I can’t say I enjoyed every minute of it. I honestly felt it was too bourgeoisie for me. I didn’t have the patience to run to Google to translate every French word on the page. I didn’t have a special affinity for France and its ways. How much more could its food taste divinely better? I did not know the expat life in France right after the war. In many ways, I felt removed from the life portrayed in the book.
For the first time, I didn’t rush through writing a review for this book. I knew my feelings for it were not fleeting. I could reread it 15 years hence.
A Tree Grows in BrooklynBy Betty SmithBook review by @jams.library, jamc.substack.comA Tree Grows in Brooklyn is one of those quiet books where no single climax stands out. Rather, we go through the ups and downs of a little girl called Francie. It's a classic coming-of-age story, yet it is so nuanced that only a person who has lived through Francie's experience can write about it. This is what happens when an author writes what she knows. Tree is multilayered but the author writes about universal truths, which is why, 75 years later, this book continues to inspire.
I am blessed for having read the book. You can’t say that about every book you read. Nor can you say that about just a good read, so I guess I am saying much. Jaku wrote this when he was 100. He died when he was 101. Talk about being useful up to your last breath.