Brooklyn
Colm Tóibín’s 1950s novel of Eilis Lacey, who leaves Enniscorthy for Brooklyn because there is no work at home, builds a life and a romance with Tony, and is then called back to Ireland by her sister’s death. There she meets Jim, and the book turns on the question of which life she will choose, told in prose so restrained that the decision arrives almost before the reader notices it.
Recommended by 1 Person
Lily King
I don’t want to give too much away, but she’s already very attached to Tony, but then—after maybe nine months or a year—she has to go back because her sister has died, and there she meets Jim. They have the summer together, then she, very abruptly and without saying goodbye, leaves and goes back to her life in Brooklyn.
Interview · October 2025
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