Review of LONG ISLAND by Colm Tóibín (New Release)

 4.5 Stars

This sequel to Tóibín’s 2009 novel Brooklyn is set twenty years later, in the 1970s. 

Eilis Fiorello (nee Lacey) is now in her forties.  She and her husband Tony and their children Rosella and Larry live on Long Island next to two of Tony’s brothers and his parents.  Though sometimes feeling stifled by all her in-laws, she seems content until she learns something that shatters her life and threatens her marriage.  Confused and unsettled, she decides to go to Ireland to visit her mother as her 80^th birthday approaches.  Once in her small hometown she inevitably encounters Jim Farrell, the man with whom she’d had a romantic relationship two decades earlier even though she was already secretly married to Tony at the time.  Jim, a successful pub owner, has never married but has been meeting secretly with the widowed Nancy Sheridan, Eilis’s best friend at one time; the two plan to announce their engagement at the end of the summer.   The lives of Eilis, Jim, and Nancy become entwined and complications arise.

This book will certainly appeal to lovers of Tóibín’s novels.  I enjoyed meeting once again the characters of Brooklyn, and even Nora Webster makes a cameo appearance.  Eilis’s mother is just as I remember her – feisty and cantankerous and unpredictable, a woman who reminds me of my own mother.

When I read Brooklyn, Eilis reminded me of the protagonist in the short story “Eveline” in James Joyce’s The Dubliners:  a passive young woman living in a stifling environment who chooses duty above her personal desires.  Her reaction to receiving stunning information about Tony suggests she is now more assertive, but her response is still rather muted.  Her indecisiveness is certainly a factor in how events unfold both in the U.S. and Ireland.  For me, in many ways, she remains an enigmatic character, but then I don’t think she fully understands herself either.  She insists that she is innocent, didn’t cause and does not want to be blamed in any way for the situation at home, but her behaviour shows that she is either blind to her failings or being disingenuous.

I found my feelings about characters changed.  Jim, for instance, I liked at first and found him a sympathetic character.  He treats Nancy well and respects her wishes about the engagement announcement.  But as the novel progresses, I found him fickle and weak.  He describes himself like some of his customers “fully aware that they should go home or that they should not even consider having another drink.  He watched them doing what made no sense, unwilling to listen to argument or reason. . . . Jim realized that he himself was like one of his worst customers, someone who knew what he should not do but was driven to do it regardless, no matter how much trouble it would cause.”  By omission, he lies to both Eilis and Nancy and even plans to continue to be less than totally honest:  “there was no reason why Eilis should ever know that he had had any relationship at all with Nancy.  Even in the future, he thought, it was something he would never share with her.” 

Of course that is the great strength of this novel; its characters are nuanced and authentic, reflecting the complexities of human nature.  Everyone has disappointments and regrets, and hopes and dreams.  Everyone has been betrayed and has betrayed others so all suffer consequences.  All are torn between commitments/responsibilities and longings/desires. 

As in Brooklyn, the inability or unwillingness to express one’s feelings is a major theme.  For instance, when leaving for Ireland, Eilis knows what she wants to say to Tony but she avoids using the word divorce because “it would change things between them.”  Characters often wonder what someone else is thinking because so much is left unsaid.  There’s an interesting exchange between two characters:  the question “’Can I ask if you love me?’” is answered with “’That’s why I am here.’”  Then the response to the follow-up question of “’Can you say it?” is “’Yes, I can.’”  But “I love you” is never spoken. 

The book has as much tension as any thriller.  As things become complicated, readers wonder what will happen but also find themselves asking what they would do and what they want to happen.  Past events have shown that there are no real secrets in a small town, so it is inevitable that eventually the truth will be revealed to all.  It becomes clear that a happy ending is impossible.  Too many dreams are torn apart for there to be a happy ever after. 

In fact the ending will leave some readers dissatisfied.  Readers will certainly be able to fill in what happens but there is definitely a degree of uncertainty.  A third book would not be a surprise, especially since Brooklyn and Long Island are being referred to as the Eilis Lacey series. 

Written in Tóibín’s typical quiet, restrained prose, this novel, like his others, depicts complex emotions and complicated interactions.  I highly recommend it and will not be surprised to see it on literary awards lists. 

Note:  I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.