Becomes A Woman

BECOMES A WOMAN is the story of Francie, a 19-year-old living with her family in Brooklyn and working at a five and dime store as a singer at the sheet music counter. Her co-workers describe her as “afraid of her family, afraid of the boss, afraid to make a date.” But as Francie becomes a woman, she discovers a hidden reserve of courage that surprises everyone, even herself.

Betty Smith is the author of A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN, published in 1943 when Smith was 47; a semi-autobiographical novel that became one of the biggest bestsellers of the twentieth century. Although she found her greatest fame as a novelist, Smith was most passionate about her work as the playwright of over 70 one-act and full-length dramas. “I write plays because I’d rather do that than anything else in the world,” she said in 1937.