Brooklyn

Colm Toibin doesn't know it yet, but he is currently being considered for inclusion on my favorite authors list. Anything Irish has an automatic advantage with me-Irish writer, Irish character, set in Ireland-I'm hooked. I think I was Irish in a previous life. It was the young-Irish-woman-comes-to-America story that attracted me to Colm Toibin's novel Brooklyn, and now I'm wondering why I've never heard of him before. Such a good story! Wonderful writing, with that wistful tone that I've come to expect from Irish stories. An ending that isn't tied up with a pretty ribbon, yet still satisfying. In a way, it reminded me a little of Adriana Trigiani's Queen of the Big Time, which I absolutely loved. However, I'm not counting him amongst my favorites just yet because I've only read the one book, and I'm afraid that my bias for all things Irish may have clouded my judgment. Also, the audiobook narrator was fantastic, so that may also have heightened my enjoyment. So I have checked out his novel, The Master, to see whether this was just a fling, or the real thing.