In "
Long Island", the story of Eilis, the main character from Tóibín's earlier novel "
Brooklyn", picks up again some twenty years later. She lives in the same neighbourhood as the Italian family of her husband Tony, with two grown-up children. When she finds out that her husband has made a child with another woman, and that the husband of that woman wants to dump the baby on her, Ellis needs time to think and get her life back together. She takes a long trip back to Ireland, to visit her mother in the company of her children. Also in Ireland, things are more complicated and stressful than anticipated.
Tóibín is an excellent writer, which he demonstrates here again. The story has a good pace, the characters are well-rounded and nuanced, the plot twist and situations interesting. It's entertaining and easy to read, but it lacks the power and emotional devastation of some of his other novels. It is moving, but not gripping like som of his other work.
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