Brooklyn

by Colm Tóibín

This is the story of young Eilis from a small town in Ireland. Her father has just recently died, all her brothers are working in England and she lives with her sister Rose and their mother. Job options are few, but at least Eilis is offered to work on Sundays in a shop run by stuck-up Mrs. Kelly.

But a better future lies in the New World - or so people tell her. The people in question are her sister and one Father Flood, an Irish priest with a parish in Brooklyn, New York. The arrange for her to go to Brooklyn. And when I say "arrange" I mean they make sure she has lodging, new clothes, some money and a job waiting for her once she arrives.

The journey itself is rather unpleasant, but she has a whole new life once she steps foot off the boat. A church patron is even made to pay for her night classes to become a bookkeeper. Eilis barely had to lift a finger in all of this. She just lets everything fall into her lap without thinking about it too much.

The people she works for are very business oriented and keep a close watch on their shop assistants' behavior, but, really, they are very nice and considerate. She lodges with a group of other young women in a boarding house run by a Mrs. Kehoe, who likes her well enough to give her the nicest room in the house when someone else moves out. Again, barely a finger lifted.

Then she meets Tony at a dance (that someone had to bring her to, because god forbid she do anything of her own account) and the relationship just takes off. When she gets word that her sister died unexpectedly and she plans to go back to Ireland to be with her mother for a few weeks, she marries Tony before she leaves. She gets time off work and everyone is very considerate.

Back home she spends time with her about-to-be-married friend and Jim, whom she knows from years before and who runs a pub with his parents. See, she never mentioned to anyone that she is actually married and her mother - now alone without Rose - rather have her stay home. So, why not match her up with Jim. Eilis, of course, just plays along with everything and everyone, even extending her stay to come to her friends wedding. Jim obviously thinks that this may be his future wife. And Eilis is actually considering divorce and mulls over the necessary conversation with Jim in her head a few times.

But then the shopkeeper, Mrs. Kelly, tells her that she knows about this man she is seeing in Brooklyn and basically bullies her into returning.

You know what, that Eilis? I don't like her.

The writing is great, the book practically reads itself, but if you don't care for the main character it loses a bit of its charm. And from a book named Brooklyn, I would have liked something more about Brooklyn.

6/10