Joan's picks: Long Island and Lies and Weddings

Long Island by Colm Toibin. It’s a sequel to the book Brooklyn which came out a few years ago and was made into a terrific movie – though this can easily be read on its own. Eilis moved to NYC from Ireland and married an Italian guy in Brooklyn. Twenty years later she’s living claustrophobically with her husband Tony’s family deeply embedded in her life. A stranger arrives to say that Tony has fathered a child with his wife and when the baby comes he intends to dump it on their doorstep. She retreats home to Ireland and while there, reconnects with a man she’d loved and left behind. The nuance of relationships and the sense of place are really powerful – Colm Toibin is a master of both and this book is a joy to read.

Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan, author of Crazy Rich Asians. This is similar, in that he writes about very, very rich people – and others masquerading a wealthy when in fact they’re hiding behind a pile of debt. Rufus Leung Gresham is the future Duke of Greshamsbury and has a lifestyle to maintain – but in fact he’s desperate for financial help and his mother decides the best way out of the mess is for him to attend his sister’s wedding at a luxury eco-resort and find a rich woman there to marry – what could possibly go wrong? If you liked Crazy Rich Asians – and who didn’t – you’ll love this. Full of big brand names (most of which I’d never heard of and had to keep googling) and the lifestyles of the fabulously wealthy (or those who just wish they were).

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