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Sheila's Reads
I love to read. I am very eclectic in my reading but I especially enjoy erotica and erotic romance. I also like movies, live theater and concerts, hockey, and counted cross-stitch.
A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN by Betty Smith
Francie grows up in Brooklyn with her parents and brother in 1910. Most of the story is told through her eyes as she grows up. She has a level head and sees people and situations for what they are. I liked her.
This book is a timely today as it was when written and during the time period it is set. The attitudes from then are, unfortunately, the attitudes of today. Francie and her family were poor. Her mother worked cleaning several buildings. Her dad found work as a singing waiter when he could. The kids contributed to the family coffers in small ways. Addiction and abuse are all around them. But good is around them also. Katie, the mother, realizes that her children will be more educated and live better lives than she and Johnny. She wants that for her children. They have a hard life but they rise above it. I loved Katie's sister, Sissy. She adds color to the story but loves her family.
I found this a hard book to read but I am so glad I read it. The lyricism of the prose is beautiful. Each chapter is a vignette of their lives at a particular time--trivial things that make a life. It is a wonderful read.