“A Tree Grows In Brooklyn” is a novel about a young girl, Mary Frances “Francie” Nolan, and her Catholic family, growing up in Brooklyn, New York. Francie has a brother, Cornelius “Neely” Nolan, whom her mother favored between the children. Francie’s mother, Katie Rommely-Nolan, was a young-looking, dark-haired, 30-year old woman. Katie is married to Johnny Nolan, whom she got through her best friend, Hildy. Hildy had been walking out with Johnny, until Katie saw Johnny, and the way he danced and heard him sing.
Katie had three sisters: Evy Flittman, Eliza Rommely, and Sissy Rommely. Evy was married to a milkman, whose horse was out to get him. Eliza became a nun when she was 16, and was never heard of except for Grandfather Rommely’s funeral. Sissy was Francie’s favorite aunt. She was always ready to spoil Francie and Neely. She was married 3 times, and had 10 babies, all still-born. Later she became a mother to an Italian’s child, and had her own in a hospital.…show more content… They lived in a small apartment near a school where they found work in the evenings, preparing for the next day. Soon enough, Katie became pregnant. She had Francie on a chilly December night. Johnny lost his job at the school due to neglect the night she was born. After that, he never worked a steady job. He became a singing waiter, through the Waiter’s Union. The small family moved a couple times, but finally settled down where Katie had a janitorial job, taking care of the other apartments. Neely was born the next year, around Christmas