This is an author I really enjoy reading. There is also a really good BBC Imagine programme about him, should you care to look it up. This is a sequel to his book ‘Brooklyn’ which won many prizes when it was published in 2009, indeed it was long listed for the Booker.
In Brooklyn, Eilis is lured away from small town life in Ireland to New York, mainly because of tales of excellent job opportunities. She marries into an Italian American family but knows she left behind unfinished romantic problems. Visiting home does not provide resolutions. And there we are left.
So it has taken many years for Colm Toibin to let the ideas for a sequel simmer in his mind. ‘Long Island’ is it. The atmosphere is deeper, more intimate, more introspective and Eilis and her family have moved out of Brooklyn to Long Island. The shock and the crux of the story happens in the first few opening pages and forces Eilis to question everything she felt she knew about her home, her husband and her family life. Suddenly, nothing is firm and solid and Eilis feels unsteady, alone and friendless. Ireland seems even further away than it actually is. Instead of feeling the warmth of a large, noisy, affectionate Italian family, Eilis suddenly finds them threatening and overpowering. She ‘escapes’ back to Ireland on the pretext of celebrating her mother’s 80th birthday. The possibility of old romantic entanglements still exist and cloud the picture. Does she want to remain here? Is her marriage over? Can you, should you, try to rekindle past love?
The ending is so, so Irish and goodness me, so very frustrating. However, this book, which went straight to the top of the best sellers list when it was published, is a compelling, quite quick read. I enjoyed it.
There is a film of Brooklyn if you care to seek it out.