. First published in 1943, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn created a stir in genteel society with its frank descriptions of poverty's squalor. But the book's rich humor and pathos and its wealth of unforgettable characters have ensured its place in American literature.