Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
Eilis Lacey has come of age in small-town Ireland in the years following World War Two. Though skilled at bookkeeping, she cannot find a job in the miserable Irish economy. When an Irish priest from Brooklyn ( Father Flood) offers to sponsor Eilis in America--to live and work in a Brooklyn neighbourhood "just like Ireland"--she decides she must go, leaving her fragile mother and her charismatic sister (Rose) behind.
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 a career, 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 love. threatening the promise of her future. To say more about the story would spoil it.
We found it to be an engaging and interesting story. The portrayal of the draw of home and the actual homesickness, added to the thought-provoking aspects of this book. We also felt the depictions of similarities and differences between life in Ireland and the USA added to the enjoyment of the book. The characters were well fleshed out. Many group members did not want to put it down.
Submitted by Donaghadee Reading Group
