A review by laurenmichellebrock
Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín

3.0

Colm Tóibín is a graceful writer, but I wasn’t wild about Tony in the film and I was even less wild for him in the book. Although, I did find his unabashed adoration for Eilish endearing, and can see why she had been so taken with him. My criticism of him really only stems from the fact that Eilish didn’t give herself much opportunity to have her own life before Tony, which I know isn’t Tony’s fault, and while Tony’s insistence was often aggravating and even a little unnerving, it was refreshing to read about a male character who was willing to be as vulnerable as he was to a woman he cared for. I was entirely frustrated with the situation that unfolded until I realized, at the very end, her hometown, Enniscorthy, was going to be a suffocating, intolerant place for someone like Eilish. Tony was more so a fish hook that drew Eilish back to the place where her sister, Rose, saw a better future for her. Otherwise, I think the story may have ended differently. Instead, it ended on a surprising note of relief.