"The News from Dublin" | Reviewed by William Winkler

Irish author Colm Toibin has published 11 novels, multiple short story collections, screenplays and commentary. He was professor of creative writing at the University of Manchester, and is currently Silverman Professor of Humanities at Columbia University

Toibin’s Ellis Lacey novels, “Long Island” and “Brooklyn,” his most recent, follow the story of an Irish immigrant over two decades. Each novel is woven through with themes of love, loss and deep family ties.

Toibin’s latest book, “The News from Dublin,” is a collection of short stories with one novella length piece, all sharing similar themes from his previous works.

“A Journey to Galway” inspired perhaps by W.B. Yeats’s poem “An Irish Airman Foresees His Death,” tells of a mother’s journey to inform a family member of a pilot’s loss in wartime. “Sleep” is a reflection by a middle-aged Irishman on his relationship with a younger American.

Other stories include that of an Irish expatriate, living undocumented in San Francisco, who faces the reality of the current government crackdown on undocumenteds; a woman who has kept the identity of her daughter’s father a secret for her entire life; and a story about three sisters from northern Spain who, as young women, emigrated to Argentina and who have now chosen to return to their ancestral home.

Toibin’s stories all involve family relationships, both traditional and otherwise. Each story discusses the possibility of change, sometimes for the good, sometimes not. Loss and its personal consequences are a frequent theme in his work.

Toibin’s writing style is crisp and clean, descriptive without being overly florid. Those who have not read any of his previous books will find “The News from Dublin” an invitation to delving further into his writing.

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