Colm Toibin's Brooklyn is a devastating story of love, loss and one woman's terrible choice between duty and personal freedom. The book that inspired the major motion picture starring Saoirse Ronan.

It is Ireland in the early 1950s and for Eilis Lacey, as for so many young Irish girls, opportunities are scarce. So when her sister arranges for her to emigrate to New York, Eilis knows she must go, leaving behind her family and her home for the first time.

Arriving in a crowded lodging house in Brooklyn, Eilis can only be reminded of what she has sacrificed. She is far from home - and homesick. And just as she takes tentative steps towards friendship, and perhaps something more, Eilis receives news which sends her back to Ireland. There she will be confronted by a terrible dilemma - a devastating choice between duty and one great love.

***

'With this elating and humane novel, Colm Toibin has produced a masterwork' Sunday Times

'Unforgettable' Spectator

'The most compelling and moving portrait of a young woman I have read in a long time' Zoe Heller Guardian, Books of the Year

'Magnificent' Sunday Telegraph

'A work of such skill, understatement and sly jewelled merriment could haunt your life' Ali Smith TLS, Books of the Year

When you are finished why not read the companion novel Nora Webster.

About the Author
Colm Toibin was born in Enniscorthy in 1955. He is the author of nine novels including The Master, Brooklyn, The Testament of Mary and Nora Webster and, most recently, House of Names. His work has been shortlisted for the Booker three times, won the Costa Novel Award and the Impac Award. He has also published two collections of stories and many works of non-fiction. He lives in Dublin.

Reviews
With this elating and humane novel, Colm Toibin has produced a masterwork * Sunday Times *
The most compelling and moving portrait of a young woman I have read in a long time -- Zoe Heller * Guardian, Books of the Year *
A work of such skill, understatement and sly jewelled merriment could haunt your life -- Ali Smith * TLS, Books of the Year *
Suffused with humane depth, funny, affecting, deftly plotted ... a novel of magnificent accomplishment -- Peter Kemp * Sunday Times, Novel of the Year *



Book Information
ISBN 9780241972700
Author Colm Toibin
Format Paperback
Page Count 272
Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 200g
Dimensions(mm) 196mm * 128mm * 26mm