Colm Toibin - Brooklyn

Episodes

SeriesEpisodeTitleFirst
Broadcast
Comments
02Farewell and Adieu20090512

Niamh Cusack reads Colm Toibin's story of duty, love and a girl who moved from the south of Ireland to seek a new life in New York in the 1950s.

Prompted by Father Flood, home from America for a holiday, Rose sets about organising her younger sister. Almost before she knows it, or has had time to say goodbye, Eilis is crossing the Atlantic, heading for a job on the shop floor of a Brooklyn department store, lodgings with an Irish landlady and a brand new life.

Prompted by Father Flood, Rose sets about organising her younger sister.

Readings from modern classics, new works by leading writers and world literature

03Letters from Home20090513

Niamh Cusack reads Colm Toibin's story of duty, love and a girl who moved from the south of Ireland to seek a new life in New York in the 1950s.

Eilis has lodgings with an Irish landlady and a job on the shop floor of a department store. Every day a whole world of things are new, but letters from home remind her of just what she is missing.

Letters from home remind Eilis of just what she is missing.

Readings from modern classics, new works by leading writers and world literature

04Christmas Comfort20090514

Niamh Cusack reads Colm Toibin's story of duty, love and a girl who moved from the south of Ireland to seek a new life in New York in the 1950s.

Christmas looms, as Eilis struggles to adapt to her new life in a city far from home. But she is not the only member of the Irish diaspora feeling homesick - helping Father Flood tend to his flock brings comfort and cheer.

Christmas looms, as Eilis struggles to adapt to her new life far from home.

Readings from modern classics, new works by leading writers and world literature

05The Melting Pot20090515

Niamh Cusack reads Colm Toibin's story of duty, love and a girl who moved from the south of Ireland to seek a new life in New York in the 1950s.

As Bartocci's opens its doors to all customers, whatever their colour, Eilis fights the prejudice of her fellow lodgers. Even at Father Flood's Irish dance night, not everyone is Irish.

Eilis fights the prejudice of her fellow lodgers.

Readings from modern classics, new works by leading writers and world literature

06Meeting the Family20090518Eilis' romance with Tony Fiorello blossoms and she experiences her first Italian meal.

Readings from modern classics, new works by leading writers and world literature

07Coney Island20090519

Niamh Cusack reads Colm Toibin's story of duty, love and a girl who moved from the south of Ireland to seek a new life in New York in the 1950s.

Tony takes Eilis for a trip to Coney Island to celebrate her exam success. But Eilis' new found happiness is short-lived, as news from home turns her American life sour.

Tony takes Eilis for a trip to Coney Island to celebrate her exam success.

Readings from modern classics, new works by leading writers and world literature

08Too Far from Home20090520Eilis' happiness in Brooklyn has been shattered by the news of her beloved sister's death.

Readings from modern classics, new works by leading writers and world literature

09Being Rose's Ghost20090521

Niamh Cusack reads Colm Toibin's story of duty, love and a girl who moved from the south of Ireland to seek a new life in New York in the 1950s.

Following her sister's death, Eilis returns to her lonely mother in Enniscorthy for a month's visit. Once there it is hard to tell the truth about her last action in America, and harder still to resist the lure of the familiar.

Following her sister's death, Eilis returns to her lonely mother for a month's visit.

Readings from modern classics, new works by leading writers and world literature

10Torn in Two20090522

Niamh Cusack reads Colm Toibin's story of duty, love and a girl who moved from the south of Ireland to seek a new life in New York in the 1950s.

Home for a holiday and to comfort her grieving mother, Eilis has been unable to resist the lure of the familiar. Meanwhile, Tony waits for her in Brooklyn.

Back home to comfort her mother, Eilis has been unable to resist the lure of the familiar.

Readings from modern classics, new works by leading writers and world literature

BAB01An Unlooked-for Offer20090511

Niamh Cusack reads Colm Toibin's story of duty, love and a girl who moved from the south of Ireland to seek a new life in New York in the 1950s.

The novel opens in the small town of Enniscorthy in the south east of Ireland in the early 1950s. Eilis Lacey is one among many of her generation who can find no work. Her three brothers have already left to seek their fortunes in England; she, her sister Rose and her widowed mother are all that remain at home.

When a priest comes home from America for a holiday, he recognises both Eilis' plight and her potential.

When a priest comes home from America, he recognises both Eilis' plight and her potential.

Readings from modern classics, new works by leading writers and world literature