Once in Brooklyn, she finds the familiar comforts of family replaced by the random cattiness of a rooming-house. Her dream of being a bookkeeper lays idle while she puts in six-day weeks at a department store, work arranged by the parish priest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the months go by, she begins to ground herself, only to be wooed by a young man, an Italian-American. Things happen fast until, suddenly, with Eilis facing pressure from her beau, what\u2019s done can\u2019t be undone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this sense, Eilis\u2019s story is a universal story. In post-War America, especially in working-class communities fed by immigrants, the roles of men and women were well-scripted \u2013 by family, by church, and by social norms. So it is unsurprising that Eilis so willingly allowed these constraints (which bound women much more so than men) to remake her so easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eilis Lacey is an untethered soul; she is adrift on the river of life, her own hand never on the tiller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The chapters that follow Eilis\u2019s transformation from wide-eyed hick to nascent New Yorker engage the most. T\u00f3ib\u00edn\u2019s clear, clean writing makes for good storytelling, and I rooted for Eilis to navigate the labyrinth of her new life. Which she mostly does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then, as the book rounds the final turn, Eilis finds herself in a complex situation that compels her, in the course of a few pages, to chuck all she\u2019s accomplished in America in exchange for the \u201csweetness, certainty and innocence\u201d of the old sod.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I felt gob-smacked, ready to so some chucking of my own, namely some of the appreciation I\u2019d gained for \u201cBrooklyn.\u201d I didn\u2019t, though. It\u2019s a matter of choice. I wouldn\u2019t have ended the book as it does, but, that said, I didn\u2019t write it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So … yes, read \u201cBrooklyn,\u201d especially if you plan to read \u201cLong Island,\u201d T\u00f3ib\u00edn\u2019s new sequel to the meanderings of Eilis Lacey. \u201cBrooklyn\u201d is enjoyable and insightful, and whether the ending sits right with you will depend on your palate and patience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In 1951, Eilis Lacey, against her wishes, leaves the small Irish town she\u2019d hoped to spend her life in and boards a steamship bound for America. Once in Brooklyn, she finds the familiar comforts of family replaced by the random … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[784],"tags":[770,892,893,895,837],"class_list":["post-2302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","tag-book-review","tag-brooklyn","tag-colm-toibin","tag-new-york-city","tag-novel"],"yoast_head":"\nBookshelf \u2013 Brooklyn, Colm T\u00f3ib\u00edn - Tim Porter's Second Draft<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Eilis\u2019s story is a universal story. In post-War America, especially in working-class communities fed by immigrants, the roles of men and women were well-scripted \u2013 by family, by church, and by social norms.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2302\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bookshelf \u2013 Brooklyn, Colm T\u00f3ib\u00edn - Tim Porter's Second Draft\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Eilis\u2019s story is a universal story. In post-War America, especially in working-class communities fed by immigrants, the roles of men and women were well-scripted \u2013 by family, by church, and by social norms.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2302\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tim Porter's Second Draft\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/timporterphotography\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-06-17T18:06:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-06-17T18:06:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Brooklyn-196x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tim Porter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tim Porter\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2302\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2302\",\"name\":\"Bookshelf \u2013 Brooklyn, Colm T\u00f3ib\u00edn - Tim Porter's Second Draft\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2302#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2302#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Brooklyn-196x300.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-06-17T18:06:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-06-17T18:06:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/#\/schema\/person\/efd6f6b05808f784091b582e4231621d\"},\"description\":\"Eilis\u2019s story is a universal story. In post-War America, especially in working-class communities fed by immigrants, the roles of men and women were well-scripted \u2013 by family, by church, and by social norms.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2302#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2302\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2302#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Brooklyn.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Brooklyn.jpg\",\"width\":982,\"height\":1500},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2302#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Bookshelf \u2013 Brooklyn, Colm T\u00f3ib\u00edn\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/\",\"name\":\"Tim Porter's Second Draft\",\"description\":\"Photography, Books, Journalism & Other Curiosities\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/#\/schema\/person\/efd6f6b05808f784091b582e4231621d\",\"name\":\"Tim Porter\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/964890359b5d3b9d2229d81cf1c545c03e5f2c1369af8c0b1cc43e74b6b4abef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/964890359b5d3b9d2229d81cf1c545c03e5f2c1369af8c0b1cc43e74b6b4abef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Tim Porter\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\"],\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bookshelf \u2013 Brooklyn, Colm T\u00f3ib\u00edn - Tim Porter's Second Draft","description":"Eilis\u2019s story is a universal story. In post-War America, especially in working-class communities fed by immigrants, the roles of men and women were well-scripted \u2013 by family, by church, and by social norms.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2302","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bookshelf \u2013 Brooklyn, Colm T\u00f3ib\u00edn - Tim Porter's Second Draft","og_description":"Eilis\u2019s story is a universal story. In post-War America, especially in working-class communities fed by immigrants, the roles of men and women were well-scripted \u2013 by family, by church, and by social norms.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2302","og_site_name":"Tim Porter's Second Draft","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/timporterphotography","article_published_time":"2024-06-17T18:06:43+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-06-17T18:06:52+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Brooklyn-196x300.jpg"}],"author":"Tim Porter","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tim Porter","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2302","url":"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2302","name":"Bookshelf \u2013 Brooklyn, Colm T\u00f3ib\u00edn - Tim Porter's Second Draft","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2302#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2302#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Brooklyn-196x300.jpg","datePublished":"2024-06-17T18:06:43+00:00","dateModified":"2024-06-17T18:06:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/#\/schema\/person\/efd6f6b05808f784091b582e4231621d"},"description":"Eilis\u2019s story is a universal story. In post-War America, especially in working-class communities fed by immigrants, the roles of men and women were well-scripted \u2013 by family, by church, and by social norms.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2302#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2302"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2302#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Brooklyn.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Brooklyn.jpg","width":982,"height":1500},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2302#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Bookshelf \u2013 Brooklyn, Colm T\u00f3ib\u00edn"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/","name":"Tim Porter's Second Draft","description":"Photography, Books, Journalism & Other Curiosities","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/#\/schema\/person\/efd6f6b05808f784091b582e4231621d","name":"Tim Porter","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/964890359b5d3b9d2229d81cf1c545c03e5f2c1369af8c0b1cc43e74b6b4abef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/964890359b5d3b9d2229d81cf1c545c03e5f2c1369af8c0b1cc43e74b6b4abef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Tim Porter"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.timporter.com"],"url":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2302"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2304,"href":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2302\/revisions\/2304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Brooklyn-196x300.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n