by Colm Tóibín
First published 2009
Eilis Lacey cannot find work in post-war Ireland despite her bookkeeping skills. When an Irish priest offers to sponsor her immigration to Brooklyn, she accepts, leaving behind her mother and sister for America in the early 1950s. Eilis takes a job at a department store on Fulton Street and begins building a new life in the Irish neighborhood. Tony, a blonde Italian from a large family, pursues her with quiet persistence. He brings her to Coney Island and Ebbets Field, introduces her to his family in their cramped two-room apartment, and dreams aloud of children who will cheer for the Dodgers. As Eilis starts to return Tony's affection and imagine a future with him, terrible news arrives from Ireland. She must choose between the love she has discovered in Brooklyn and the obligations that call her home.
Genres: romance, american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, second-chance
Setting: Brooklyn, Coney Island, Ebbets Field, Ireland
Period: 1950s
262 pages · Hardcover · Scribner