Colm Tóibín - Brooklyn

When Eilis told Miss Fortini that Tony was going to take her to the beach in Coney Island some Sunday now that the weather was becoming balmy, Miss Fortini expressed alarm. "I don't think you've been watching your figure," she said.
"Yes, I know," Eilis replied. "And I have no bathing costume."
"Italian men!" Miss Fortini said. "They don't care in the winter but in the summer on the beach you have to look your best. My guy won't go on the beach unless he already has a tan."
Miss Fortini said that she had a friend who worked in another store that sold good-quality bathing suits, much better than the ones on sale in Bartocci's, and she would get some on approval so that Eilis could try them. In the meantime, she advised her to begin watching her figure. Eilis attempted to say that she did not think Tony cared that much about suntans or how she might look on the beach, but Miss Fortini interrupted her to say that every Italian man cared about how his girlfriend looked on the beach, no matter how perfect she might be in other ways.
"In Ireland no one looks," Eilis said. "It would be bad manners."
"In Italy it would be bad manners not to look."

Brooklynem jsem se prokousávala pomalu. Ono se toho v knize (mimochodem čerstvě přeložené a vydané česky) totiž zas tak moc neděje, až v poslední třetině jsem přestala mít dojem, že se hlavní hrdinka nenechává vláčet okolím a trochu bere život zpátky do svých rukou. Ale - má to úžasnou atmosféru a mně to hezky rezonuje, zejména v těch pasážích, kde se Eilis snaží rozpomenout, jaká byla na jiném kontinentě, v dřívějším životě. Translatlantické přesahy se s časem nemění, Skype neSkype.