carol O'Byrne

I am so disappointed with this book. I liked Brooklyn - both the book and film. Tobins writing is always simple yet effectively so and manages a good and believable story usually effortlessly- this one I feel is incredibly lazy and written without real thought - it is very one dimensional and predictable once we hear about the baby All the characters are unexplored and while a feel for the Italian lifestyle in New York is ok - the irish side is rubbish None are credible and all are very unlikeable with very little in them to make you care about them. No strong characters- women are very flawed. The men very weak. I care not about the end. In fact the way it ended reflects the whole book - lack of conviction about anything - the ending is as weak and as forgettable as the book John mcgahern writes beautifully about rural irish life. There does not have to be action when thought and writing is put into a novel. This book is trite