Brooklyn by Colm Toíbín
Rating: ★★★★
This was a beautiful book. I loved the story, and the main character, Eilis, but the writing was pretty bland (hence the lack of "favorite quotes" in this review). My biggest complaint about the writing is that the entire book was written in 3rd person but it felt like it should have been written in 1st person. The story follows Eilis and only Eislis. It follows her own experience, and her own thoughts, and her own emotional journey. That kind of story calls for 1st person narration.
Brooklyn started out pretty slow, definitely a slow burn, but it picked up when she left Ireland. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about her life in Brooklyn. It was the kind of book that was calming to read. The calm reading experience disappeared when she returned to Ireland. From that point until the end I was extremely stressed for her moral wellbeing.
Speaking of the end, I loved it, because, if it had continued any further I would have lost interest, even though there were some things left unresolved. That sounds like a negative thing, but it's really not. I think the author chose the perfect moment to wrap it up.
