As anyone who reads the blog knows, my addiction to anything New York is bordering on shameful, especially because I’m so enamored to any novel that shows even a hint of a ‘New Yorkian’ theme (Catcher in the Rye, The New York Trilogy, Call it Sleep and The Bell Jar all spring to mind). I know this obsession may mark me as being somewhat of a shallow and impulsive reader, but sometimes my New York obsession works in my favour, especially when my reticular activating system (that’s the bit of the brain that apparently makes you alert to things), points me towards discovering some quite remarkable literary works. I think it may have happened again (courtesy of Mary Mount writing over at the Penguin Blog), but this time it’s a novel that isn’t even out yet, and won’t be until the start of May 2009.
The novel in question is called Brooklyn (no mystery why I was drawn to it in the first place eh? 
)) and it’s written by Irish writer Colm Tóibín. The synopsis sound great but rather than paraphrasing badly, I’ll just reprint the official blurb from Penguin:
In a small town in the south-east of Ireland in the 1950s, Eilis Lacey is one among many of her generation who cannot find work at home. So when a job is offered in America, it is clear that she must go. Leaving her family and home, Eilis sets off to forge a new life for herself in Brooklyn. Young, homesick and alone, she gradually buries the pain of parting beneath the rhythms of a new life – days at the till in a large department store, night classes in Brooklyn College and Friday evenings on the dance floor of the parish hall – until she realizes that she has found a sort of happiness. But when tragic news summons her back to Ireland, and the constrictions of her old life unexpectedly give way to new possibilities, she finds herself facing a terrible choice: between love and happiness in the land where she belongs and the promises she must keep on the far side of the ocean.
So what do you think? Sounds a bit special doesn’t it? It’s a shame we’ve got to wait until the end of Spring to find out if it is any good, but I’ve got that special gut feeling that’s telling me it might well be. Definitely a title to keep an eye out for in the new year, and if you didn’t know already Penguin UK help you do that quite easily. Pop along to Penguin’s product page for Brooklyn, scroll down to the ‘Related email updates’ box, leave your email address and Penguin will ‘magically’ remind you when the book is released – nice! )
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