Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín

Spurred on by the announcement that Tóbín would be speaking as part of the Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures series about his sequel to Brooklyn, I decided to read this first. I had thought that I had read it, but must have only seen the movie, which was an Oscar nominate film in 2016. After reading Let Us Descend, it was a pleasure to read this novel that was heartwarming and uplifting. 

Eilis Lacey is a young Irish girl who is having a hard time finding work in her little town of Enniscorthy, Wexford, Ireland. She lives with her older sister, Rose, and her mother. Her father was recently deceased. At the suggestion of Father Flood, a priest who had moved to Brooklyn and the persuasion of Rose, Eilis embarks on a life-changing journey and moves to New York. Father Flood secures a job for her at a department store and lodging at Mrs. Kehoe's boarding house. Mrs. Kehoe, is a stickler for rules and proper compartment and becomes almost a second mother to Eilis because she is always polite and respectful. Eilis has expressed a desire to become an accountant/bookkeeper at the department store and enrolls in classes to become certified. Her social life consist of helping out at Flood's parish and also in attending the parish dances. It is there that she meets Tony Fiorello, a Brooklyn native of Italian descent. Their relationship develops so beautifully with restraint as one might expect in the time of the 1950s. 

When Eilis receives word that her sister has died, the relationship takes on an entirely different course with both Eilis and Tony feeling that they needed to go to confession because of their passion. She feels that she also needs to go back to Ireland to spend some time with her mother and so they make legal the consummation of their love before she leaves. They had talked of a family and building a life together and Tony did not want her to get to Ireland and stay there. 

At that point in the novel, the reader feels the tension that Eilis felt when she returned to her home. With meeting old friends, consoling her mother, and even rekindling an almost romantic relationship with an old suitor, Jim, she is conflicted as to where she belongs. At the culmination of the book, she makes her decision.

Understanding what immigrants endured, prejudice, their hard working contribution to our country, was an added theme to the book and one that we should not forget in today's time. What a wonderful read and now on to Long Island. 
 

Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward

Let Us Descend was the final selection for the Pittsburgh Arts and Lecture series in 2023-2024. What a way to end the season. It is always hard to read about enslaved people and their struggles to gain freedom, but this book was probably the most brutal account that has been written. 

The novel begins pre-Civil War North Carolina as Annis, the protagonist, learns from her mother that her father is the owner of the plantation on which they live. Anxious to learn, she listens in to lessons that are being given to her half-sisters. From instruction on Dante's Inferno she hears the phrase that becomes the book's title. Concomitantly, her mother instructs her in self-defense, that she has learned from her mother who was one of the wives of the King of Dahomey. Not too far into the novel Annis' mother is sold. Annis is comforted by Safi, her lover, and the two women enjoy a brief but deep relationship. After Safi runs away, Annis herself is sold and she begins a grueling trek with other men and women to New Orleans. It is on the journey that she is encouraged, comforted, and buoyed by the spirit of Aza, a grandmother-like spirit. 

She is sold to a wealthy man and his wife who own a sugar plantation. Spending her time on inside duties and also harvesting the cane, Annis becomes friends with two others who are enslaved, Mary and Esther. The life that all three must endure tears at the heart and soul of anyone who reads this book. From the harshness of The Lady, to the repulsiveness of her husband, it is hard to read. After a brief tryst with Esther's brother Bastien, she finds her self pregnant and sets to make a different life for herself and the baby. 

As harsh as the action is in this book, the writing is lyrical. Ward is a gifted story teller who can paint a picture with well-chosen words and metaphors. The reader is entranced. This book was written after Ward lost her husband to lung disease. She alludes to this in the acknowledgement and thanks those who have supported her in her grief. The readers are grateful also as it shows the power of hope just as Annis finds in the novel.