EILIS Lacey’s only employment in post-war Enniscorthy is working behind the counter at Miss Kelly’s grocery store on Sundays, a job she can’t afford to turn down.

“It would be better than nothing, and at the moment she had nothing.”

Only Eilis and her sister Rose remain at home with their widowed mother – the brothers have left for England and now Rose, with the help of Father Flood, home from America for a holiday, has found work and lodgings across the Atlantic for Eilis.

In spite of her desperate homesickness, Eilis begins to make a life for herself in Brooklyn, working in a shop by day and going to college in the evenings, and meeting the irrepressible Tony at the dance at the parish hall.

Then tragic news arrives from home and Eilis must go back to Ireland. Before long she finds that Brooklyn and her life in America are fading to little more than a dream, but a further twist of fate will force her to make the most difficult decision of her life.

In Brooklyn, Colm Tóibín skilfully and delicately draws an unforgettable and understated picture of one young woman’s life in a time of few choices, proving through his unshowy style how true it is that less is more, making Eilis’s choice all the more heartbreaking when it comes.

■ About the author Colm Tóibín was born in Ireland in 1955.

He is the author of five other novels, including The Blackwater Lightship and The Master, both of which were shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and a collection of stories, Mothers and Sons.

Brooklyn was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2009 and was awarded the Costa Novel Award 2009.

■ Win a Waterstone’s gift card Let us know what you think about Brooklyn and you could win a £10 Waterstone’s gift card. Email your review to leisure@herefordtimes.com or post it to HT Book Group, Hereford Times, Holmer Road, Hereford HR4 9UJ, with your name, address and contact details. Usual competition rules apply. Deadline is midnight on Monday, May 3.

■ How to order Brooklyn (publisher’s price £7.99) offer price, £7.19, post and packing free.

Call 08430 6000399 or send a cheque or postal order made payable to Hereford Times Bookshop to: Hereford Times Bookshop, PO Box 60, Helston TR13 0TP. Allow 7-10 working days for delivery.

Titles subject to availability.

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