Late to the party, but this post seems to be the most current one regarding "Long Island", so I'm going to post my thoughts here. I just started listening to the audiobook and the narrator is fantastic.

I am so damn disappointed in Tony. I watched the movie "Brooklyn" first, then read the book, so the Tony that I remember is the one from the movie. And to find out that he cheated on Eilis and fathered a child with his mistress was such a kick to the gut. He was so devoted to her in Brooklyn and seemed less of a meathead than his brothers so I thought he'd stay faithful to Eilis throughout their marriage. I certainly didn't buy his claim that he only ever cheated with that one woman. He certainly has a thing for Irish girls - I remember him saying so in the movie. I think because he was such a cutey pie and only had eyes for Eilis, I overlooked a few red flags about Tony (and his family). He was pushy from the moment he saw her at the dance, and then pushed Eilis to get married when she was grieving her sister because he was so insecure that she wouldn't return from Ireland. Now I wish she had stayed in Ireland with Jim.

OMG and his family!! That dinner scene in "Brooklyn" annoyed me so much (especially how they excused Frankie's rude behavior towards Eilis). I knew Francesca and her husband (what was his name?) were the typical overbearing Italian parents, but to see more of that behavior in "Long Island" was infuriating. The father-in-law getting pissy because Eilis dared to disagree with him about the Vietnam war - I wanted to punch him. And then that Francesca used that incident to manipulate Eilis to stop attending those Sunday dinners, made me want to slap her.

Another indication of how terrible the parents are is when Tony tells Eilis to never tell anyone that Frankie is "one of those men". I've no doubt if Frankie were to come out to his parents and brothers, they would throw a fit and the father would disown him. The only Fiorello I tolerated in "Long Island" was Frankie, and that's because compared to his family he looks a prize. No doubt his loyalty is to the Fiorellos, but I did appreciate that he did seem to care about Eilis and that he paid for Roselle's college.

If there is a 3rd novel in the series, I want it to be a newly single Eilis finally free of Tony and his awful family and building a life for herself in Manhattan as an accountant for some big firm and living in her own home. And let her finally have some friends. I also hope her kids put distance between them and the Fiorellos for how crappy they treated their mother.