A moving coming-of-age story set in the 1900's, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn follows the lives of 11-year-old Francie Nolan, her younger brother Neely, and their parents, Irish immigrants who have settled in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. Johnny Nolan is as loving and fanciful as they come, but he is also often drunk and out of work, unable to find his place in the land of opportunity. His wife Katie scrubs floors to put food on the table and clothes on her childrens' backs, instilling in them the values of being practical and planning ahead. When Johnny dies, leaving Katie pregnant, Francie, smart, pensive and hoping for something better, cannot believe that life can carry on as before. But with her own determination, and that of her mother behind her, Francie is able to move toward the future of her dreams, completing her education and heading oft to college, always carrying the beloved Brooklyn of her childhood in her heart.

“活著，奮鬥著，愛著我們的生活，愛著生活饋贈的一切悲歡，那就是，一種實現。生活的充實常在，人人皆可獲得。”

貝蒂·史密斯（1896—1972），德國移民的女兒，成長於紐約布魯剋林的威廉斯堡。她的經曆與這部小說主人公弗蘭西相似，早年也是靠自學完成瞭初步的知識積纍。後來她進入大學學習新聞、戲劇、寫作和文學。《布魯剋林有棵樹》是其最主要作品，曾被改編為電影、電視、音樂劇等多種形式，並曾獲得過奧斯卡奬。她還是一位劇作傢，一生寫過多部獨幕劇和完整的長篇戲劇，曾獲洛剋菲勒基金會和戲劇傢協會基金會資助。