Irish Examiner view: Colm Tóibín will bring readers into a different world to that of 'Brooklyn'

The original novel resonated deeply with Irish readers so the sequel, set some decades later, is a mouth-watering prospect

Domhnall Gleeson as Jim Farrell and Saoirse Ronan as Ellis Lacey in the 2015 film adaptation of 'Brooklyn'. File picture: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Even casual readers would have noticed the huge success of Colm Tóibín’s novel Brooklyn 14 year ago.

Tóibín told a story so familiar to Irish readers that there could hardly have been one who didn’t recognise the bare bones of the plot from their own family histories — a young woman leaves Ireland as an emigrant to make her way in America and wonders whether to come home or to stay abroad.