Francie Nolan is the protagonist of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Her parents endow her with two traits that enable her to conquer adversity: From her second-generation German mother, Katie, Francie inherits the strength, determination and indomitable sense of respectability that guide her into a future that holds promise; from her weak Irish father, Johnny, she inherits the ability to see and hear beauty in an ugly world. The foreground of the novel is full of strong female characters: Katie; Katie's solid, immigrant German mother; Katie's sisters; and Francie herself, whose strength increases as she learns to solve the problems of her young existence. It is she who convinces her father to connive to have her transferred to another, better neighborhood school. Although Francie is a good, obedient girl, her apparent passivity masks a will that eventually prevails over her domineering mother's. There is no real conflict, however...