Brooklyn: A Novel

Colm Toibin

May 2009 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

Colm Tóibín’s New York Times bestselling novel—also an acclaimed film starring Saoirse Ronan and Jim Broadbent nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture—is “a moving, deeply satisfying read” (Entertainment Weekly) about a young Irish immigrant in Brooklyn in the early 1950s.

“One of the most unforgettable characters in contemporary literature” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), Eilis Lacey has come of age in small-town Ireland in the hard years following World War Two. When an Irish priest from Brooklyn offers to sponsor Eilis in America, she decides she must go, leaving her fragile mother and her charismatic sister behind.

Eilis finds work in a department store on Fulton Street, and when she least expects it, finds love. Tony, who loves the Dodgers and his big Italian family, slowly wins her over with patient charm. But just as Eilis begins to fall in love, devastating news from Ireland threatens the promise of her future.

Author “Colm Tóibín…is his generation’s most gifted writer of love’s complicated, contradictory power” (Los Angeles Times). “Written with mesmerizing power and skill” (The Boston Globe), Brooklyn is a “triumph…One of those magically quiet novels that sneak up on readers and capture their imaginations” (USA TODAY).

Ratings and reviews

This is what I call a quiet book. The writing is open and clear but subtle, it does not overpower, allowing you to take in and get caught up in every detail. The prosaic style creates powerful emotions as you follow the lead character Eilis on her journey to maturity. She starts out as what can almost be described as an outsider to her own life; she is pulled and molded by the wants and desires of family, no voice or identity of her own, living in her sister’s shadow and defined though the eyes of others. Slowly you watch her morph, into a woman with inner strength and conviction. In the process it is easy to sympathize with her as she experiences loss, adapts to a new cultural, and struggles to make decisions. Although this is the classic immigrant story of hope and resilience, it also leads to a better understanding and appreciation of what women of the 50’s endured as they paved the way for “modern” women of today

A great and smooth story. I bet she didnt love Tony after the time she kissed another man back ennicourthy

Didn't read the book,but the movie was awesome,loved it. One of my favorite movies. I highly recommend the movie.

About the author

Colm Tóibín is the author of eleven novels, including Long Island; The Magician, winner of the Rathbones Folio Prize; The Master, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; Brooklyn, winner of the Costa Book Award; The Testament of Mary; and Nora Webster; as well as two story collections and several books of criticism. He is the Irene and Sidney B. Silverman Professor of the Humanities at Columbia University and has been named as the Laureate for Irish Fiction for 2022–2024 by the Arts Council of Ireland. Three times shortlisted for the Booker Prize, Tóibín lives in Dublin and New York.