TÓIBÍN, Colm. Brooklyn. (Signed by the author on the title-page)

London: Viking, an imprint of Penguin Books, 2009. First edition. Octavo. pp. [viii], 252. Publisher’s black cloth, titled in gilt on spine. Original pictorial dust jacket depicting emigrants gazing from a ship’s deck. A fine copy in dust jacket.

First edition of Colm Tóibín’s award-winning novel, a landmark of contemporary Irish literature. Brooklyn tells the story of Eilis Lacey, a young woman from Enniscorthy, County Wexford, who emigrates to New York in the 1950s in search of work and opportunity. Torn between two countries, two lives, and two loves, her story captures the complexities of exile, belonging, and home.

Widely acclaimed on publication, Brooklyn won the 2009 Costa Novel Award and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. It has since become Tóibín’s most celebrated novel, securing his reputation as one of Ireland’s finest modern writers. In 2015, it was adapted into the Oscar-nominated film directed by John Crowley and starring Saoirse Ronan, which brought the novel international recognition and cemented its place in the Irish canon.

Signed copies of the true first edition are now increasingly scarce, particularly in fine condition. This example bears Tóibín’s neat signature in blue ink on the title-page.

[L3 8C]