Okay, I've never read Colm Tóibín before, but I have to say I loved his newest novel, Brooklyn. I enjoyed it so much that I eagerly went off looking for reviews to hear more praise, but I'm disconcerted to read so many disparaging comments made by other readers on this one that I had to turn away in order not to have my own pleasure diminished. Does that sound weird? Here's my experience reading the novel--I literally couldn't put it down. To illustrate my point: I have found a quiet place in the library to eat my lunch that happens to be close to windows and at each hour and half hour the campus bell tower tolls. I work it so my lunch break ends on the half hour when I can hear the bells, and last week one day as I was reading I had so completely shut out the environment around me and was so totally engaged in the story that I missed the bells and when I checked my watch it was to discover that I was late returning to work.
The story is at times a very simple one and is always simply told, but I think that is a bit misleading. Sometimes it's what an author doesn't say, what's written between the lines that's so forceful. I like Tóibín's spare but elegant prose as it seemed to reflect the rhythms of Eilis Lacey's life and personality well (which could also be misleading). Brooklyn is a story of an ordinary young woman dealing with the daily business of living. Only even for the most average of us, sometimes life is anything but easy or ordinary. Although Brooklyn has the makings of a historical novel, set in 1950s Ireland and New York, it most decidedly transcends the genre. It's very literary but with all the trappings of a place and time lost to us now, which I thought Tóibín evoked perfectly with the all the right sights, sounds and particularly the mores of the period.
The village of Enniscorthy, Ireland after WWII is not really a place for opportunities, especially for women. Eilis's three brothers have already gone off to England to find jobs. She is left at home with her mother and beautiful older sister, Rose, who has a good office job. Although Rose is nearing thirty she's quite content to stay single, and spend her evenings socializing with the local golf club. She's a practical woman, and very refined, but she's obviously concerned about her younger sister who's left to the mercy of an imperious local store owner where she's not so much offered a job as commanded to work there part time. Neither Miss Kelly's employees nor her less favored customers are treated particularly well, and she'll turn out to be an awful gossip and manipulator.
When a priest returns to Ireland from America on an visit, Rose arranges for Eilis to travel to America where a job will be waiting for her. Father Flood is happy to help Eilis with the necessary papers and finds a place for her in a respectable boarding house run by an Irishwoman. Now I will say something about Eilis. She can at times be a passive character. Sometimes it wasn't so much her driving her own life but letting outside events push her along. I won't say that this at times wasn't a little frustrating, but at the same time, this is why I loved this book so much. She is, however, a bright woman, though quiet and reserved. I was so completely fascinated by Eilis and what motivated her (or didn't) that I wanted to find out what was going to happen to her. I never found Eilis or the story boring. And while I didn't always agree with Eilis's choices or actions at times, I could see where she was at times stuck in a situation where there weren't many options. She's simply a character I keep rolling over and over in my mind.
As any traveler knows, particularly those who've spent time in foreign countries, while the act of going somewhere new and entirely different can be exhilarating, it can at the same time be bewildering and overwhelming. Everything feels entirely foreign, the people, their clothes, how they comport themselves. Eilis may be in a house filled with other Irish women, but that really does little to lessen her homesickness. She works in a department store and takes night classes, which will result in a certificate that will enable her to be a bookkeeper. Over time things become less strange, and she even begins going out with an American man of Italian ancestry. She finally becomes part of the community, when tragedy strikes back home in Ireland and she feels the pull to return. Does she give up her new life with a bright future when she's finally at a point where things are comfortable?
I won't tell you what she decides to do. I want to talk about the book more, but I don't want to reveal anymore of the plot. I will say that while the first two sections the book quietly makes its case, the last section throws everything up in the air. Like life, things become messy and complicated. The story isn't just about what it is to make a life for yourself, or how to figure out what home means, or how get along in a culture not your own, but it's about the pains of growing up and acquiring knowledge. I'm still thinking about it and I have a feeling this is a story that will stick with me for a while.
I'm not a critic and won't pretend to be, and as I've mentioned I've never read any of Tóibín's other work, so perhaps I am well off the mark. I'm just an average reader, but my response to this novel is one of admiration. Something simply clicked with me and I can easily see how he has been nominated for the Booker Prize more than once. This just goes to show you how much reading really is subjective. I am not, however, the only one to consider this an impressive undertaking. Check out Matt's post, which is far more articulate than mine. He put into better words what I'm feeling. And yes, I will be looking for more of Colm Tóibín's work now.