Colm Tóibín is returning to New York for his next novel.
Scribner will publish the Irish author’s Long Island next spring, the press announced in a news release. The novel will be a sequel to Tóibín’s 2009 book, Brooklyn, which a critic for Kirkus praised as “a fine and touching novel, persuasive proof of Tóibín’s ever-increasing skills and range.”
Brooklyn follows Eilis Lacey, an Irish immigrant seeking work in New York in the 1950s. She falls in love with Tony Fiorello, a plumber, before returning to Ireland to mourn her sister, who has died of a heart condition. The novel was longlisted for the Booker Prize and adapted into an Oscar-nominated 2015 film directed by John Crowley and starring Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen, and Jim Broadbent.
Scribner says Long Island takes place 20 years after the events of Brooklyn. Eilis and Tony have two children and are living in Long Island when a man visits their home to tell them that his wife is pregnant with Tony’s baby; Eilis returns to Ireland and reunites with an old flame.
“The love triangle at the center of this novel is unforgettable, and the story of Eilis and her return to Enniscorthy is told with Tóibín’ trademark restraint and glorious prose,” Scribner says. “Long Island is the work of a writer at the height of his powers, returning to one of his greatest characters and most memorable settings.”
Long Island is slated for publication on May 7, 2024.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
