Kate Kerrigan: Ellis Island (July 2018)
This is a story of historical fiction in the 1920s. The main character is Ellie who was born in a small rural town in Ireland. Having had a difficult childhood with strict parents , she found love and contentment with her childhood friend, John and his family.
Against her parents wishes she married John, sharing a deeply intensive love, and, although poor, they were determined to make a happy life together, farming in this small rural community. However, their lives were shattered when John, a strong patriotic Republican was seriously injured fighting for Irish independence and was no longer able to walk and totally dependent on his wife and others.
Ellie got a chance to go to America to work, in order save enough money for John to have medical treatment that would help improve his condition. Although very apprehensive and unsure, she made the decision to go, intending to return in a year, with sufficient means to finance his operations.
So the story develops of a young Irish immigrant who finds new opportunities living the “American Dream” and loving an exciting lifestyle and Independence in New York, compared to the poverty and restrictions in Ireland. We see Ellie emerging from a lowly housemaid to a self sufficient and confident young woman, loving the freedom and affluences available in her new life. So when John refuses to leave his homeland and join her, Ellie has to make the decision whether to surrender the fulfilment and status of her new life and return to a life of inevitable routine and toil through a sense of duty, guilt, loyalty and love.
The writer shows the emotional pain and conflict Ellie has to face, and asks the question, “ can one go back to their old life without regrets and consequences ”. What Ellie decides is an important part of the story and an issue for debate.
The majority of the group were unanimous in their praise for most of the book and in particular the factual descriptions of the whole immigration experience. ( one member having been through a very similar venture). We agreed that the characters and the story lines were strong and led to some interesting discussions. However, we also felt that the ending was rather unsatisfactory and disappointing. However, I explained I had discovered that this book was in fact the first one of a trilogy, and in fact I had acquired the subsequent novels – ( and although I was asked to tell the group what happens, I wouldn’t give them any spoilers and suggested they find out for themselves, by reading them) !!!
The group awards a grading to each book we read, rating from 1- 3. In this instance there were 4 people gave them a ‘3’ and 2 people gave them a ‘2’. ( 3 means “ would recommend to others”, and “2” means a worthwhile read).
Our next Book for August is “Elizabeth and her German Garden” – Elizabeth Von Arnim?
Margaret Cunningham
July 27th 2018.