A review by jessreadthis
The South by Colm Tóibín

2.0

When your first Toibin book is [b:Brooklyn|4954833|Brooklyn|Colm Tóibín|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1406806402s/4954833.jpg|5020624] the bar is set pretty high for others. I thought this one was truly "Ok". Those two little letters pretty much summed up my reaction as I read the story. Perhaps my world view is a bit skewed in this post "[b:Eat, Pray, Love|19501|Eat, Pray, Love|Elizabeth Gilbert|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1294023455s/19501.jpg|3352398]" era and I was expecting some glorious life epiphany to happen to the main character when she fled her unfulfilled married life (husband and son) in Ireland to paint in Spain. Katherine finds a man that she follows through Spain and lives as his "wife" though quick to correct "mi no es espousa" when asked; and lives simply waiting on the dole from her mom to carry them through. (Miguel was thanking the heavens he stumbled across this chick in the bar). The story follows the couple over the next few years and is simply told. One of the beauties of Toibin's writing, in my opinion, is that it is simple yet it is not. The act of making love can be a foreshadowing of Miguel's attitude towards Katherine in the future as well as an indication of his consideration of her in the present. The flow of characters into their lives that make brief appearances, yet, have an impact on how they live and survive. I truly enjoy Toibin's style of writing. The prose and words cause me to slow my reading and think about the scene, the deeper meaning, and just relax.