Brooklyn/Colm Toibin/262 pgs.

This novel takes place in 20th century Ireland and Brooklyn, New York--post World War II.  Eilis Lacey lives in Ireland with her older sister, Rose, and her widowed mother. With the help of an Irish priest living in Brooklyn, Rose makes it possible for Eilis to immigrate to Brooklyn with the hope of making a better life for herself. She is young, homesick, but starts to adapt to her new environment. She falls in love with Tony, an Italian plumber, who wants to move their romance along a little faster than Eilis wants to do. A family tragedy forces Eilis to return home to Ireland, promising Tony that she will return to Brooklyn in a few weeks. Once she's home, Eilis reconnects with her old friends, becomes attracted to a young man from the past, and must decide whether to stay in Ireland, or return to her new life in America. I'm not a big fan of this book. I didn't care very much for Eilis, and I felt that there were a lot of unanswered questions at the end of the book. It's this month's book club book, so I'm looking forward to what the rest of the group thinks.