I just finished Summer at Tiffany, which was set in 1945 and from the perspective of a Iowa native coming to the big city to work in expensive retail.
Now, I’ve read NYC from a completely different perspective, at much the same time period. Brooklyn by Colm Tobin is the story of Eilis, who gets a generous offer from a priest to come from Ireland to the US. He sets her up in a little boarding house full of very fickle single women…good LORD would I go nuts in that house. She has a pretty sweet gig working in a well-respected retail shop.
The gals go to all the dances, of course, and Eilis meets a handsome Italian man who seems different than all the other Irish boys she’s met. Does she really love him though?
The uncertainty she feels is what is unique about this book. It’s not the man who is holding back and the girl who is left with unrequited love. I like that the author played to us women who sometimes just aren’t so sure we want to rush into things.
This is just really a sweet story about a young woman coming of age in an unfamiliar world. I definitely recommend it, and it’s a very quick read. It was a welcome reprieve after some of the heavier books I’ve stacked on during this readathon!
As I Lay Reading 
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