From Tammany To The Twin Cities: The Timeless Script Of Boss Politics

In her beloved roman à clef, “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,” Betty Smith describes 1912 New York City through the eyes of 11-year-old Francie Nolan — based on Smith herself. The daughter of a singing waiter and a scrubwoman, Francie lives in a tenement house among mostly Irish first-generation immigrants. She and her brother, Neeley, ...