A review of Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
The critics have raved about this ‘coming of age’ novel: “Quietly magnificent”, “A narrative of remarkable power”. It is an accomplished piece of work. I hesitate to be fuller in my praise, because I never fully entered into the emotional world of the lead character Eilis.
It is the 1950s, and Eilis Lacey is given the opportunity to escape the limited world of her small Irish town, to take up a new life in America. The move is engineered by her older sister, Rose, and Eilis seems strangely compliant in every situation she faces, even though she has deep misgivings.
In New York, Father Flood sets up accommodation for Eilis, and organises a job, all of which she accepts. In her store job she does everything her supervisor Miss Fortini asks her to do, and she is also bossed around by her landlady Mrs Kehoe.
She meets Tony, who falls in love with her, and she goes along with his plans for marriage, and dreams of a house, and kids.
Then tragedy strikes, and Eilis returns to Ireland, only to again find herself manoeuvred into situations in which she feels uncomfortable.
It’s this compliance - this lack of articulation of her needs and concerns - that I find so frustrating; however, she is clearly a product of her time. Women in the 1950s tended to be more submissive in character. What is unusual then, is the character of her sister Rose, who is fiercely independent, unmarried, holding down a challenging job, and is an excellent golfer.
Too late Eilis realises that in creating an opportunity for her to go America, Rose has accepted the (typically) youngest daughter’s role of caring for their ailing widowed mother.
For a Catholic, Eilis’ faith is essentially a cultural element rather than a personal relationship with God. God is not consulted in her decision-making, and church is more of a habit and a social club.
In spite of this, there is something tender and attractive about this novel. It is beautifully written. As in the case where Mrs Kehoe arranges for her to have the best room in the house, an unexpected gift which Eilis does not appreciate fully:
She [Eilis] felt the older woman’s irritation directed against her as though she had betrayed her in some incalculable way, until she realised that in giving her this room, the act of generosity, had released something in Mrs Kehoe, some deep resentment against the world, that Mrs Kehoe was now putting carefully back in its place.
Most of the characters in this novel are terribly contained, especially Eilis, unable to fully express their inner voice.
The book comes to a climax with Eilas having to make a choice between “duty and personal freedom” as the jacket cover suggests. However, it is really a choice between two forms of duty; and every freedom has its shadowside of servitude. So, it is a choice between two duties, and two freedoms which might also be binding.
When Eilis faces her most difficult choice it is clear that a series of little steps had created the threat:
• not confiding in anyone
• not telling the whole truth
• acting as if she was the girl they knew, rather than who she had become
• hoping no-one would find out
• being ready to run away
• changing even her memories to absolve herself
• wanting to please everyone.
However all those ruses fail, and finally she has to admit that there are consequences for her decision; that others are going to be badly hurt.
Ultimately this is a beautifully constructed and moving story about everyday people and events, from a fine writer who helps us to reflect on our own choices.
