-
Tomorrow Will Be Better
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Classics
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $23.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Joy in the Morning
- A Novel
- By: Betty Smith
- Narrated by: Maggi-Meg Reed
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1927, in Brooklyn, New York, Carl Brown and Annie McGairy meet and fall in love. Though only 18, Annie travels alone halfway across the country to the Midwestern university where Carl is studying law - and there they marry. But Carl and Annie’s first year together is much more difficult than they anticipated as they find themselves in a faraway place with little money and few friends. With hardship and poverty weighing heavily upon them, they come to realize that their greatest sources of strength, loyalty, and love will help them make it through.
-
-
A lovely srory
- By Margaret on 04-16-21
By: Betty Smith
-
Maggie-Now
- A Novel
- By: Betty Smith
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Brooklyn's unforgiving urban jungle, Maggie Moore is torn between answering her own needs and catering to the desirous men who dominate her life. Confronted by her quarrelsome Irish immigrant father, the feckless lover who may become her husband, and others, Maggie must learn to navigate a cycle of loss, separation, and hope as she forges her own path toward happiness.
-
-
Expansive & nostalgic like Tree Grows In Brooklyn
- By Autumn on 08-12-20
By: Betty Smith
-
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
- By: Betty Smith
- Narrated by: Kate Burton
- Length: 14 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A moving coming-of-age story set in the 1900s, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn follows the lives of 11-year-old Francie Nolan, her younger brother Neely, and their parents, Irish immigrants who have settled in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. Johnny Nolan is as loving and fanciful as they come, but he is also often drunk and out of work, unable to find his place in the land of opportunity.
-
-
Book: flawless. SKIP THE RECORDED INTRO!!
- By Wild Wise Woman on 09-04-11
By: Betty Smith
-
Brooklyn
- A Novel
- By: Colm Toibin
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eilis Lacey has come of age in small-town Ireland in the hard years following World War Two. When an Irish priest from Brooklyn offers to sponsor Eilis in America, she decides she must go, leaving her fragile mother and her charismatic sister behind. Eilis finds work in a department store on Fulton Street and, when she least expects it, finds love. Tony, who loves the Dodgers and his big Italian family, slowly wins her over with patient charm.
-
-
Hated the Book, but LOVE the Movie
- By Anonymous User on 06-07-20
By: Colm Toibin
-
The Red Coat
- A Novel of Boston
- By: Dolley Carlson
- Narrated by: Christina Delaine
- Length: 16 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Irish domestic worker Norah King's decision to ask her wealthy employer, Caroline Parker, for an elegant red coat that the Beacon Hill matriarch has marked for donation ignites a series of events that neither woman could have fathomed. The unlikely exchange will impact their respective daughters and families for generations to come, from the coat's original owner, marriage-minded collegian Cordelia Parker, to the determined and spirited King sisters of South Boston, Rosemary, Kay, and Rita.
-
-
Endless details.
- By Amazon Customer on 01-10-20
By: Dolley Carlson
-
As Bright as Heaven
- By: Susan Meissner
- Narrated by: Cassandra Morris, Tavia Gilbert, Jorjeana Marie, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1918, Philadelphia was a city teeming with promise. Even as its young men went off to fight in the Great War, there were opportunities for a fresh start on its cobblestone streets. Into this bustling town came Pauline Bright and her husband, filled with hope that they could now give their three daughters - Evelyn, Maggie, and Willa - a chance at a better life. But just months after they arrive, the Spanish flu reaches the shores of America.
-
-
As Bright as Heaven
- By Amazon Customer on 05-03-18
By: Susan Meissner
-
Joy in the Morning
- A Novel
- By: Betty Smith
- Narrated by: Maggi-Meg Reed
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1927, in Brooklyn, New York, Carl Brown and Annie McGairy meet and fall in love. Though only 18, Annie travels alone halfway across the country to the Midwestern university where Carl is studying law - and there they marry. But Carl and Annie’s first year together is much more difficult than they anticipated as they find themselves in a faraway place with little money and few friends. With hardship and poverty weighing heavily upon them, they come to realize that their greatest sources of strength, loyalty, and love will help them make it through.
-
-
A lovely srory
- By Margaret on 04-16-21
By: Betty Smith
-
Maggie-Now
- A Novel
- By: Betty Smith
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Brooklyn's unforgiving urban jungle, Maggie Moore is torn between answering her own needs and catering to the desirous men who dominate her life. Confronted by her quarrelsome Irish immigrant father, the feckless lover who may become her husband, and others, Maggie must learn to navigate a cycle of loss, separation, and hope as she forges her own path toward happiness.
-
-
Expansive & nostalgic like Tree Grows In Brooklyn
- By Autumn on 08-12-20
By: Betty Smith
-
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
- By: Betty Smith
- Narrated by: Kate Burton
- Length: 14 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A moving coming-of-age story set in the 1900s, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn follows the lives of 11-year-old Francie Nolan, her younger brother Neely, and their parents, Irish immigrants who have settled in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. Johnny Nolan is as loving and fanciful as they come, but he is also often drunk and out of work, unable to find his place in the land of opportunity.
-
-
Book: flawless. SKIP THE RECORDED INTRO!!
- By Wild Wise Woman on 09-04-11
By: Betty Smith
-
Brooklyn
- A Novel
- By: Colm Toibin
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eilis Lacey has come of age in small-town Ireland in the hard years following World War Two. When an Irish priest from Brooklyn offers to sponsor Eilis in America, she decides she must go, leaving her fragile mother and her charismatic sister behind. Eilis finds work in a department store on Fulton Street and, when she least expects it, finds love. Tony, who loves the Dodgers and his big Italian family, slowly wins her over with patient charm.
-
-
Hated the Book, but LOVE the Movie
- By Anonymous User on 06-07-20
By: Colm Toibin
-
The Red Coat
- A Novel of Boston
- By: Dolley Carlson
- Narrated by: Christina Delaine
- Length: 16 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Irish domestic worker Norah King's decision to ask her wealthy employer, Caroline Parker, for an elegant red coat that the Beacon Hill matriarch has marked for donation ignites a series of events that neither woman could have fathomed. The unlikely exchange will impact their respective daughters and families for generations to come, from the coat's original owner, marriage-minded collegian Cordelia Parker, to the determined and spirited King sisters of South Boston, Rosemary, Kay, and Rita.
-
-
Endless details.
- By Amazon Customer on 01-10-20
By: Dolley Carlson
-
As Bright as Heaven
- By: Susan Meissner
- Narrated by: Cassandra Morris, Tavia Gilbert, Jorjeana Marie, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1918, Philadelphia was a city teeming with promise. Even as its young men went off to fight in the Great War, there were opportunities for a fresh start on its cobblestone streets. Into this bustling town came Pauline Bright and her husband, filled with hope that they could now give their three daughters - Evelyn, Maggie, and Willa - a chance at a better life. But just months after they arrive, the Spanish flu reaches the shores of America.
-
-
As Bright as Heaven
- By Amazon Customer on 05-03-18
By: Susan Meissner
-
The Old Man and the Boy
- By: Robert Ruark
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This classic captures the endearing relationship between a man and his grandson as they fish and hunt the lakes and woods of North Carolina. All the while the Old Man acts as teacher and guide, passing on his wisdom and life experiences to the boy, who listens in rapt fascination.
-
-
Glad to see this Classic on Audible
- By Sean Jeffries on 01-03-19
By: Robert Ruark
-
French Braid
- A Novel
- By: Anne Tyler
- Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Garretts take their first and last family vacation in the summer of 1959. They hardly ever leave home, but in some ways they have never been farther apart. Mercy has trouble resisting the siren call of her aspirations to be a painter, which means less time keeping house for her husband, Robin. Their teenage daughters, steady Alice and boy-crazy Lily, could not have less in common. Their youngest, David, is already intent on escaping his family's orbit, for reasons none of them understand.
-
-
Definitely not my favorite
- By 80 Oaks on 03-31-22
By: Anne Tyler
-
Something Wonderful
- Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway Revolution
- By: Todd S. Purdum
- Narrated by: Todd S. Purdum
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They stand at the apex of the great age of songwriting, the creators of the classic Broadway musicals Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music, whose songs have never lost their popularity or emotional power. Even before they joined forces, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II had written dozens of Broadway shows, but together they pioneered a new art form: the serious musical play.
-
-
Rediscovery of an innovative team of artists
- By Brian T. on 04-14-18
By: Todd S. Purdum
-
The Paris Dressmaker
- By: Kristy Cambron
- Narrated by: Barrie Kreinik
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Paris, 1939. Maison Chanel has closed, thrusting haute couture dressmaker Lila de Laurent out of the world of high fashion as Nazi soldiers invade the streets and the City of Lights slips into darkness. Lila’s life is now a series of rations, brutal restrictions, and carefully controlled propaganda while Paris is cut off from the rest of the world. Yet in hidden corners of the city, the faithful pledge to resist. Lila is drawn to La Resistance and is soon using her skills as a dressmaker to infiltrate the Nazi elite.
-
-
Excellent in all ways
- By Amazon Customer on 02-23-21
By: Kristy Cambron
-
Jubilee, 50th Anniversary Edition
- By: Margaret Walker
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 15 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jubilee tells the true story of Vyry, the child of a white plantation owner and his black mistress. Vyry bears witness to the South's antebellum opulence and to its brutality, its wartime ruin, and the promises of Reconstruction. Weaving her own family's oral history with 30 years of research, Margaret Walker's novel brings the everyday experiences of slaves to light. Jubilee churns with the hunger, the hymns, the struggles, and the very breath of American history.
-
-
History Brought To Life
- By Skydancer on 01-02-17
By: Margaret Walker
-
We Don't Know Ourselves
- A Personal History of Modern Ireland
- By: Fintan O'Toole
- Narrated by: Aidan Kelly
- Length: 22 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In We Don't Know Ourselves, Fintan O'Toole weaves his own experiences into Irish social, cultural, and economic change, showing how Ireland, in just one lifetime, has gone from a reactionary "backwater" to an almost totally open society - perhaps the most astonishing national transformation in modern history. O'Toole narrates the once unthinkable collapse of the all-powerful Catholic Church, brought down by scandal and by the activism of ordinary Irish. He relates the horrific violence of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, which led most Irish to reject violent nationalism.
-
-
Brilliant. Pure pleasure.
- By Jim Dunn on 03-22-22
By: Fintan O'Toole
-
The Vanishing Half
- A Novel
- By: Brit Bennett
- Narrated by: Shayna Small
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, Southern Black community and running away at age 16, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: Their families, their communities, their racial identities. Many years later, one sister lives with her Black daughter in the same Southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for White, and her White husband knows nothing of her past.
-
-
Soap opera material
- By Sheila S on 06-06-20
By: Brit Bennett
-
Left on Tenth
- A Second Chance at Life: A Memoir
- By: Delia Ephron
- Narrated by: Delia Ephron
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Delia Ephron had struggled through several years of heartbreak. She’d lost her sister, Nora, and then her husband, Jerry, both to cancer. Several months after Jerry’s death, she decided to make one small change in her life - she shut down his landline, which crashed her internet. She ended up in Verizon hell.
-
-
Cover to cover in a day
- By Ginny Kubek on 04-24-22
By: Delia Ephron
-
Giant
- A Novel
- By: Edna Ferber
- Narrated by: Courtney Patterson
- Length: 15 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When larger-than-life cattle rancher Jordan "Bick" Benedict arrives at the family home of sharp-witted but genteel Virginia socialite Leslie Lynnton to purchase a racehorse, the two are instantly drawn to each other. But for Leslie, falling in love with a Texan was a lot simpler than falling in love with Texas. Upon their arrival at Bick's ranch, Leslie is confronted not only with the oppressive heat and vastness of Texas but also by the disturbing inequity between runaway riches and the poverty and racism suffered by the Mexican workers on the ranch.
-
-
Giant
- By Kathy Johannes on 02-17-21
By: Edna Ferber
-
How Green Was My Valley
- By: Richard Llewellyn
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 16 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How Green Was My Valley is Richard Llewellyn’s best-selling - and timeless - classic, as well as the basis of a beloved film. As Huw Morgan is about to leave home forever, he reminisces about the golden days of his youth when South Wales still prospered, when coal dust had not yet blackened the valley. Drawn simply and lovingly, with a crisp Welsh humor, Llewellyn’s characters fight, love, laugh, and cry, creating an indelible portrait of a people. Richard Llewellyn (1906–1983), a Welsh novelist, was born in Hendon, England, in the county of Middlesex.
-
-
The rhythm of life... the pattern of words...
- By Jan on 04-16-13
-
City of Girls
- A Novel
- By: Elizabeth Gilbert
- Narrated by: Blair Brown
- Length: 15 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beloved author Elizabeth Gilbert returns to fiction with a unique love story set in the New York City theater world during the 1940s. Told from the perspective of an older woman as she looks back on her youth with both pleasure and regret (but mostly pleasure), City of Girls explores themes of female sexuality and promiscuity, as well as the idiosyncrasies of true love. In 1940, nineteen-year-old Vivian Morris has just been kicked out of Vassar College, owing to her lackluster freshman-year performance.
-
-
I wanted so badly to to like it...
- By Amy L. Jones on 06-24-19
-
The Things We Do for Love
- A Novel
- By: Kristin Hannah
- Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Years of trying unsuccessfully to conceive a child have broken more than Angie DeSaria’s heart. Following a painful divorce, she moves back to her small Pacific Northwest hometown and takes over management of her family’s restaurant. In West End, where life rises and falls like the tides, Angie’s fortunes will drastically change yet again when she meets and befriends a troubled young woman.
-
-
Couldn’t recommend enough for anyone craving a read with which you can really connect
- By Sarah C. on 06-23-21
By: Kristin Hannah
Publisher's Summary
"A rediscovered treasure." (Maureen Corrigan, Washington Post)
From 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.
More from the same
What listeners say about Tomorrow Will Be Better
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Joanne Harmelin
- 02-25-21
Brooklyn Revisted
I loved a Tree Grows in Brooklyn and wanted to explore other books by Betty Smith. This book did not disappoint. Set in another era where woman were seen in a different light and mothers had certain expectations of them , this book evokes memories of that time.
The struggles of single women in the 30’s and 40’s
are articulated so well in Betty’s novels.
She doesn’t sugarcoat the real life doubts and yearnings. The ending is realistic and thought provoking. I really enjoyed and sympathized with her journey. Very relatable.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- RueRue
- 01-18-21
Gentle and heartfelt
A lovely, heartfelt character study of a sweet young woman finally becoming an adult through some hardships and emotional disappointment. Nicola Barber is one of my favorite narrators, and she enhanced this gentle story.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- lisa coston
- 11-07-21
A Betty Smith classic and a wonderful audiobook.
I loved listening to this book, which I have loved since childhood. The reader is amazing.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 09-19-21
I couldn’t stop listening to this one
Author has deep insight to human nature and people’s insecurities. This is the second book by this author that I have listened to and I was just as captivated.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Judy
- 08-23-21
Sweet Story
This is a deceptively simple story of life and love in an Irish/Brooklyn home. Ever the wise observer of human nature, author Betty Smith peels back the tough outer layers of ordinary people to reveal the trauma, the turmoil, and the events that have shaped them.
Narrator Nicola Barber does Brooklynese brilliantly.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amber Simonton
- 12-06-20
Beautifully crafter characters
My favorite book is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Smith does not disappoint with her development of the characters as she reveals the complex interpersonal struggles and relationships. A peek into history is also revealed in her detailed description of daily life long gone by. Really engaging read and as always with Smith, her characters’ humanity and will to persevere and find meaning in their lives shines through.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jimmie
- 04-23-22
Not a Tree Grows in Brooklyn
I kept waiting for something good to happen and for the story to come alive, for me that never happened. It didn't have the charm and nostalgic aura of A Tree grows in Brooklyn. It started out with the feel of it with the mother Flo and Margie, the little girl. The narrator was really at her best during this part of the story; the authenticity of her Brooklyn accent was excellent and added much to the story. I wanted to love it but didn't. It went down from there.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- M. Ryder
- 02-16-22
Heartfelt and Heart-wrenchingly Real!
I so loved this audiobook… Everything from the narration to the story itself was perfect. It drew me in and just wouldn’t let go. The story addresses love, loss, family dynamics and conflict. I laughed and cried, and learned a lot about growing up in Brooklyn during that era… Coming from Brooklyn and having an Irish Catholic dad whose family interacted quite similarly to those of Margie and Franky, it reminded me how different life is now… Thank goodness, ethnic prejudices and stereotypical male/female roles are far less tolerated in today’s society. Definitely give this book a listen!!!👍🏼👍🏼
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- 20eagle16
- 11-28-20
Betty and Brooklyn
Once again, Betty Smith gives us a heart-wrenching tale of the lives of people in Brooklyn. If you liked A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, you will like this book, in my opinion. In this case, the little girl and young woman is Margie. May we all have her goodness.
The narration by Nicola Barber is world-class. Excellent all the way through. Kiddos to the production team for a job well-done.
I highly recommend this book.