Brooklyn

Brooklyn (2009) by Colm Toibin. Eilis Lacey is a young Irish lassie who is sent to America to find work in the middle of the 20th century, after World War II. She lands in Brooklyn, where an Irish priest helps her find lodgings and work. She soon finds that she is dealing with a crushing homesickness, but somehow this if overcome and she continues working at Bartocci's, the Brooklyn department store where she is working from the bottom up. After a while, she finds her footing in the New World, and it is a shock to her when events back in Ireland force her to return home for a visit. The question then becomes, will she get trapped in the flypaper of the old life in Ireland, or will she find the gumption to make the return trip and resume her life in America? This is a very engaging, readable novel that captures the imagination and makes the reader keep turning pages and longing for more. I enjoyed it. Grade: B+