Jun 14th, 2011 by Annie
Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
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In Brooklyn by Colm Toibin, Eilis Lacey lives with her mother and fashionable older sister, Rose, in a small rural Irish community in the 1950′s. Rose, with the help of an Irish priest visiting from America, arranges for Eilis to leave Ireland for Brooklyn. Although terribly homesick, Eilis’ transition into American life is made fairly easy as she settles into a boarding home for young women, begins work at a department store, and attends night school. However, when unexpected tragedy brings Eilis back to Ireland, she finds herself torn between a new way of life in her native homeland and the life she established in America . |
Book Club Ideas
Decorations
Decorating for an Irish-themed party is super easy … GO GREEN! Balloons, streamers, shamrocks, leprechauns, and pots of “gold” are the usual Irish party decorations. But, for homesick Eilis, I especially like the Irish flag tablecover
Music
Our hostess Lori had Irish tunes playing as we arrived to book club. Songs of the Irish Immigrants
Book Club Menu
Lori started us off with some fabulous appetizers of Smoked Salmon Tartlets, Cheesy Mushroom Puffs, and Irish American Brown Soda Bread and Flavorful Potato Bread served with Irish cheeses and creamy Irish butter.
For the main course, Lori served up a savory Irish Cottage Pie.
And for dessert, an Irish Whiskey Cake that will have you dancing a jig!
After dinner, as we settled in to discuss the novel, we enjoyed a Hot Irish Whiskey Aperitif topped with whipped cream, followed by
an Irish meade (Tiffany and I loved the meade!)
Book Club Resources
Ratings at the time this post was published
| Goodreads: 3.56 stars (1451 ratings) |
Amazon : 3.7 stars (186 ratings) |
| Barnes & Noble: 3.5 stars (109 ratings) |
| My Rating: 3.75 stars I thought the writing of Colm Toibin to be exceptional and I enjoyed Eilis’ story 3/4′s of the way through . However, I found myself rather annoyed with the wimpy Eilis, especially toward the novel’s end. |
Discussion
- What was Rose’s motivation for arranging Eilis’ immigration to America?
- How did you take Eilis’ apparent passivity in this novel? Do you feel she made choices for herself or allowed others to determine her fate?
- What role did Father Flood play in Eilis’ life in America?
- What was your reaction to Eilis’ ignorance of the Holocaust? What do you think was behind that ignorance?
- Why was Eilis not forthcoming about her relationship with Tony while in Ireland?
- How did you feel about the ending of novel? Where you satisfied? What did you think of Eilis’ future?
Purchase Brooklyn at your favorite bookseller
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Author
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Dublin resident Colm Toibin is the author of novels and short stories. His works have won numerous awards including — The Blackwater Lightship, shortlisted for the 1999 Booker Prize; The Master shortlisted for the 2004 Booker Prize and the LA Times Novel of the Year; and; Brooklyn winner of the 2009 Costa Novel of the Year. |
Other Works by Colm Toibin
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The Ireland Reading Challenge
Book #4
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Book Club Party Ideas This post is filed under : 2010-2012, general fiction
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Thank you for feeding our book addiction.
Yum! That Irish butter is addicting!
Comment by Leigh2002 on June 16, 2011 at 1:34 pm
I read this book ..how could I resist when I live in Brooklyn, a girl of Irish descent married to an Italian? Honestly I was a little disappointed in it. To me it was very formulaic. I had really expected more intrigue from it. What did you book club think?
Comment by Pat on June 27, 2011 at 1:11 pm
I would say most liked it quite a bit. But on the negative side: some felt little nuggets were thrown into the story, then never developed; and a couple who had listened on audiobook were caught off guard that the story had ended so abruptly. Personally, I love Colm Toibin’s writing style, but wasn’t real thrilled with a heroine who does everything she’s supposed to do. When the novel ended I said to myself “That’s it?”
Comment by Annie on June 27, 2011 at 1:39 pm
…oh … and we did have a lively discussion over Tony vs. Jim!
Comment by Annie on June 27, 2011 at 1:50 pm