Long Island: a 'magnificent sequel' to Brooklyn
Colm Tóibín follow-up shows his fascinations with 'secrets and the people who hold them in'
![The cover of Long Island, by Colm Toibin](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/XEpaBigZpzVVwjABeNZw3i-415-80.jpg)
Colm Tóibín doesn't approve of sequels. So fans of his novel "Brooklyn" will be happy that after nearly 15 years he has "overcome these misgivings" to write the follow-up, "Long Island", said Lisa Allardice in The Guardian.
"Brooklyn", the "best-known and loved of Tóibín's 10 novels" took the "fairytale of New York" – Eilis, an Irish girl who emigrates to America in the 1950s – and turned it into a "heartbreaking story of homesickness and regret".
In "Long Island", Eilis, now in her 40s, returns to 1970s Ireland and "the possibility of rekindling the romance she left behind all those years ago". Although most of the book is set in Enniscorthy, County Wexford – "where Tóibín grew up and where half his novels are set" – it opens in Long Island. Eilis lives here with her husband, Tony, and their two children, until a "knock at the door changes everything".
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
An angry stranger accuses Tony of sleeping with his wife, who is now pregnant, and he says that once the baby is born, he will leave it on Eilis's doorstep. Tóibín is a "master of silence and shadows", said Allardice: "his subjects are abandonment, loss and denial – the things not said, the feelings not acted on".
Anyone familiar with Tóibín's previous work will know he is "fascinated by secrets and the people who hold them in", said Johanna Thomas-Corr in The Times. In this book, "secrets litter the characters' paths like landmines".
After her husband's affair comes to light, craving "time alone, to think", Eilis returns to Ireland "under the guise of visiting her ailing mother", said the i news site. She finds her home town, which "had grown rose-tinted in her imagination", is full of the life and loves she left behind, and "each conveys to her intimations of the life she might have lived had she stayed".
"Long Island" is a "wistful novel, heavy with longing", which poses the relatable question: "What if…?" What Eilis decides, and how she reaches her decision, is "relayed here with great sensitivity, but also a tension to rival any thriller".
It is "more suspenseful and gripping" than "Brooklyn", said Thomas-Corr. The final 50 pages "build to a nail-biting conclusion" and it also "feels more morally and psychologically meaty".
It is an "unexpected last-act development", said Megan Nolan in The Telegraph. It "upends you" with the "gripping drama of life, action, movement, and on the same page, the magic of witnessing multiple silent consciousnesses circling one another".
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Adrienne Wyper has been a freelance sub-editor and writer for The Week's website and magazine since 2015. As a travel and lifestyle journalist, she has also written and edited for other titles including BBC Countryfile, British Travel Journal, Coast, Country Living, Country Walking, Good Housekeeping, The Independent, The Lady and Woman’s Own.
-
Ukraine's Olympians: going for gold in the line of fire
Under the Radar Hundreds of the country's athletes have died in battle, while those who remain deal with the psychological toll of war and prospect of Russian competitors
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Democrats now have a chance to present a vigorous, compelling case'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
What has Kamala Harris done as vice president?
In Depth It's not uncommon for the second-in-command to struggle to prove themselves in a role largely defined by behind-the-scenes work
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
Simone Biles: Rising – an 'elegantly paced and vulnerable' portrait of the gymnast
The Week Recommends Netflix's four-part documentary is more than a 'riveting comeback story'
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
Paloma recipe: the cocktail of the summer
The Week Recommends This refreshing drink balances the fresh and fizzy taste of grapefruit soda with a subtle flavour of smooth tequila
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published
-
Is Maika Monroe the first feminist scream queen?
The Week Recommends The 'Longlegs' star has blazed a unique trail for herself in horror
By David Faris Published
-
The world's best floating hotels
The Week Recommends Leave dry land behind at these peaceful buoyant retreats
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
The best patisseries in Paris
The Week Recommends Indulge in intricately designed sweet treats from the city's top pastry chefs
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
7 snowy places around the world to escape a hot American summer
The Week Recommends It's a winter wonderland in the Southern Hemisphere
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
Francis Alÿs: Ricochets – a 'heart-stopping' exhibition at London's Barbican
The Week Recommends 'Mesmerising' films of children at play around the world from Kharkiv to Mosul
By The Week UK Published
-
Mishal Husain: BBC journalist shares her six favourite books
The Week Recommends Newsreader and Radio 4 presenter picks works by Louisa May Alcott, Jamil Ahmad and more
By The Week UK Published