Colm Tóibín’s latest offering, his 11th novel, begins with a disgruntled Irishman on the doorstep of a house in a US suburb. As a follow-up to the popular novel Brooklyn (2009), which was later turned into an Academy Award-winning film in 2016, Long Island continues to dig into secrets, detail the struggles of immigration, and discuss the balancing act between duty and desire.
In Brooklyn, we follow the journey of Eilis Lacey from her economically depressed hometown of Enniscorthy in the 1950s to her new life in the United States. When she is unexpectedly called back home for her sister Rose’s funeral, Eilis quickly weds her boyfriend, Tony Fiorello, a plumber of Italian-American descent. Once back home, Eilis becomes romantically involved with the introspective Jim Farrell, all the while keeping her marriage a secret. This secret is ultimately revealed, prompting Eilis to return to her life in Brooklyn.
Unlike a direct sequel, Long Island fast forwards over two decades to the mid-1970s. By this time, Eilis has established her life in Lindenhurst, an Italian-American neighbourhood on Long Island. Her home is located on a tranquil dead-end street, with her in-laws, including two of Tony’s brothers and their families, close at hand. Eilis initially works for the family business but later transitions to handling the accounts for a local mechanic. Despite maintaining a healthy relationship with her teenage children, Larry and Rosella, Eilis laments her lack of intimate friendships.
The tranquillity is shattered when an unexpected visitor reveals that his wife is pregnant with Tony’s child. The wronged client threatens to abandon the newborn on their doorstep. In a stand against the Fiorellos, who are implicitly planning to raise the child, Eilis asserts she wants no involvement. She even warns her mother-in-law that she will involve the authorities if necessary. To clear her head and consider her options, she plans a trip to Wexford to coincide with her mother’s 80th birthday.
After many years away from Ireland following the events detailed in Brooklyn, Eilis returns to her homeland to reestablish her relationship with Jim, who now manages the family-owned pub. Jim, a bachelor, is discreetly betrothed to Nancy Sheridan, the widow and past schoolmate of Eilis. Interestingly, Jim refrains from revealing his ties with Nancy to Eilis, echoing Eilis’s own secrecy about her marriage back in their younger days.
The recurring theme in Tóibín’s body of work is secrets. These aren’t just the ones hidden from others, but also the self-awareness that the characters themselves lack. Growing up in a small town where sexual orientation was taboo, Tóibín found interest in such themes. As seen in The Master (2004) and The Magician (2021), internal struggle brings liveliness to the fictional lives of Henry James and Thomas Mann. Tóibín’s understated narrative style deftly highlights the discrepancies between thought and articulation, where true understanding lurks. As Tóibín puts it in Brooklyn, the characters can do everything but express their thoughts verbally.
Surprising as it may be, Eilis, who was previously characterised by her complacency, shows assertiveness with regard to the baby. This trait renders Brooklyn a realistic depiction of forced Irish emigration rather than an adventure centred on a daring female protagonist. Now that she finds herself at a crossroads with Jim during the women’s rights movement in her middle-age, will she prioritise her desires and gamble on her chance at happiness?
Though Tóibín’s narrative focuses less on retelling a historical period and more on exploring personal experiences, Long Island subtly refers to Vietnam, Nixon, and the Troubles. Politics and social critique on both sides of the Atlantic are notably sparse. Although Long Island may not overtly mention feminism, it illustrates a power shift as Jim becomes the one withdrawn in the love triangle. Furthermore, Eilis’s mother, contrary to her portrayal in Brooklyn, is seen opposing her daughter’s unwelcome home makeovers.
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Enjoying his journey through life along the Brooklyn streets, Colm Tóibín’s Long Island is a product of meticulous point-of-view alternating narratives, focusing on characters Eilis, Nancy and Jim. Loyal readers of Brooklyn will relish the opportunity of reacquainting with its beloved characters, as well as intermittent appearances from characters drawn from earlier works set in Tóibín’s birthplace, Enniscorthy. However, the author’s noted skill for creating intricate character portrayals discloses some room to bring in elements of backstory exposition and dramatic plot developments, building up to an open-ended conclusion.
There’s ambiguity over whether Tóibín has plans on writing another sequel to address the unanswered queries in Long Island, possibly venturing into Harlem or The Bronx? When questioned, he jovially responded, “Don’t count on it”. Even though Oprah was uncertain about her satisfaction with the book’s ending, she nonetheless chose the novel for her reading circle. This will unquestionably have Tóibín thrilled at the prospect of increasing book sales. However, being mindful of the compromises incurred when writing enticing page-turners, he has reservations. In an earlier conversation with The Paris Review, he expressed his fear that should he attempt to construct plot-driven novels designed for cinematic adaptations, there could be a loss of something fundamentally significant. This fear was voiced during a review of his traditionally subdued Nora Webster in 2014.