Tomorrow Will Be Better

Name: Tomorrow Will Be Better
Brand: Harper Audio
Availability: InStock
Author: Betty Smith
ISBN: 9780062981424

Author: Betty Smith

Narrator: Nicola Barber

Unabridged: 8 hr 26 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Caedmon

Published: 11/24/2020

Categories: Fiction, Classic, Family Life, Literary Fiction

Synopsis

""A rediscovered treasure."" — Maureen Corrigan, Washington PostFrom Betty Smith, author of the beloved classic A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, comes a poignant story of love, marriage, poverty, and hope set in 1920s Brooklyn.Tomorrow Will Be Better tells the story of Margy Shannon, a shy but joyfully optimistic young woman just out of school who lives with her parents and witnesses how a lifetime of hard work, poverty, and pain has worn them down. Her mother's resentment toward being a housewife and her father's inability to express his emotions result in a tense home life where Margy has no voice. Unable to speak up against her overbearing mother, Margy takes refuge in her dreams of a better life. Her goals are simple—to find a husband, have children, and live in a nice home—one where her children will never know the terror of want or the need to hide from quarreling parents. When she meets Frankie Malone, she thinks her dreams might be fulfilled, but a devastating loss rattles her to her core and challenges her life-long optimism. As she struggles to come to terms with the unexpected path her life has taken, Margy must decide whether to accept things as they are or move firmly in the direction of what she truly wants. Rich with the flavor of its Brooklyn background, and filled with the joys and heartbreak of family life, Tomorrow Will Be Better is told with a simplicity, tenderness, and warmhearted humor that only Betty Smith could write.

About Betty Smith

Betty Smith (1896–1972) was a native of Brooklyn, New York. Her novels A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Tomorrow Will Be Better, Joy in the Morning, and Maggie-Now continue to capture the hearts and imaginations of millions of readers worldwide.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Angela M on December 20, 2020

I was hoping to read about a time when things might have been less complicated than now, so I was drawn to this book originally published in 1948, taking place in the 1920’s in New York City. Stories taking place in New York City of the past always interest me. Having read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn m......more

Goodreads review by Jennifer ~ TarHeelReader on January 14, 2021

Have you read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn? Sadly, I have not, though it’s waiting on my shelf, along with all of Betty Smith’s other books now. While reading Tomorrow Will Be Better, I picked up two newer editions of A Tree and bought the other two rediscovered classics, Maggie-Now and Joy in the Morni......more

Goodreads review by Debby on December 07, 2012

It's hard to believe this book was written over 60 years ago. The subject matter of interpersonal relationships in our lives and everything that can be at work to affect them, for success or failure, is timeless. The setting is Brooklyn in the 1920's, as it was in Betty Smith's highly-acclaimed and......more

Goodreads review by Darla on November 17, 2020

Margy and Frankie. They both grew up in Brooklyn. They both have hopes and dreams for the future. Their parents also have plans for them. Betty Smith tells their coming of age story, then their courtship, and marriage. The American Dream is out there. After watching their parents fall short of their......more

Goodreads review by Anne on April 24, 2011

I liked this very much--actually, more than I liked Joy in the Morning. I liked the shifting narrators--it was mostly about Margy, but it was great to be able to see inside everybody's heads, to know WHY Margy's mother was the way she was, to know what Reenie's fiancé Sal was thinking, et cetera. Th......more