"Eilis Lacey is Irish, married to Tony Fiorello, 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 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 the town in Ireland where she grew up remain strong, she has not returned in decades. One day, out of the blue, a man comes to the door asking for Eilis by name. He tells her that his wife is pregnant with Tony's child, and that when the baby is born, he will deposit it on Eilis's doorstep. It is what Eilis does in response to this stunning news--and what she refuses to do--that makes Tóibín's novel so riveting. Long Island is about longings unfulfilled, even unrecognized ... This is a gorgeous story of a woman alone in a marriage and the deepest of bonds she rekindles on her return to Enniscorthy, Ireland, to the place and people she left behind, and to ways of living and loving she thought she'd lost"-- Provided by publisher.
|
