A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (novel)

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a 1943 semi-autobiographical novel written by Betty Smith. The manuscript started as a non-fiction piece titled They Lived in Brooklyn, which Smith began submitting to publishers in 1940. After it was repeatedly rejected, she sent it in as an entry for a contest held by Harper & Brothers in 1942. At the editors' suggestion, Smith expanded and revised the piece, re-classified it as a novel, and changed the title.