Colm Toibin, Long Island

- In his usual masterful way Colm Toibin’s prose is clear, precise, simple and gentle. It's never overdone or elaborate and is a joy to read. In all his novels he shows such empathy for ordinary people and the rhythms of their lives. We're thrust into the very domestic dramas of people and their families living in small communities and towns.  

- In Long Island Toibin takes us back to his powerful 2009 novel Brooklyn and his main protagonist Eilis, a young Irish woman who fled Ireland for New York, deserting her lover Jim. That final, life-changing decision - praised by most reviewers for its rectitude and honor, but utterly wrong in my view for its cowardice and immaturity - was gut-wrenching.

- Twenty years later she is still married to Tony, an Italian, and they have with two teenage children. Unfortunately, Tony has got an unknown woman pregnant. Under no circumstances will Eilis allow the baby to live in her house despite pressure from the woman's husband. 

- At this point Toibin takes us back to Ireland where we meet the widow Nancy, a fish and chip shop owner. We're also re-introduced to Jim, now a bar owner and Nancy's fiancé. Nancy’s best friend was Eilis, and now Eilis has returned to Ireland to celebrate her mother's 80th birthday. So there you have it. The stage is set for competing dramas and tensions. 

- Typical of village life, all the characters are close and nosey. Perhaps it's suffocating at times, a bit cloying and sentimental, but always delightful. However Toibin has the ability to rise to higher levels and confront us with life-changing decisions and moral choices, without becoming heavy handed or preachy. Reality and romance are in conflict and the sacred marriage bond honoured or not. Truth, fidelity and commitment are hard. And what really is love?

- Like Brooklyn, that really got inside the mind and social context of a young person, Long Island is a narrative of incredible power and resonance, and one that won't let you go for days and nights after you've finished it.