Beautifully written story about a young girl after WWII in Ireland, who realizes that she has no future there. An Irish priest arranges for her to move to NYC, have a room, and a job. In NY, Ellis Lacey meets Tony, an Italian, and his family, and they fall in love. Ellis is sad to leave her home, her sister, and her mother. When tragedy strikes, she returns to Ireland, where she questions her decisions.
I really enjoyed this story, and felt for Ellis as she navigated life in her early 20s, falling in love, and wondering if she made the right decisions. ( )

This may be my book of the year. It's the story of quiet, undemonstrative, passive Eilis, sent to America by her family to get work though she, like they, would sooner have stayed at home. She's accepting of all the difficulties of the horrific voyage, a new job not of her choosing, her boarding house presided over by an Irish immigrant, her loneliness. She seeks to better herself by gaining book keeping qualifications, and in due course she meets Tony. He's clearly a lovely lad, and she likes him a lot. But does she love him? She rather supposes not. The plot twists when a family tragedy summons Eilis back to Enniscorthy.... and here you'll have to find out for yourself how the plot moves on. This is a simply written undemonstrative book,in which we come to care very much about unspophisticated Eilis. Emotionally engaging, this book charmed its way under my skin ( )

Brooklyn - Toibin
Audio performance by Kirsten Potter
4 stars

This was a good book to follow several books that were high tension reading.It’s a very low key story. Eilis Lacey has the usual struggles of a young woman in a new land. Difficult adjustments, certainly, but nothing earth shattering. Her story was interesting to me without disturbing my peace.

The stifling, judgemental atmosphere of the mid-century Irish village caused me some frustration. I wanted Eilis to find some assertive rebellion. She was fortunate to have her sister's manipulative backing. I enjoyed looking over Eilis’ shoulder as she adjusted to life in Brooklyn. This is a book of detailed character study with a rich historic atmosphere. It wasn’t exciting, but I liked it.

I’m looking forward to checking out the upcoming sequel, Long Island, in May, 2024. ( )

Coming-of-Age

I expected much more. The main character is too passive; everything just happens to her (and most of it is good.) She is an Irish immigrant who has a good job and nice living quarters on her arrival, night classes that are paid for and she meets a really nice young man to boot. ( )