About this item
Highlights
- "A standout novel....A rare combination of historical enlightenment and sheer enjoyment.
- Author(s): Kate Kerrigan
- 368 Pages
- Fiction + Literature Genres, Historical
Description
About the Book
In 1920s New York, a young Irish woman must choose between her new life and her husband back in Ireland.Book Synopsis
"A standout novel....A rare combination of historical enlightenment and sheer enjoyment."
--Peter Quinn, author of The Man Who Never Returned
Already a hit in the United Kingdom, Ellis Island by Kate Kerrigan is both a poignant love story and a lyrical, evocative depiction of the immigrant experience in early 20th century America. Set in the 1920s, Kerrigan's novel tells of a young Irish woman who must choose between her new life in New York City and her husband back home in Ireland, brilliantly capturing these two vastly different worlds in the process. Readers of historical fiction, as well as fans of the novels of Frank Delany and other Irish themed works, will adore their time spent on Ellis Island.
From the Back Cover
Sweethearts since childhood, Ellie Hogan and her husband, John, are content on their farm in Ireland--until John, a soldier for the Irish Republican Army, receives an injury that leaves him unable to work. Forced to take drastic measures in order to survive, Ellie does what so many Irish women in the 1920s have done and sails across a vast ocean to New York City to work as a maid for a wealthy socialite.
Once there, Ellie is introduced to a world of opulence and sophistication, tempted by the allure of grand parties and fine clothes, money and mansions . . . and by the attentions of a charming suitor who can give her everything. Yet her heart remains with her husband back home. And now she faces the most difficult choice she will ever have to make: a new life in a new country full of hope and promise, or return to a life of cruel poverty . . . and love.
Review Quotes
"Kerrigan is excellent at evoking both rustic Ireland and 20th-century New York." -- Publishers Weekly
"Brisk and pleasant." -- Booklist
"Kate Kerrigan's Ellis Island is a standout novel that vividly brings alive the very different worlds of New York and Ireland in the 1920s. A love story shot through with a perfect sense of the period, it is a rare combination of historical enlightenment and sheer enjoyment." -- Peter Quinn, author of The Man Who Never Returned
"Kerrigan is a lovely writer and her book breaks from the traditional mould." -- Sunday Tribune (Ireland)
"This story is written with so much heart, its beat is palpable in every word on every page." -- Cecelia Ahern on Recipes for a Perfect Marriage