Long Island

By Colm Tóibín

A novel of enormous wit and profound emotional resonance from one of the world’s finest writers.

Eilis Lacey is Irish, married to Tony Fiorello, a plumber and one of four Italian American brothers, all of whom live in neighbouring houses on a cul-de-sac in Lindenhurst, Long Island, with their wives and children and Tony’s parents. 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.

One day, an Irishman 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 not raise it but will leave it with her. Eilis has choices to make, and what she does in the wake of this shattering news is at the heart of one of Tóibín’s most riveting and emotional novels to date.


Praise for Long Island

‘A masterful novel full of longing and regret … Intensely moving and yet full of restraint’ Douglas Stuart

‘His best yet … It reads like the tensest of stage plays, but with all the pleasures of interiority that the novel form allows. I haven’t wanted to hug this many characters in a while’ Naoise Dolan

About the author:

Colm Tóibín was born in Ireland in 1955. He is the author of ten novels including The Master, Brooklyn, The Testament of Mary and Nora Webster. His work has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times, has won the Costa Novel Award and the International Dublin Literary Award. He has also published two collections of stories and many works of non-fiction. He lives in Dublin.

ISBN: 9781761267734

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Credit: https://www.panmacmillan.com.au/9781761267734/