An atmospheric tale in need of a stronger final act. 3.5/5.
The blurb: Eilis Lacey has come of age in small-town Ireland in the hard years following World War Two. When an Irish priest from Brooklyn offers to sponsor Eilis in America — to live and work in a Brooklyn neighborhood “just like Ireland” — she decides she must go, leaving her fragile mother and her charismatic sister behind.
Eilis finds work in a department store on Fulton Street, and when she least expects it, finds love. Tony, who loves the Dodgers and his big Italian family, slowly wins her over with patient charm. But just as Eilis begins to fall in love with Tony, devastating news from Ireland threatens the promise of her future.
My take:
This was my first audiobook! Or, at least, my first audiobook since I used to listen to Disney stories on cassette tapes when I was eight. And I’m very pleased to say that, overall, I enjoyed Brooklyn.
The story is highly atmospheric. The author does a great job of capturing the different spirit of a small town in Ireland and then Brooklyn in the 1950s. The story has a good range of characters, which are all brought to life by Niamh Cusack’s voice and great skill with accents (particular credit to her for being able to switch between Belfast, south-west Ireland and Brooklyn in seconds).
Unfortunately, when Cusack isn’t reading dialogue, the tone she uses for the narration (and there’s a lot of it) was rather monotonous, bordering on hypnotic in places. The whole story is told in third person from Eilis’ point of view and so most of the narration is her thoughts and impressions. Unfortunately, the somewhat dreamy tone Cusack’s used to narrate these thoughts made me feel Eilis was detached and slightly unfeeling. If I’d read the book, I may have had an entirely different view of the character, warmed to her more easily and so enjoyed the story a lot more.
And finally: the ending. What?! As we neared the end, I’d come up with three different possible scenarios for how things would play out. I thought all of them would be suitably dramatic and satisfying… but I didn’t get any of them. It was like someone was in the middle of a sentence, stopped talking abruptly, held up a sign saying “The End” and then skipped away laughing at my dumbstruck expression. I still feel cheated!
Overall: Brooklyn was a positive first audiobook experience. One day I plan to see the film adaptation; I just hope they did something different with the ending!
Claire Huston / Art and Soul
Art and Soul 
I read the book a while ago, Claire, and I felt the same way about the ending – after getting so involved with the main character, I felt cheated. Perhaps the reader is expected to make their own mind up, but it was, as you say, just so abrupt! For that reason, I wasn’t too interested in watching the film adaptation, but the family wanted to so I did, and I enjoyed it despite my misgivings.
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I’m glad you enjoyed the film. I would like to watch it because I like Soairse Ronan very much and if anyone can make me more sympathetic to Eilis, it’s her!
I actually thought the audiobook had stopped accidentally and I’d missed a final chapter or epilogue but no! 😦
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Shoot! I hate when a story ends like that!
And I totally get what you’re saying about the narrator. They can make or break a book. Great review!
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Thank you!
I honestly thought the audiobook player had broken, or I had accidentally missed a crucial epilogue. But no, that’s just how it ended! Bah! 😦
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Yay for having finished your first audiobook! Ever since I discovered a new app where I listen to an endless amount for only 10 euros a month, I am HOOKED! 🙂 I just have no idea how to review them yet but here you are, setting an example! 😉 It’s so great that your first experience was with a narrator who can nail the accents. The one I just finished was talking like Apu from the Simpsons when he had to do a Welsh accent for crying out loud.
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The idea of a Welsh Apu made me laugh! Although, obviously, it would ruin any suspension of disbelief for you
Hopefully I can get through a lot more books now. No more “dead” ironing time, just more time to read – yay!
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The suspense was definitely dead! 😉 Haha, yes, it’s a wonderful way of getting through the household chores while still making progress on a book!
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Interesting – both my sister and mother read this book and found it a bit bland (considering all of the hype). Sounds like the audio didn’t really improve matters!
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Unfortunately not. I think improving the ending would help. I think it leaves readers feeling a bit deflated. I couldn’t help thinking, “Well that’s 7 and a half hours I’ve given to these characters only for me to be left hanging!” 😦
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