Brooklyn by Colm Toibin

I seem to be on a trend of interestingly ambiguous endings lately. I actually don't like it when authors feel like they have to tie up every story line with a neat little bow. But....I guess I do prefer nice solid endings. I want to protagonist to KNOW that he/she is making the right decision, not just doing the "right thing" or the "thing that's expected of them". That's too much like real life. I want them to experience life and learn a lesson or two along the way, but in the end, I want them to know what they want - and have the strength to follow it through. 

I actually don't know what Eilis really wants - or who she wants - or where she wants to live at the end of this novel. Maybe she is just a woman who will make the best of whatever life is thrown in her path. She doesn't want to leave Ireland for America, but she does it because her mom and sister tell her she needs to move to Brooklyn, work in a shop and go to school. She doesn't want to switch rooms at Mrs. Kehoe's, but Mrs. Kehoe tells her when and how to switch rooms, so she does. She doesn't want to sell nylons to black Americans at the store (at least exclusively), but she is told that is what she must do, so she does. She seems to genuinely like spending time with Tony, and certainly went to a place with him I didn't think she would go (wink, wink), but she gets so distracted by Jim when she goes back to Ireland.  It seems to me that she would have stayed in Ireland and made a life with Jim; stayed in America and made a life with Tony; worked at any job thrown her way; lived wherever anyone wanted her to live. I would have liked to hear her voice at the end. What DOES she want?? It reminds me of the movie The Runaway Bride. Julia Robert's character takes on the likes and interests of every man she is with (and engaged to) - but can't quite commit to them and always leaves them at the alter. At the end, she takes the time to figure out her own likes and interests - and then once she knows who SHE is, she decides who she wants to spend the rest of her life with. That's what I wanted for Eilis!

I liked Eilis, but I didn't overly connect with her - probably because of her ambiguous feelings about everything and her inability to speak up to anyone; her inability to voice her own thoughts, feelings, opinions. I really liked Tony. I am not unhappy that Eilis goes back to Brooklyn in the end, to honor her commitment to Tony, but I sure wish I knew that she wanted it. She did "sew a couple of oats", which I thought was risque for the time and for her upbringing, so maybe she will be happy. I hope for Tony's sake that she is.

Wendy's Rating: ****