Born Elizabeth Lillian Wehner in December 15, 1896 in Brooklyn, New York to German immigrants. Her parents called her Lizzie while her friends called her Beth; soon she began to go by the name Betty. Betty and her brother would frequently go to the theater; it became one of her favorite activities. Soon her childhood fun came to an end, after completing the eighth grade she left school to work to support her family. At the age of 14 she started work: making tissue flowers and later found herself in a clipping bureau where she read over 200 newspapers. There she began to realize her passion and went back to high school where she became the school's newspaper editor, unfortunately she didn’t complete high school.
Her next move was to Ann Arbor Michigan where she married George Smith and had two kids. Ensuring that her children were old enough, she decided to pursue higher education. Despite not having a high school degree they allowed to enroll at The University of Michigan. She took classes involving playwriting and later wrote the plays: Wives in Law and A Day’s Work. In 1930’s she began to write the autobiographical novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn; the novel was later published in 1943 and became a film in 1945. After the publication of her book she moves to Chapel Hill, North Carolina where she began …show more content…
The inspiration of this book was brought on by Thomas Wolfe. He was a novelist/ playwright who had written a short story on Brooklyn titles, Only The Dead Know Brooklyn. After reading his short novel she was stricken with anger and disbelief. Betty believed that he had gotten it all wrong, she believed he focused on the outside of Brooklyn not realizing its inner beauty. To her, his stories weren’t authentic and misinterpreted; Wolfe’s short story was the ink in Betty’s pen. To challenge his novel she began to write a story based on her own personal experiences and how she viewed
Her next move was to Ann Arbor Michigan where she married George Smith and had two kids. Ensuring that her children were old enough, she decided to pursue higher education. Despite not having a high school degree they allowed to enroll at The University of Michigan. She took classes involving playwriting and later wrote the plays: Wives in Law and A Day’s Work. In 1930’s she began to write the autobiographical novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn; the novel was later published in 1943 and became a film in 1945. After the publication of her book she moves to Chapel Hill, North Carolina where she began …show more content…
The inspiration of this book was brought on by Thomas Wolfe. He was a novelist/ playwright who had written a short story on Brooklyn titles, Only The Dead Know Brooklyn. After reading his short novel she was stricken with anger and disbelief. Betty believed that he had gotten it all wrong, she believed he focused on the outside of Brooklyn not realizing its inner beauty. To her, his stories weren’t authentic and misinterpreted; Wolfe’s short story was the ink in Betty’s pen. To challenge his novel she began to write a story based on her own personal experiences and how she viewed