Scan barcode
A review by anusha_reads
Long Island by Colm Tóibín
fast-paced
4.0
LONG ISLAND, COLM TOIBIN, EILIS LACEY SERIES BOOK 2, OPRAH BOOK CLUB SELECTION
Fast forward twenty years, and Eilis lives in Long Island with her husband, Tony, and her two children. One day, an angry man comes knocking at their door, threatening to leave the baby his wife is about to deliver at their doorstep. He tells Elis that the baby is Tony’s. Unlike any woman who would go ballistic on learning about her husband’s infidelity, Eilis is unperturbed and keeps her cool but tells Tony that she cannot have the baby around her. She decides to go to her mother’s home in Enniscorthy, Ireland, for her mom’s eightieth birthday.
This book is divided into seven parts, and only the first part talks about Long Island. All the other parts are based in Ireland. What transpires in Enniscorthy is the major chunk.
This movie-like, riveting storyline made me yearn for more. The only disappointment was the cliffhanger ending. One always looks forward to a closure, which is amiss.
If a husband cheats, then the wife cheats, will it even out their relationship?
Infidelity is infidelity! That’s it.
What makes a relationship tick?
Can a lady ignore a husband’s cheating and accept his baby from another woman? This reminded me of the Hindi movie Masoom, where Shabana Azmi fights with Naseeruddin Shah over his illegitimate child but finally accepts the child. This still happens, but would a husband ever accept the baby of some other guy if his wife had it?
Eilis leaves Jim Farell in Book 1, Brooklyn. Jim hasn’t married anybody in all these twenty years and is still eager to meet her when Eilis returns to Ireland. I found this very difficult to accept.
A lot of confusion and too many cross-connections are left to the reader's discretion.
Will there be a sequel to this book? I would love to see all the loose ends tied up.
Fast forward twenty years, and Eilis lives in Long Island with her husband, Tony, and her two children. One day, an angry man comes knocking at their door, threatening to leave the baby his wife is about to deliver at their doorstep. He tells Elis that the baby is Tony’s. Unlike any woman who would go ballistic on learning about her husband’s infidelity, Eilis is unperturbed and keeps her cool but tells Tony that she cannot have the baby around her. She decides to go to her mother’s home in Enniscorthy, Ireland, for her mom’s eightieth birthday.
This book is divided into seven parts, and only the first part talks about Long Island. All the other parts are based in Ireland. What transpires in Enniscorthy is the major chunk.
This movie-like, riveting storyline made me yearn for more. The only disappointment was the cliffhanger ending. One always looks forward to a closure, which is amiss.
If a husband cheats, then the wife cheats, will it even out their relationship?
Infidelity is infidelity! That’s it.
What makes a relationship tick?
Can a lady ignore a husband’s cheating and accept his baby from another woman? This reminded me of the Hindi movie Masoom, where Shabana Azmi fights with Naseeruddin Shah over his illegitimate child but finally accepts the child. This still happens, but would a husband ever accept the baby of some other guy if his wife had it?
Eilis leaves Jim Farell in Book 1, Brooklyn. Jim hasn’t married anybody in all these twenty years and is still eager to meet her when Eilis returns to Ireland. I found this very difficult to accept.
A lot of confusion and too many cross-connections are left to the reader's discretion.
Will there be a sequel to this book? I would love to see all the loose ends tied up.