Brooklyn

BROOKLYN is a totally readable novel. It's just like old-fashioned books that brought you into the story. You'll truly enjoy reading it.

I enjoyed this novel tremendously from beginning to end. The characters drew me in, the writing is flawless, and I found plenty of plot in a young woman leaving her beloved family and immigrating to the U.S. on her own. Although I have read many novels that have told that story, the accuracy and detail of Brooklyn tells the story in a completely new light. Also, it covered a unique time period -- not a 19th century immigration story, and not a present day story either. I will be on the lookout for Toibin's next novel, and in the meantime am crossing my fingers that I will find some fiction that half as good.

I was riveted from the first page, despite the fact that the plot has almost no twists and turns. (I've always thought a convoluted plot is the mark of a less accomplished writer anyway.) Every detail about Eilis' life, both in Ireland and in Brooklyn, drew me further into her story. I just had to know how this retiring, yet surprisingly poised young woman would develop in her new environment. And that subtle change drives the novel, right up to the point when Eilis must make some crucial decisions about her future. I hope to get my book club to read this novel, so I can have the pleasure of discussing it. I know there will be differing opinions about the ending.

As the daughter of an Irish immigrant, I picked up this book hoping for another perspective on the immigrant experience, a hope that was more than met by this extraordinary novel. As Eilis' story unfolds, the reader is able to see her grow and change as she learns some of the lessons that Brooklyn has to teach. I was delighted that the borough itself was so obviously a character in the story, exerting its own personality and influence both on Eilis and on the reader. I heard Colm Toibin read from the book and talk about the experience of writing it- the starting point was a story he heard in his youth, a snippet of conversation that stuck in his head until this book was written. He perfectly captures the confusion and homesickness of a young girl uprooted from all she has ever known, and lovingly documents her gradual transformation into womanhood. This quiet tale will stick with you; though the novel itself was a quick read, the story and Eilis' final choice, linger long after the book is completed. Definitely a must read!

A beautifully written story of a young Irish woman's life just after WW2. Eilis doesn't seem to know what she herself wants, and goes passively along when other people make decisions for her. Her lack of decisiveness comes back to haunt her when she is caught up in a situation where she no longer has any options. As always, Toibin's prose captures a sense of time and place in a manner that makes what might otherwise seem ordinary into something worth a second look. I read the entire book in the space of 24 hrs; I found myself immersed in the setting and wanting to know what happened to Eilis.