Long Island (Eilis Lacey #2) by Colm Toibin
Eilis Lacey is Irish, married to Tony Fiorello, a plumber and one of four Italian American brothers, all of whom live in neighboring houses on a cul-de-sac in Lindenhurst, Long Island, with their wives and children and Tony’s parents, a huge extended family that lives and works, eats and plays together. It is the spring of 1976 and Eilis, now in her forties with two teenage children, has no one to rely on in this still-new country. Though her ties to Ireland remain stronger than those that hold her to her new land and home, she has not returned in decades.
One day, when Tony is at his job and Eilis is in her home office doing her accounting, an Irishman comes to the door asking for her by name. He tells her that his wife is pregnant with Tony’s child and that when the baby is born, he will not raise it but instead deposit it on Eilis’s doorstep. It is what Eilis does—and what she refuses to do—in response to this stunning news that makes Tóibín’s novel so riveting.
Long Island is about longings unfulfilled, even unrecognized. The silences in Eilis’ life are thunderous and dangerous, and there’s no one more deft than Tóibín at giving them language. This is a gorgeous story of a woman alone in a marriage and the deepest bonds she rekindles on her return to the place and people she left behind, to ways of living and loving she thought she’d lost.
Review: Twenty years have passed since Eilis Lacey arrived in America from Ireland. She is married to the Italian Tony and they live on a cul-de-sac in Long Island surrounded by Tony's parents, brothers, and their wives. There is a sense that Eilis has never quite meshed seamlessly into Tony's Italian family, but they have a good life. It is 1976 and Tony and Eilis have two teenage children. She has not returned to Ireland in decades. One day, when Eilis is home alone, an Irishman comes to her door and tells her that his wife is pregnant with Tony's child and when it is born, he intends to leave the baby at Eilis's door. The aftermath of this revelation is the focus of this book.
This was a stunningly beautiful novel. Toibin is exceedingly adept at presenting his characters as they are and staying out of the way, letting their thoughts and actions propel the story forward. He does not waste time explaining the character's motivations or feelings but expects the readers to infer on their own. Much of the story rests on what isn't said. Behind the tight, controlled actions of Eilis in the days after the revelation lies a depth of feeling; her restraint in action and words cover an immense gulf in her emotions. Eilis is spare with her words. Perhaps many things in this novel could be resolved if the characters spoke more. But I think the point is that sometimes there are things too painful or too repressed to share. And in a greater sense, sometimes there is a great feeling that things once said cannot be unsaid.
There were so many piercing moments in this book that just really took my breath away with the pain they reveal. In the days after Eilis learns of her husband's betrayal, she goes to a beach they used to visit as a family and she tries to place exactly where they stood on previous visits: "She stayed still, looking out at the waves, dreaming of Tony standing with the children, imagining that they were waiting for her to come back from her swim" (42). The words are so simple and presented so subtly but they are steeped in a deep haunting loss for a previous happiness, a simpler time, a past before this awful truth has happened.
There are many things I'd like to say about this book, but I want to avoid spoilers. I will say that I was surprised in how many ways this feels like a mirror image of Brooklyn, a reprisal of a story already told, but with a darker core. Perhaps in this Toibin is saying that things left unresolved must always be revisited, will always come back around. Other readers are surprised by the seemingly abrupt ending. I would have liked a more explicit ending myself. But I also feel strongly that Toibin laid the cards out for the reader to infer exactly what path Eilis was boxed into following in the moments after the last page of this book; it seems glitteringly clear to me. It lies in what she doesn't say but in what she does, and also in what other characters do say to her.
This was the hundredth book I have read in 2024. One of my top couple books of the year by far. Toibin is such a masterful storyteller. Every time I read one of his novels, I wonder why I haven't read more. I loved this unexpected follow up to his earlier novel. I also loved the interconnected universe of Eilis's hometown and seeing characters from other novels, like Nora Webster.
Stars: 5
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