Who is Sissy Rommely?

Sissy Rommely, or "Aunt Sissy", is a character from the novel "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith which tells the tale of a girl coming of age from 1912 to 1917. If you've never read it (and you enjoy reading novels) then pick it up next chance you get. You won't regret it. There are many strong women in the girl's life, one of whom is called Aunt Sissy.

"At ten, Sissy was as fully developed as a woman of thirty and all the boys were after Sissy and Sissy was after all the boys. At twelve, she started keeping steady company with a lad of twenty. Her father nipped that romance in the bud by beating up the boy. At fourteen, she was going with a fireman of twenty five. Because he licked her father, instead of the other way around, this romance ended in the fireman marrying Sissy. They went to city hall, where Sissy swore that she was eighteen, and were married by one of the clerks. The neighbors were shocked but [her mother] knew that marriage was the best thing that could happen to her highly sexed daughter."

Because this blog is exploring sexuality and because I want to convey a sense of familiarity with my readers, I have chosen the name Aunt Sissy to represent my opinions and thoughts about this sensitive subject.