Long Island
-
-
3.5 • 4 Ratings
-
-
- $14.99
-
- $14.99
Publisher Description
A novel of enormous wit and profound emotional resonance from one of the world's finest writers.
Eilis Lacey is Irish, married to Tony Fiorello, a plumber and one of four Italian American brothers, all of whom live in neighbouring houses on a cul-de-sac in Lindenhurst, Long Island, with their wives and children and Tony's parents. It is the spring of 1976 and Eilis, now in her forties with two teenage children, has no-one to rely on in this still-new country.
One day, an Irishman comes to the door asking for Eilis by name. He tells her that his wife is pregnant with Tony's child and that when the baby is born, he will not raise it but will leave it with her. Eilis has choices to make, and what she does in the wake of this shattering news is at the heart of one of Tóibín's most riveting and emotional novels to date.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
The tragic beauty of this heartfelt tale reminds us that sometimes it’s the things we don’t do that define us. In 1976, rocked by a scandalous revelation about her American husband, Eilis Lacey returns from Long Island to her hometown of Enniscorthy, Ireland, with her teenaged children. Her long-ago love Jim is still there, still unmarried, and there are still sparks between them—though Eilis’ old friend Nancy is also still there, and totally in love with him. Colm Tóibín’s writing overflows with tenderness and compassion, particularly as his characters contend with life’s hardest knocks. As the perspective shifts among Eilis, Nancy, and Jim, we hear the volumes spoken in the things these three leave unsaid. Long Island takes place two decades after Tóibín’s celebrated historical novel Brooklyn, though you don’t need any knowledge of that book to enjoy this one. This bittersweet story will tug at your heart in a way that’s absolutely worth it.
