book / 2009
Brooklyn
Eilis Lacey builds a life in Brooklyn, then returns to Ireland with a secret marriage that complicates the future opening there.
Verified facts
- Author
- Colm Toibin
- Published
- 2009
- Language
- English
PlotGeeks explainer signals
Why read this explainer
Eilis's return to Ireland offers possibilities that were unavailable before she emigrated. Choosing Brooklyn now means leaving a viable life behind.
PlotGeeks note
Homesickness changes once Eilis has built attachments abroad. Ireland's new appeal makes the final departure a choice between lives she can imagine inhabiting.
Connected knowledge
Connected in PlotGeeks
Related explainers and browse pages for Brooklyn.
- Compare with Brooklyn (2015 film)
Compare what changes between the 2009 book and the 2015 film.
Timeline
Major events
- Eilis leaves for Brooklyn
Rose and Father Flood arrange work and accommodation she cannot find at home.
- She secretly marries Tony
Their relationship becomes a commitment before Eilis returns to Ireland after Rose's death.
- Ireland offers another future
Work and Jim Farrell's interest tempt her to delay returning without disclosing Tony.
- Miss Kelly exposes the secret
Eilis tells her mother about the marriage, leaves Jim a note, and departs.
Story in 60 Seconds
The short version
With help from her sister Rose and Father Flood, Eilis Lacey leaves Enniscorthy for a department-store job in Brooklyn. Homesickness gradually gives way to bookkeeping classes and a relationship with Tony, an Italian American plumber. After Rose dies, Eilis prepares to visit her mother and secretly marries Tony before leaving. Back in Ireland, her new confidence brings work and the attention of Jim Farrell, who once ignored her. She postpones returning to America while allowing her mother and Jim to imagine that she might stay.
Spoiler sectionEnding ExplainedShow ending detailsHide ending details
Miss Kelly reveals that she is in contact with Eilis's Brooklyn landlady and implies that she knows about the marriage. Eilis immediately books her return and tells her mother she has a husband in America. Before leaving, she drops a note at Jim's door. The novel ends with her departure from Enniscorthy, without showing the reunion with Tony.
Original context
Why it matters
Emigration changes her prospects at home
The confidence and bookkeeping skills Eilis acquires abroad make Enniscorthy offer opportunities it once withheld. Her return therefore complicates the reasons she originally had to leave.
Key turning points
Miss Kelly knows about Brooklyn
Her implied knowledge ends Eilis's ability to keep the two lives separate. Booking the return follows that confrontation, making social pressure part of the departure.
Character links
Who connects to whom
Character motivations
Postponing a painful disclosure
Eilis wants to comfort her mother after Rose's death and enjoys the welcome she receives. Concealing Tony lets those immediate satisfactions postpone a decision already constrained by marriage.
Adaptation