Wasn't entirely sure if this story needed to be continued, but I was excited when it was announced nonetheless.

Eilis, now two decades into her marriage with Tony and comfortably settled in a familial community with their two children, faces heartbreaking revelations about a child Tony has fathered. Struggling with confusion and unrest, she makes the decision to revisit her family in Ireland, marking her first return in two decades. At times, this felt rushed and maybe incomplete if you will which makes me wonder what was the end goal.

After following Eilis' journey, I have to say it was nice revisiting this story as I enjoyed "Brooklyn" immensely. If they ever decided to make another film to follow, I hope they follow the same casting.

Colm Toibin delivers emotionally complex stories about as well as anyone, and Long an island is no exception. This story starts out with a compelling dilemma: what does a woman do when forced to deal with the pending birth of a child her husband has fathered with another woman? The answer expands to affect lives both in Long Island and in Ireland. There are no easy answers, and to Toibin’s credit, he does not pretend there are. That this brings out the worst in all the adults involved, each purporting to love someone and yet acting in their own self-interest without much considering the effect of their actions on that person, is a tragedy at the core of this novel that has left me continuing to think about it long after the final page.

It was so nice to step back into Eilis’s life. This story takes place around 20 years after Eilis married Tony. We meet her children. Plus we are reintroduced to a lot of the same characters from the first book, finding what their lives are like. I especially loved Eilis’s trip to Ireland and the ending was brilliant. Wondering if we’ll meet up with Eilis again.

There was so much to like in this book. The descriptions of Enniscorthy were thoughtful. It clearly depicted the pull of home for the immigrant--how home will always be home even if you can't go home again. It was a book of regrets and of longing for what could never be. As always, I loved being part of Eilis's world. I especially loved seeing the development of her relationship with her mother. Colm Toibin is one of my favorite authors.

I was delighted to be back in this world, and I'm glad Toibin wrote a sequel to Brooklyn. At times slow moving, this novel is nonetheless a delight, and I love the prose. Readers looking for a fast-paced plot should look elsewhere, but LONG ISLAND is elegant and well-crafted with careful attention to the development of the realistic characters. I highly recommend it for fans of literary fiction.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advance e-galley; all opinions in this review are 100% my own.

I loved being back with Eilis. She is such an amazing character. I hate what Tony has done and I think Eilis has every right to react the way she does.
I liked that we get another glimpse of Eilis in Ireland and her family. And that she gets to bring her kids there.
I think anyone who liked Brooklyn will enjoy this one as well.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

3.5 rounded up!
I really wanted to love this and I can’t quite figure why I didn’t. It felt v plot-forward, like once the plot was figured he went back and added character details. Felt a little rushed! I could have stayed with Tony and Francesca and those dynamics longer. And the ending! Ugh! The book just ends. In the middle of the story. Clearly there is more and clearly there was a decision to turn it into 2 books - but isn’t this part short? Why couldn’t it be a full novel instead of a Pqrt 1.

A well written and engaging follow up to Brooklyn, though slow moving and internal to the character's thoughts. I enjoyed the book but had expected it to take place on Long Island, and only the first part of the book does so. Maybe another sequel?

I am undecided after reading this whether Brooklyn really needed a sequel. It does highlight how once you leave your home you can never go back nor do you ever belong totally to the new land. Then again maybe this is all about unrequited love and the result of indecisions