Joy in the Morning: A Novel

Written by Betty Smith

Narrated by Maggi-Meg Reed

From Betty Smith, author of the beloved American classic A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, comes an unsentimental yet radiant and uplifting tale of young love and marriage.

In 1927, in Brooklyn, New York, Carl Brown and Annie McGairy meet and fall in love. Though only eighteen, 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 moving and unforgettable story, Joy in the Morning is “a glad affirmation that love can accomplish the impossible.” (Chicago Tribune)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Caedmon
• Release date: May 5, 2020
• ISBN: 9780062981370

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 for Joy in the Morning

[thetruebookaddict · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My mom told me many years ago I needed to read this. Can't believe I waited so long. Wonderful book. Annie was such a great character. A lot of her traits reminded me of myself. The way her mind worked; her sense of optimism, and she was a book lover and writer. This book was just a comfort to read, and though it wasn't a "can't put down" thriller type of book, I still found myself wanting to keep reading each time I picked it up.

[timbazzett · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Betty Smith's 1963 novel, JOY IN THE MORNING, is a book I've come back to at least three times, having first read it in college nearly fifty years ago. Set in the years 1928-29 on the campus of an unnamed Midwestern university, it is the story of young newlywed Brooklyn-ites Carl (20) and Annie (McGairy) Brown (18). Carl is a law student and Annie is, well, she's Annie, who had to leave school at 14 to help support her mother and two younger brothers. But Annie loves to read and to learn, and she harbors a dream of being a writer, and manages to finagle her way into auditing a couple of writing classes. Pregnancy intervenes, and, with no help from parents on either side, Carl and Annie struggle mightily to make ends meet, with both taking whatever work they can find. Yes, it's a very sweet story, a love story, which makes it sound like it should probably be written off as chick-lit. But that would be a big mistake, because JOY is a classic of its kind of literature, and Smith was an enormously talented writer, known and remembered primarily for her classic novel, A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN. In all, Smith wrote only four novels, her first love being play writing, although I'm not sure any of her plays have survived her. (She died in 1972 at the age of 75.) And yes, I have read all four of her novels, but JOY remains my particular favorite.Here's why. The first time I read the book, I was, like Carl and Annie, newly married and still in college. And, again like Carl and Annie, our first son was born a little over a year later. And, like Carl and Annie, my wife and I were both so brand new to all of it - married life, being grownups, trying to pay tuition and all the other bills, that first pregnancy and baby. We look back on those times now and wonder how the hell we got through it all, how we managed to "make do," as our parents used to say during the Great Depression. Books like JOY IN THE MORNING helped, certainly. Because we both read it, and may have even cried a little over it. It's that kind of book. We could relate. And I could relate as much to Annie as to Carl, maybe even more, because of lines like this, describing Annie's first visit to the university library -"She went from room to room, floor to floor, stack to stack, reveling in books, books, books. She loved books. She loved them with all her senses and her intellect. The way they smelled and looked; the way they felt in her hands; the way the pages seemed to murmur as she turned them. Everything there is in the world, she thought, is in books."But Annie feared she'd never fit in at the university - "She knew she didn't belong. She felt that she never would belong." When I re-read this section I was reminded of another book I'd read - and relished - several years back, a memoir by Bette Lynch Husted, called LESSONS FROM THE BORDERLANDS, about being poor and trying to 'belong' in a similar way in an academic setting. JOY is such a rich book about being young and in love, about quarreling, about sex and birth control, childbirth, making friends - and losing them. About accepting people who are 'different' - a homosexual florist Annie befriends, a widowed grocer, a butcher's caught wife in a common-law marriage with two small children, and more. Carl's the one in college, but Annie seems to be learning a lot more. And Carl can be something of a tyrant, a bully and a prick at times. I found myself not liking him very much this time through the book, and suddenly realized that I was a lot like him at that age. We really do live and learn - change, evolve. A note about Betty Smith: most of her books were indeed highly autobiographical. The unnamed university and town here are based upon Michigan and Ann Arbor, and Smith did indeed marry young, with very little education. Years later, after her children were older, she earned a degree at U of M. And she divorced her first husband, George Smith, and remarried, to Joseph Jones. From Smith to Jones. And lived most of her life in Chapel Hill, NC, another college town. My wife and I spent an overnight in Chapel Hill about 30 years ago. Our hotel was just across the street from a large bookstore. But when I inquired about books by Betty Smith, the clerk seemed not to even know who she was, and none of her books were in stock. How disappointed I was, and sad. But I feel better now knowing that JOY IN THE MORNING is back in print again. I still have my battered 1964 Bantam paperback edition. I'm so glad I took the time to read this book again. Maybe I'll coax my wife to try it again too. Then we can both recall again those long ago college days of our own "joy in the morning." My highest recommendation.- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER

[fuzzi_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A delightful story of young love, facing life's hardships. The author creates people as they are, dialog as it often is, and thoughts as they exist in our minds. This is real life, with that sweet aftertaste that we often experience. Highly recommended.

[gracez-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book almost as much as "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn". It was every bit as absorbing and hard to put down - but I was less attached to the characters, I think because it took place over the course of a year instead of several years, and there wasn't as much history. It was a book that was very much stuck in one moment. Still, I loved all of the background characters and the story in general was sweet.

[satyridae · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read this several times over the space of a couple of summers. I remember liking it a lot, but not enough to dig out and re-read.

[librarybrandy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this years ago and enjoyed it, but picked it up again after a friend commented that she always read it as a sequel, of sorts, to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I can see the comparisons (and it helps that both books are semi-autobiographical), but I don't see enough similarities to say we're following Francie--or even her little sister Annie.

Still, you can't help but root for the Annie and Carl of this book, despite their hardships and flaws. Somehow they make it all work despite who they both are, because their love for each other makes them accepting of those flaws. I do hope it works out for them, and for their new baby. They have a hard life, but they have each other, and things will likely get easier now that Carl's finished law school. One can hope that for them, anyway.

[kasthu_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is one of my all-time favorite books and I’ve read it, oh, half a dozen times, so I was interested to see how Joy in the Morning would compare.Set in the late 1920s, Joy in the Morning begins when Annie, aged 18, comes to a small Midwestern college town where her fiancée, Carl, is in law school. The novel opens with their marriage in the county courthouse, and follows the couple through their first year or so of marriage. It’s a struggle, because Carl and Annie are basically children themselves, for all the ways in which Carl tries to appear more adult-like.Annie is endearing; she’s ignorant but a voracious reader, reading everything from Babbitt to War and Peace. Betty Smith’s novels are pretty autobiographical; Joy in the Morning is (unofficially) a kind of sequel to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn—certainly there are many similarities. Primary among them is the fact that Annie is a lot like Francie—childlike, optimistic, and always hopeful that things will be better. They both come from the same backgrounds and have similar kinds of mothers. Even the story of the sailor and the caul is identical in both books. The difference between them is that Annie is growing up in this novel—she goes through a significant amount of change as she makes the transition from childhood to adulthood. And she’s thrown into adulthood rather fast…Because this novel is so autobiographical, Annie is the stronger of the two main characters; although the story isn’t written in the first person, we basically see everything from her point of view. This is a realistic book, depicting the characters and their straitened without rose-colored glasses. Although not married myself and lacking any background with which to sympathize, I enjoyed this book. However, I still don’t think it’s quite as good as A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

[cyberlibrariannyc · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book, and was well under the age of 30 when I first read it. The story is semi-autobiographical, and a book doesn't have to be depressing to be real or good. This is a beautiful book that I appreciate it more each time I read it.

[saracuse9 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I found Joy in the Morning to be a sweet story. Some of the plot seemed too convenient, but it was really a tale of everything working out for Annie and Carl Brown, despite their youth and lack of parental support for their marriage. The story seems dated, to be sure, but it is refreshing to read such an un-cynical view of the world.

[jphilbrick_3 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Loved this - although not quite as much as I did A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. Similar characters, and seemed a bit of an extension of that book, but somehow not quite as endearing as Francie Nolan. Their struggles, however, are more similar to mine (obvs), which was compelling in its own way. Bottom line, though, Betty Smith books make me want to keep reading and get me attached to the characters, so I'm going to have to go and find some more now...

[shellyquade · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In her book Joy in the Morning, Betty Smith relates the lives of Carl and Annie Brown, two young individuals who have been in a romantic relationship since their early teenage years, who decide to marry at the tender ages of 20 and 18 (respectively). The romance in this book is realistic and sweet, and I think it gives the reader hope that romance can occur in real life.What makes this book great is the characterization. Smith manages to succinctly convey the characters' personality in this book. While the most fully fleshed-out character is Annie, the reader gets a feel for nearly all of the characters who appear in the book.The main problem with this book wasn't a problem at all for me, really. Yet some people might not like the dated feel of this book. Written in the sixties, it is set in the late 1920's. Some of the language might seem a bit silly to a modern audience. I didn't have a problem reading it, though I might have giggled once or twice; overall, I felt that the original intentions of the author shone through clearly, and the language wasn't an impediment, but an enhancement. To me, the language helps me feel like I'm a voyeur in a different time period.Honestly, I didn't want to put this book down. I encourage people who are looking for a new, older book to read to give this a try. Smith's writing is a delight.

[anneofia · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I first got acquainted with "Joy in the Morning' years ago in Reader's Digest Condensed Book format. I had to get my own full copy immediately, and I still reread it occasionally. Betty Smith made Annie and Carl very real for me. My husband and I had not been married very long at that time, and it was a fun comparison! The story is so universally human and yet so full of hope and joy!

[afyfe_5 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Didn't really like this book. Very old fashioned and hard to believe. Even though not immediately obvious, everything went right for this young couple, which makes for a boring unrealistic story. I also didn't enjoy the writting style, didn't feel like it was very well written. i wouldn't recommend this book to anyone especially if you're under the age of 30!

[margoletta · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

positively beautiful romantic courtship and young marriage of Annie to her college beau and the reader gets to experience every heart engaging thrill, the yearning, the fear of the unknown, the passion and the hurtfulness of young lovers and miscommunication of egos and the sexes. I walked with Annie on the dormitory campus and attended pretend classes and dared to believe I, too, could one day have the courage to reach out and grab for everything as well. Outstanding prose.

[khuggard_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is sappy sweet yet endearing at the same time. I used to be a huge fan of Betty Smith, rating a Tree Grows in Brooklyn as one of my all time favorites. However, as I get older I find Smith's books to be overly sentimental with story lines that are too neatly packaged. Yet I keep coming back to her books because, despite all of the sentimentality, there is an element of authenticity. For example, while Joy in the Morning could be your typical happily ever after, young love story, it isn't. Annie and Carl fight over money, they have in-law troubles, they wonder where they're going to get their next meal. You can't help but cheer for them even though you already know that things will work out for them in the end.