Exile on Bridge Street

January 2, 2017
In this grinding tale of death and survival, the sequel to Light of the Diddicoy, elderly Irish immigrant William “Liam” Garrity tells of his life in Brooklyn from 1916, when he was 15 and became known as a thief of pencils, to 1918. Loingsigh vividly and repeatedly evokes the crushing poverty, the harsh living conditions, the brutally violent struggle to have and to hold jobs, and the constant scramble for leadership among the inhabitants of Brooklyn’s Irishtown. Garrity finds his protector and mentor in powerful Dinny Meehan, who teaches him to be a man. The teenager’s efforts to find his place in the community require him to fight and to kill. Garrity’s chief aim is to save enough from his earnings to bring his mother and two sisters to America, and he never loses sight of that goal. Readers should be prepared for some florid prose and a large cast of characters, whose roles and allegiances are often difficult to follow or understand.

October 15, 2016
Loingsigh's (Light of the Diddicoy, 2014) coming-of-age novel takes place in the dockyards of Brooklyn in 1916. The Red Hook waterfront is filled with the sounds of seagoing commerce and Irish and Italian immigrant workers willing to do anything to feed their families. Loingsigh has William Poe Garrity, an old man, tell the story of his turbulent first years in America. Just 16 when he arrives and missing his family in Ireland, he joins the inner circle of the kingpin, Dinny Meeham, the most powerful and feared man in Brooklyn, whose office sits atop the Dock Loaders' Club, under the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge. Meeham's promise to bring William's family to New York motivates him, but it comes with a price: loyalty to a ruthless man. Loingsigh brings the time and place to life with rough action and dialogue in Irish brogue, but he doesn't just glorify the violence of the gang rivalries. Instead, he portrays the families that struggle with the cold realities of a city more interested in money than the value of human lives.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)