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A review by alisonb13
Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
3.0
A thought-provoking coming of age story as Eilis moves to Brooklyn from her small Irish hometown at behest of her family to better her opportunities.
Way she is swept along with the tide of what people want for her and from her is at times heartbreaking and at others frustrating. Wanted her to take more control of her destiny rather than just give in to easiest option at time.
Colm Toibim sketches beautifully the bitchy competitive environment of sharing with a group of girls in the Brooklyn boarding house and the stifling and sad environment of her home where her lonely mother is just one more person trying to manipulate her to their ends.
Enjoyed the moral dilemma of which choice of future she should make (although sense that she ran away again - all choices were running away - a bit disturbing). Also the sad corollary that her very leaving home made her opportunities in Enniscorthy both social and economic so much better yet in some way made home impossible to return to.
A picture of our hopes and dreams and the unexpected way they play out. Perhaps the way hers play out would be happier than the end suggests
Way she is swept along with the tide of what people want for her and from her is at times heartbreaking and at others frustrating. Wanted her to take more control of her destiny rather than just give in to easiest option at time.
Colm Toibim sketches beautifully the bitchy competitive environment of sharing with a group of girls in the Brooklyn boarding house and the stifling and sad environment of her home where her lonely mother is just one more person trying to manipulate her to their ends.
Enjoyed the moral dilemma of which choice of future she should make (although sense that she ran away again - all choices were running away - a bit disturbing). Also the sad corollary that her very leaving home made her opportunities in Enniscorthy both social and economic so much better yet in some way made home impossible to return to.
A picture of our hopes and dreams and the unexpected way they play out. Perhaps the way hers play out would be happier than the end suggests