Brooklyn: A Novel (Eilis Lacey Series)
Colm Tóibín’s New York Times bestselling novel—also an acclaimed film starring Saoirse Ronan and Jim Broadbent nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture—is “a moving, deeply satisfying read” (Entertainment Weekly) about a young Irish immigrant in Brooklyn in the early 1950s.
“One of the most unforgettable characters in contemporary literature” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), 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. But just as Eilis begins to fall in love, devastating news from Ireland threatens the promise of her future.
Author “Colm Tóibín…is his generation’s most gifted writer of love’s complicated, contradictory power” (Los Angeles Times). “Written with mesmerizing power and skill” (The Boston Globe), Brooklyn is a “triumph…One of those magically quiet novels that sneak up on readers and capture their imaginations” (USA TODAY).
“One of the most unforgettable characters in contemporary literature” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), 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. But just as Eilis begins to fall in love, devastating news from Ireland threatens the promise of her future.
Author “Colm Tóibín…is his generation’s most gifted writer of love’s complicated, contradictory power” (Los Angeles Times). “Written with mesmerizing power and skill” (The Boston Globe), Brooklyn is a “triumph…One of those magically quiet novels that sneak up on readers and capture their imaginations” (USA TODAY).
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Community Reviews
I enjoyed this book up until the end. I felt like it didn't really have an ending. Just stopped. Like there is a piece missing.
This is a wonderful novel. It is about a young woman, Eilis Lacey, who unexpectedly finds herself transplanted from her home in Ireland to living in a boarding house in Brooklyn, with other Irish young women, and working as a salesgirl on a shop floor. What I found surprising was how Toibin managed to make me care so much about what would happen to Eilis, even though he does not let us see her inner emotions at all, at least in the beginning. Eilis is reserved, accepting her mother's and sister's arrangement for her to travel alone to the U.S., where she has no friends or relatives but where employment prospects are bright. Eilis has an old-school determination to make the best of her situation, including living with a nosy and controlling landlady and suffering through a serious bout of homesickness.
Yet Eilis has ambitions and stamina. She resumes the bookkeeping courses she began in Ireland, and finds romance with an Italian-American young man. As we see Eilis grow into womanhood with the assurance and confidence it brings, Toibin brings us a bit closer to her emotional core, though still at a remove.
The high drama of the story is near the end, where a family tragedy brings Eilis back to Ireland, secretly married to her boyfriend Tony. Back home, Eilis discovers feelings for both her homeland and for another man she would never have imagined existed. The decision she makes about her future leaves you turning the pages faster and faster.
Yet Eilis has ambitions and stamina. She resumes the bookkeeping courses she began in Ireland, and finds romance with an Italian-American young man. As we see Eilis grow into womanhood with the assurance and confidence it brings, Toibin brings us a bit closer to her emotional core, though still at a remove.
The high drama of the story is near the end, where a family tragedy brings Eilis back to Ireland, secretly married to her boyfriend Tony. Back home, Eilis discovers feelings for both her homeland and for another man she would never have imagined existed. The decision she makes about her future leaves you turning the pages faster and faster.
I loved this book, but the ending left so many unanswered questions. I need to find out if there is a sequel.
I loved this book. Just a nice, simple read. I felt right away like I knew Eilis and couldn't wait to see how her life unfolded. As one description says, there's no high drama here, but just a young woman's story. Bittersweet.
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