The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 10 March 2011
by Colm Tóibín
The coming-to-America story is one of the largest components of our national myth. We are the land of opportunity, and anyone from anywhere can come to this country to find their dreams. (Just don't come from certain countries, or practice certain religions, or look too different from the rest of us, then you might find it more of a challenge.) The Irish made up a large portion of the immigrants to this country in the early decades of the 20th century. In this gentle and stirring novel, Colm Tóibín tells us of young Eilis, a girl from Enniscorthy, Ireland, who, with the encouragement of her mother and vibrant sister Rose , sails for America to find her way in the larger world. Life for the young in small town Ireland is portrayed as one moving from youth to marriage in a pattern ordained in the depths of time. The girls pair off with the boys who eventually take over their parents' businesses. Or, the boys sail for England to find work if none is to be had at home. Eilis's brothers are in England. Her sister is strong and energetic, serving as a kind of women's golf pro at a nearby club. After a harrowing crossing, Eilis lands in Brooklyn, where, under the watchful eyes of her landlady and a sponsoring priest, she goes to work in a department store and takes night courses in book-keeping. Things go pretty well for our pretty protagonist, and Tóibín does a brilliant job depicting the girl's growth into a more self-aware young woman. She observes the social realm in which she moves in mid 1950s Brooklyn, populated by young Irish immigrants, or children of immigrants. The store in which she works is fairly progressive, and sees a market in selling to African-Americans. The rooming house in which she lives is full of young women with fixed ideas on outsiders and the path to happiness. Soon, Eilis meets a young Italian man. Tony is charming and atypical and finds his way into her heart, though she remains uncertain whether she loves him. When bad news comes from Ireland, though, Eilis is forced to travel back to her homeland after two years in Brooklyn. Tony fears he will never see her again, and we begin to fear the same on his behalf as Eilis is lured into the familiar comfort of her homeland. The reader may find him or herself feeling just as ambivalent as Eilis as we observe the way the world conspires to alter her path through life, and, in the end, and just as in real life, we are uncertain if the path she has chosen is the one that leads to the greater happiness. Tóibín's writing is lyrical, his characters move as if through a dream. This is a desceptively simple and beautiful coming-of-age tale, evocative of some of the early 20th century writers Tóibín surely admires.
Also by Tóibín: [The Heather Blazing] [The Master]