Brooklyn - Colm Tóibín

Brooklyn

By Colm Tóibín

  • Release Date: 2009-05-05
  • Genre: Literary Fiction
4 Score: 4 (From 386 Ratings)

Description

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).

Reviews

  • Great Characters

    4
    By Mcb717
    I liked the characters in this book. And the historical look at Brooklyn and Ireland during that time period.
  • Just okay. Movie is way better

    3
    By cbaymiller
    For the first time in my life, I have read a book that the movie did a way better job at.
  • Awesome work

    5
    By Turtlenaut
    I saw the movie and wanted to read the book. The book was great. A quick read you don't want to put down. A moving story.
  • No Ending

    3
    By Bodeah
    It took me a while to get into the book, but once I did, I fell in love with the characters. As the story starts to ramp up it just ends and that's it... Very disappointed. I am looking forward to seeing how the movie depicts the book and the ending. It almost seems like a follow up book is needed.
  • Good story

    5
    By DesignGirl80
    Really enjoyed the story. Love, immigrant experience, and a great location.
  • Predictable and disappointing

    3
    By Judybbb
    A quick read, with some interesting history of Brooklyn thrown in. But if you read Brooklyn expecting anything more complicated than a simplistic love story, you will be disappointed. And the ending is superbly unsatisfying. Too bad. It could have been so much more.
  • Brooklyn

    5
    By Ejaviking
    Terrific! I could not put it down.

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