The Empty Family: Stories(2010)

Colm Tóibín

On the heels of his breakout success, the bestselling and award-winning novel Brooklyn, Colm Tóibín returns with a stunning collection of new stories.

In the breathtaking long story “The Street,” Tóibín imagines a relationship between Pakistani workers in Barcelona—a taboo affair in a community ruled by obedience and silence. In “Two Women,” an eminent and taciturn Irish set designer takes a job in her homeland, and must confront emotions she has long repressed. “Silence” is a brilliant historical set piece about Lady Gregory, who tells the writer Henry James a confessional story at a dinner party.

Silence --
The empty family --
Two women --
One minus one --
The pearl fishers --
Barcelona, 1975 --
The new Spain --
The colour of shadows --
The street