Plot summary

Eilis Lacey is a young woman who is unable to find work in 1950s Ireland. Her older sister Rose organizes a meeting with Father Flood visiting from New York. He tells Eilis of the wonderful opportunities awaiting her with very good employment prospects. Because of this she emigrates to New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 and takes up a job in a department store and undertakes night classes in book-keeping. Her initial experiences in a boring job and living in a repressive boarding house, run by the strict Madge Kehoe, make her have grave doubts about her decision. Letters from Rose and her brother are initially upsetting but soon she begins to settle into a routine. Eilis meets and falls in love with a young Italian plumber called Tony at the local Friday night dances organized by Father Flood. This leads to her first sexual encounter and some social consequences as they are overheard by Mrs Kehoe. She qualifies easily from her night school course. Her relationship evolves further and Tony proposes marriage and allows Eilis to meet his family. One day as she is working in Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

 she receives a visit from Father Flood informing her that Rose has died in her sleep from a pre-existing heart condition. She has to return to Ireland to mourn and marries Tony secretly before she leaves. In Ireland she falls back into the village society easily and starts a brief relationship with Jim Farrell, a local business man, to whom she had been attracted before emigrating. Her mother is desperate for her to settle back in Ireland and marry Jim. Eilis does not confide in her family or friends about her marriage. Eilis procrastinates about a return to her new life by extending her stay and finding a temporary job. She saves Tony's letters unopened thinking at times that she no longer loves him. Eventually a local busy body, Miss Kelly, tells Eilis she knows her secret because Madge Kehoe is her cousin and somehow the story is out in New York. This is the turning point for Eilis and she immediately books her return passage, tells her mother the whole truth and posts a farewell note to Jim as she leaves town by taxi for the docks.

Reviews

Brooklyn received favorable reviews. Robert Hanks for the Daily Telegraph referenced the immigration experience within the novel by saying, "American reactions to the Irish immigrant experience can easily tip over into hyperbole... Colm Tóibín’s Brooklyn is a controlled, understated novel, devoid of outright passion or contrivance, but alive with authentic detail, moved along by the ripples of affection and doubt that shape any life: a novel that offers the reader serious pleasure."

Scribner for Bookreporter said, "In his quietly perceptive prose, Colm Tóibín effortlessly captures the duality that lies at the heart of Eilis Lacey’s story. BROOKLYN unassumingly offers both a classic saga of an immigrant coming to terms with life in her new land and an equally appealing story of one young woman’s grasp of a hard-won maturity."

All references applaud Tóibín's description to the changes in American society during the 1950s, such as Bartocci's acceptance of "coloured" customers, Long Island's suburban boom, and the invention of television. Many applauded Tóibín's measured prose and the calm tone of the novel, though Eilis has been described as being 'so passive that you sometimes felt like giving her a good shaking'.

Awards

Brooklyn won the 2009 Costa Novel Award

Costa Book Awards

The Costa Book Awards are a series of literary awards given to books by authors based in Great Britain and Ireland. They were known as the Whitbread Book Awards until 2005, after which Costa Coffee, a subsidiary of Whitbread, took over sponsorship....

, was shortlisted for the 2011 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award

International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award

The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award is an international literary award for a work of fiction, jointly sponsored by the city of Dublin, Ireland and the company IMPAC. At €100,000 it is one of the richest literary prizes in the world...

, and was longlisted for the 2009 Booker Prize.

External links

• Podcast of Colm Tóibín talking about Brooklyn on the BBC's World Book Club
  World Book Club
  World Book Club is a radio programme on the BBC World Service. Each edition of the programme, which is broadcast on the first Saturday of the month with repeats into the following Monday, features a famous author discussing one of his or her books, often the most well-known one, with the public...