Brooklyn (eilis Lacey Book 1)

By (author) Tóibín, Colm
Short description/annotation:
It is Ireland in the early 1950s and for Eilis Lacey, as for so many young Irish girls, opportunities are scarce. So when her sister arranges for her to emigrate to New York, Eilis knows she must go, leaving behind her family and her home for the first time.
Description:

A devastating story of love, loss and one woman''s terrible choice between duty and personal freedom. Fall in love with Brooklyn ahead of its bestselling follow-up, Long Island.

It is Ireland in the early 1950s and for Eilis Lacey, as for so many young Irish girls, opportunities are scarce. So when her sister arranges for her to emigrate to New York, Eilis knows she must go, leaving behind her family and her home for the first time.

Arriving in a crowded lodging house in Brooklyn, Eilis can only be reminded of what she has sacrificed. She is far from home - and homesick. And just as she takes tentative steps towards friendship, and perhaps something more, Eilis receives news which sends her back to Ireland.

There she will be confronted by a terrible dilemma - a devastating choice between duty and one great love.

***

''With this elating and humane novel, Colm Tóibín has produced a masterwork'' Sunday Times

''Unforgettable'' Spectator

''The most compelling and moving portrait of a young woman I have read in a long time'' Zoë Heller, Guardian

''Magnificent'' Sunday Telegraph

The book that inspired the major motion picture starring Saoirse Ronan.

Review quote:
With this elating and humane novel, Colm Tóibín has produced a masterwork
Review quote:
The most compelling and moving portrait of a young woman I have read in a long time
Review quote:
A work of such skill, understatement and sly jewelled merriment could haunt your life
Review quote:
Suffused with humane depth, funny, affecting, deftly plotted ... a novel of magnificent accomplishment
Review quote:
Brooklyn moved me more than any other book this year
Review quote:
A beautifully crafted work that transformed ordinary lives into something extraordinary
Review quote:
No book this year gave me greater pleasure
Review quote:
Not a sentence or a thought out of place. It takes over as his finest ficiton to date
Review quote:
Remarkable freshness and immediacy ... with a lovely comedic lightness
Review quote:
A lovely, thoughtful book ... 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
Biographical note:
Colm Tóibín was born in Enniscorthy in 1955. He is the author of nine novels including The Master, Brooklyn, The Testament of Mary and Nora Webster and, most recently, House of Names. His work has been shortlisted for the Booker three times, won the Costa Novel Award and the Impac Award. He has also published two collections of stories and many works of non-fiction. He lives in Dublin.