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What Members Thought
This beautifully written novel tells a deceptively simple story - set in the mid 1950’s, it follows a sheltered, innocent young woman from a small Irish town who immigrates to Brooklyn for a better life. It’s a rich coming of age novel that touches on many familiar themes - choosing family and duty over one’s own desires, first love, first loss, listening to your heart, making choices about life and love.
Toibin’s writing is like a rich tapestry, it draws you in with richly colored detail and imp ...more
Toibin’s writing is like a rich tapestry, it draws you in with richly colored detail and imp ...more
4.5 stars
This is one of those books that I hated to see end; I am still with the characters, particularly the protagonist, Eilis,* who makes some choices throughout the book that are not always in her best interest, keeping me worried and crossing my fingers as the book progresses. Eilis is from Ireland; the story begins there and creates a very dimensional setting in a short amount of space. Eilis then relocates to Brooklyn, where a great deal of the story is set. That's all I'll say, except th ...more
This is one of those books that I hated to see end; I am still with the characters, particularly the protagonist, Eilis,* who makes some choices throughout the book that are not always in her best interest, keeping me worried and crossing my fingers as the book progresses. Eilis is from Ireland; the story begins there and creates a very dimensional setting in a short amount of space. Eilis then relocates to Brooklyn, where a great deal of the story is set. That's all I'll say, except th ...more
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I wanted to like this book more than I did. She was just to passive to be a heroine.
This book grew on me after I finished it. I'm a Colm Toibin fan and this writing seemed so plain, so restrained. I finally decided that the writing mirrors the main character's internal life. The settings--a town in Ireland and Brooklyn, N.Y. are simply and touchingly evoked. I just expected something very different and was initially disappointed. Glad I stayed with it. It feels true to the fifties and the Catholic world in which the main character has grown up.
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Movie stuck very close to the book, and was improved by the beauty of the star, Saorise Rohan.
