I so appreciated a story of empathy and bittersweet compassion being told from the point of view of an octopus, who understands mortality. Who sees the foibles of the humans around him, and yet is more forgiving of them than we are of ourselves. I also loved that the main human character was a smart, scrappy 70-year-old woman.
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK
'Full of heart and humour . . . I loved it.' Ruth Hogan
'Will stay with you for a long time.' Anstey Harris
'I defy you to put it down once you've started' Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night cleaner shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium. Ever since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat over thirty years ago keeping busy has helped her cope. One night she meets Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium who…
First of all, I think Colm Toibin is a brilliant writer. But I also was eager to follow up on the path of Ellis Lacey, an Irish immigrant to New York, first introduced to us in Toibin's novel, Brooklyn. Her struggle for autonomy and striking out on her own is a theme close to my heart, the main thrust of my novel, Becoming Mariella, about a young Sicilian woman who defies tradition and leaves home. Also, I appreciate how he seems to understand the heart of women.
OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK * INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * “Stunning.” —People * “Dazzling yet devastating...Tóibín is simply one of the world’s best living literary writers.” —The Boston Globe * “Momentous and hugely affecting.” —The Wall Street Journal *
From the beloved, critically acclaimed, bestselling author comes a spectacularly moving novel featuring Eilis Lacey, the complex and enigmatic heroine of Brooklyn, Tóibín’s most popular work in twenty years.
Eilis Lacey is Irish, married to Tony Fiorello, a plumber and one of four Italian American brothers, all of whom live in neighboring houses on a cul-de-sac in Lindenhurst, Long Island,…
The Drowned is one of a series of murder mysteries by John Banville. One of the best writers alive today. Normally, a mystery wouldn't go under a literary heading, but Banville's mystery writing is better than most writing found in current literature, in my humble opinion. The mood is dark at times, and appropriately so because it takes place mostly in post-war '50's in Ireland. But the gloomy character of Quirke, the pathologist, and protagonist, goes deeper and is psychologically intriguing as are all his characters.
'Crime writing of the highest quality.' DAILY MAIL
'Atmospheric and sinister with simmering tension . . . Once you start reading, it's impossible to stop.' DAILY EXPRESS
The Sunday Times bestselling author of Snow and April in Spain returns with Strafford and Quirke's most troubling case yet.
1950s Dublin. The body of a young woman is discovered in a lock-up garage, an apparent suicide. But pathologist Dr Quirke and Detective Inspector Strafford soon suspect foul play.
The victim's sister returns from London to help the two men, but, with…
Sicily, 2000. Mariella Russo graduates university. Desperate to escape Sicily, she is pressured into an engagement with Matteo, the scion of a wealthy, powerful family. Her controlling and envious mother, Yolanda, is determined that nothing will stop the wedding.
Mamma announces the engagement at Mariella’s and Matteo’s graduation dinner. Mariella storms out, declaring that she won't get married.
With the help of her Nonna, Mariella flees to San Francisco. Her roommate, Leslie, is a gay man, rather than the woman she expected.
With Leslie's help, Mariella secures a job at an Italian restaurant, Basilico. She becomes lovers with Giovanni, the owner, old enough to be her father. He falls in love. She doesn’t. Mamma makes an unexpected appearance to lure Mariella back to Sicily. When Mariella refuses, Mamma calculatedly overdoses on sleeping pills, is hospitalized, survives, and flies home.
Leslie and Mariella’s bond deepens when Leslie's lover manipulates and lies to him about everything, as Mamma has manipulated Mariella.
The news that her brother Olimpio, and Matteo’s 18-year-old sister are marrying, sends Mariella back to Sicily.
Leslie goes with her. At the reception, Mamma has a humiliating meltdown. Mariella encounters Matteo in an upstairs bathroom. In the intensity of emotion, he rips her dress. They cry together and make love. She's never stopped loving him.
Still, she insists she can’t stay in Sicily.
Mariella persuades Mamma to cook the Sunday ragu, jointly, as they always did, and finds that things feel lighter between them. Mariella's no longer afraid of her mother’s crazy insults and bitterness, and wonders if her independence has created something new in the ether. Or, has Mamma changed? Papa is also more his own man.
As Mariella and Leslie’s plane arcs into the sky, back to San Francisco, she’s still on uncharted ground. But, now, she belongs to herself. She anticipates, finally, the possibility of joy. Preorder Now
