Review: Brooklyn by Colm Toibin

Brooklyn: A Novel by Colm Toibin
From Amazon.com: Committed to a quiet life in little Enniscorthy, Ireland, the industrious young Eilis Lacey reluctantly finds herself swept up in an unplanned adventure to America, engineered by the family priest and her glamorous, "ready for life" sister, Rose. Eilis's determination to embrace the spirit of the journey despite her trepidation--especially on behalf of Rose, who has sacrificed her own chance of leaving--makes a bittersweet center for Brooklyn. Colm Tóibín's spare portrayal of this contemplative girl is achingly lovely, and every sentence rings with truth. Readers will find themselves swept across the Atlantic with Eilis to a boarding house in Brooklyn where she painstakingly adapts to a new life, reinventing herself and her surroundings in the letters she writes home. Just as she begins to settle in with the help of a new love, tragedy calls her home to Enniscorthy, and her separate lives suddenly and painfully merge into one. Tóibín's haunted heroine glows on the page, unforgettably and lovingly rendered, and her story reflects the lives of so many others exiled from home.

My Review: This slim novel is written in Toibin's signature spare style - on the surface it may seem like little is going on but the power lies in observations stated in simple sentences. In the first half of the book (approximately 125 pages), we meet Eilis in Co. Wexford and follow her across the Atlantic to 1950's Brooklyn where she lives in a boardinghouse and works in a department store on Fulton St. Eilis also meets Tony, a first generation Brooklynite, and without much enthusiasm begins a relationship with him. At times, I was frustrated by Eilis's lack of passion for Tony - he so obviously cared for her and she seemed indifferent at times. But as the novel progressed, it was clear that her love for Tony, although not wildly passionate, was certainly a slow burn. After a tragedy at home, Eilis returns to Ireland and grapples with the life she left behind including obligations to her mother.

This novel obviously deals with the theme of immigration. Toibin does an excellent job of depicting the life of an immigrant as one caught between two worlds. As Eilis tries to assimilate into life in Brooklyn, she also aches for the familiarity of her home and family in Ireland. In this quote, the Eilis's homesickness is palpable:

"She had been keeping the thought of home out of her mind, letting it come to her only when she wrote or received letters or when she woke from a dream in which her mother or father or Rose . . . appeared. She thought it strange that the mere sensation of savouring the prospect of something could make her think for a while that it must be the prospect of home."

And when she returns to Ireland, she finds she doesn't as easily fit there as she would have hoped:

"She had put no thought into what it would be like to come home because she had expected that it would be easy; she had longed so much for the familiarity of these rooms that she had presumed that she would be happy and relieved to step back into them, but, instead, on this first morning, all she could do was count the days before she went back."

As the daughter of immigrants with a grandmother who returned "home" to Scotland twice only to realize as much as she didn't feel settled in NY, she also no longer belonged back home, the loss of belonging and home experienced by immigrants resonates for me. Toibin's spare, bleak style only makes this loss that much more poignant in Brooklyn.

I am a fan of Toibin's work and Brooklyn is no exception - it is moving in a very quiet way and stays with you after you read the last page.

This book meets the criteria for the Ireland Reading Challenge , NYC Challenge, "place" category of What's In a Name? "Win Win" category of Twenty Ten Challenge

Giveaway:Season of Second Chances ARC

For some reason, I received two ARC's of Diane Meier's The Season of Second Chances: A Novel. As you can tell from my review of this book, I really enjoyed it and would love to share it with my readers. So . . . I am giving away a copy to two lucky readers. One copy is unread and one is gently used :)

Here are the details:

• To enter, please leave a comment below with your email address so that I can contact you
• Open Internationally
• Enter by Midnight on Tuesday 5/26

Good Luck!

Review: Season of Second Chances by Diane Meier

The Season of Second Chances by Diane Meier tells the story of Joy Harkness and the new chapter she faces in her life. Leaving behind her relatively solitary existence in New York City as a professor at Columbia, Joy heads north and takes a position at a Massachusetts university. The novel chronicles Joy's transition to her new life and the self discovery that accompanies the transition.

Without acknowledging that she wanted or needed to, Joy leaves behind her NYC existence and is suddenly confronted with all kinds of complications to her previously straightforward life. Despite her best efforts to remain aloof, she is embraced by a group of friends and the rhythm of their reliance on each other. To many, this instant community would be welcome but to Joy it feels claustrophobic and she struggles to feel comfortable at weeknight dinners and daily lunches with her new friends. Joy reflects on the difference between her life in NY and her life in Amherst:

My time in New York hadn't exposed me to people who let you see their most intimate or ardent inner lives. I do remember thinking that life at Columbia was devoid of people of goodwill and benevolence. And I remember thinking that they must have had their kind and sweet human emotions removed before they took their jobs, or perhaps the pressures of their academic bred it out of them. Here in Amherst, in contrast, every day seemed to bring another heart onto another sleeve.

Along with new friends, romance also enters Joy's life. Actually, as opposed to the friends who she seems to feel have thrust themselves upon her, romance is welcomed in by Joy. She makes, in my opinion, some unwise choices in the romance department and these choices result in additional complications. Teddy, one of the men with which Joy becomes involved, is enmeshed with his overbearing mother and this limits his ability to fully be in a relationship with Joy. For all his emotional immaturity, Teddy also sees through Joy's aloof exterior to her fears and weaknesses and their relationship brings even more self revelation for Joy.

My assessment:
This book is excellent - it is smart and well written and the characters are complex and interesting. As much as Joy may not seem to always be the most likeable character, I think there is a lot readers can relate to in Joy's struggle to make changes to her life and the discomfort she feels with the changes. The book certainly gave me much to consider.

The genre of this novel is hard to pinpoint - fiction? women's fiction? After reading Diane Meier's blog post entitled "The Ghetto of Women's Lit", I wonder if the ambiguity really matters. In the post, Meier discusses a panel she sat on at the Empire State Book Festival with fellow "women's lit" authors Cathleen Schine, Elizabeth Noble and Sally Koslow. The panel (which I had also read about on Nomad Reader) discussed and debated the perils and benefits of classifying women's lit into "chick lit" and "beach read" as opposed to just fiction. Novels, like Season for Second Chances, that straddle these women's lit sub-categories, run the risk of disappointing those expecting something else from the novel based on the sub category in which they placed it based on relatively superficial criteria such as the cover art or the novels with which it is bundled by Amazon. My recommendation - Just read it!

TSS May 9 2010: Sharing A Love Of Reading with Mom

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there - I hope you have had a wonderful day! I spent a great day with my Mom just catching up - my parents recently returned North after 6 months in Florida so this weekend was a bit of a reunion in addition to a Mother's Day celebration.

Reading was a big part of my childhood - I distinctly remember my Mom taking us to the library and reading us a book each night before bed. Eventually, I would go the library alone and was reading under the covers way past "lights out". Interestingly, I rarely saw my Mom read a book - she read the paper but not books so I never considered my Mom a reader. What I didn't appreciate then was that she couldn't fit reading into her demanding schedule of work, childcare and homemaker - reading became one of many sacrifices my Mom made for her family.

A few years ago my parents retired early and Mom found herself with more time than she knew what to do with so she began reading. Knowing how much I read, my Mom would ask me for recommendations and I discovered the joy of sharing books with my Mom. Our tastes are a little different but there is definitely overlap - we both enjoy books set in Ireland or by Irish authors so my Mom and I have shared the Irish Country Doctor series, books by Colm Toibin and Sebastian Dunne and many of Maeve Binchy's comforting novels. I recently read Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show and I look forward to sharing that with my Mom along with others by Frank Delaney. Mom also enjoys Dorothea Benton Frank, Jodi Picoult and Joanna Trollope - I like these too and am very happy to avail myself of her hand me downs!

Beyond hand me downs, however, my mother's and my shared love of reading brings so much more - it offers us a language in which we relate to each other as friends and peers as opposed to mother and daughter. I have discovered quite a bit about my Mom in our discussions about books - revelations I know would not have been shared in any other context.

In My Mailbox/Monday Mailbox: May 3, 2010

Story Siren hosts In My Mailbox where book bloggers offer a peek into the books that arrived in their homes over the past week. Mailbox Monday hosted by Marcia at the Printed Page has the same objective. These memes are great in that they offer us a chance to see what others are reading- it's like candy for book addicts!

As a form of comfort for myself after a grueling week at work, I made a stop on my way from CT to NYC at a little slice of book heaven - The Book Barn in Niantic, CT. I heard about this bookstore via the Spotlight on Bookstores feature on She is Too Fond of Books. The feature was written by author Sarah Pekkanen and she extolled the virtues of all the used books available at the barn and the variety of rooms and sheds dotted about the property each chock full of books. Well, the Book Barn didn't disappoint and I picked up 8 books! I could have brought many more home but I had to draw the line . . . I figure I can always go back!



Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel by Lisa See - I have heard wonderful things about this author and may read this book for the May selection of the World Party Reading Challenge hosted by Fizzy Thoughts

The Young Wan by Brendan O'Carroll - I have read all the others in the Agnes Browne series so I was excited to be able to pick this one up.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith - I somehow missed this classic growing up but definitely want to read it

A Minor Indiscretion by Carole Matthews - this looked like a fun beach read!

A Summer Affair: A Novel by Elin Hilderbrand - I haven't read anything by this author yet but she seems to have quite a following and the cover made me think of the beach during the upcoming summer!

Rory & Ita by Roddy Doyle - I was looking for some of his fiction but saw this non-fiction work he wrote about his parents and thought it sounded interesting

Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd - this was recommended on a list of Irish fiction I saw on Reading Matters

Forget me Not by Isabel Wolff - it appears this was never released in the US but I have a weakness for "Brit Chick Lit" so I had to snag it.

And the lovely STRAND mug and pen (there was also a tin of "NY mints" but I finished those before taking the picture!) arrived from Jill at Fizzy Thoughts - it was the prize for the March mini-challenge of her NY Challenge - thanks so much Jill!

What came into your home this week?

Sunday Salon: May 2, 2010 - April in Review

It feels good to have surfaced and joined the land of the living again! Work has been absolutely horrific over the past few weeks and I essentially dropped out of life as I pulled all-nighters and responded to one crisis after another at work. It has become clear that this the crazy schedule at work is now the new normal so I made a decision last week to stake out some boundaries and maintain work/life balance as best as possible. With that, I am headed back to bootcamp tomorrow morning and am back in the land of book blogs - yay!

April was definitely light in terms of reviews (see above) but I did do a lot of reading. Here is what I read this month - the links take you to my reviews if I have completed them:

Very Valentine: Adriana Trigiani
Brava Valentine: Adriana Trigiani
The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott: Kelly O'Connor McNees
Hiking Through: Paul Stultzman
Alexandra, Gone: Anna McPartlin
The Guest House: Barbara Richardson

I am also remiss in posting my review of The Season of Second Chances by Diane Meier but I will have that up (along with a giveaway of my ARC) this week.

On to a better month in May!

Review: Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani

Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani introduces the Roncalli clan and the world of custom shoes, the West Village and the beauty of Italy. What a combination - the premise sounded irresistible to me and the book certainly delivered.





My Summary: Valentine Roncalli lives with her grandmother in an apartment above the West Village shop that houses the Angelini custom shoe business in which Valentine works with her grandmother. The business has been in the family for generations and Valentine has a passion for her family, their history and for the artistry of making one of a kind shoes using luxurious materials. Amid the stresses of keeping a small niche business afloat, Valentine attempts a romance with a handsome restauranteur and tries to fit their lovelife into their crazy schedules. When Valentine accompanies her grandmother to Italy on her annual buying trip, she steps back into time and her passion for the art of shoemaking deepens. While there, she also begins to question work/life balance and the importance of trying to achieve it all.

My Thoughts: I absolutely loved this book! Valentine is a dynamic protagonist - she is pushed to taking her family business into the current century by financial pressures but then learns she has a real head for business and a true passion for the artistry of the craft of custom shoe design. I found myself rooting for her from the start whether in her struggles with the business or her relationship with the complicated and ambitious Roman Falconi. When she traveled to Italy (a dream of mine!) and observed how much Italians value work/life balance, I found I really related to her desire for a slower pace. This quote, spoken by Valentine, certainly gives me pause,

"You [her Italian friend] live a balanced life. You work, you eat, you rest. We don't. We can't. We live as though we have something to prove. There's never enough time, we eat on the run, and we sleep as little as possible. We believe the one who works the hardest wins."

What I really love about this book, however, is the boisterous Roncalli clan and the vivid descriptions of both New York City and Italy (especially the scenes in Isle of Capri). In addition to their matriarch, Gram, the Roncalli clan includes Valentine's two sisters, Tess and Jaclyn, her brother Alfred, her funny, larger than life mother and her drily humorous Dad. Despite their bickering and the fact that are all involved in each other's lives, their love for each other and the value they place on family is clear. Although not nearly as boisterous (or boisterous at all for that matter!), my family also places a lot of importance on pulling together and being there for each other above all so I could relate to Valentine's involvement with and true affection for her family.

The Roncalli's are from Queens, which is where I grew up, and I enjoyed all the references to local spots in the neighborhood including Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church in Forest Hills and Leonard's of Great Neck (I attended a prom there!) If I didn't know that author grew up in SW Virginia, I would think she hailed from Queens - her references were spot on! The level of detail she provides about locales - Queens, Italy, The West Village - really add to the novel and serve to draw the reader even further into her story.

This was one of those books where I was dreading the end because I didn't want to leave the characters or the life the author had created. Fortunately, this is the first in a 3 book series and I was able to quickly move on to the 2nd book Brava, Valentine (review will be posted soon) but it will be a long wait for the 3rd book due to come out in February 2010. If you want a little more from the author in the meantime, check out her website, or listen to her interview with Book Club Girl on Blog Talk Radio where she talks about Very Valentine.

I received this book for review from TLC Book Tours; although the author is orignally from SW VA, she currently lives in NYC and her book is decidedly set in NYC so this review meets the criteria for the Literary Road Trip