Eilis

You have to think like an American. You'll feel so homesick that you'll want to die, and there's nothing you can do about it apart from endure it. But you will, and it won't kill you. And one day the sun will come out - you might not even notice straight away, it'll be that faint. And then you'll catch yourself thinking about something or someone who has no connection with the past. Someone who's only yours. And you'll realize… that this is where your life is.

I'd forgotten what this town is like. What were you planning to do, Miss Kelly? Keep me away from Jim? Stop me from going back to America? Perhaps you didn't even know. Perhaps it was enough for you to know that you could ruin me. My name is Eilis Fiorello.

Dear Rose, thank you for your letter. I was happy to hear about your golf tournament. You must have been really pleased. I still miss you and Mother and think about you every day, but I think I can say that for the first time since I've been in America, I'm really happy. This has a lot to do with Tony. At the weekend, he took me to see the Brooklyn Dodgers, the baseball team he loves. They lost, so he was annoyed. But I've also started to look for office work, too. I had an interview this week at a textile firm here in Brooklyn. Who'd have thought there would be two bookkeepers in the family? I'll soon be able to afford to come home and see you and Mammy.

Dear, Rose. I suppose the most important news is that I have a boyfriend. He isn't as important as Bartocci's and my night classes, I know that, but I want to tell you everything that's going on. Please don't mention it to Mammy, though. You know what she's like. He's decent and kind, and he has a job and he works hard. We go to the cinema on Wednesdays and he takes me to Father Flood's dance on Saturdays. I think of you and Mother every single day, but Tony has helped me to feel that I have a life here I didn't have before I met him. My body was here, but my life was back in Ireland with you. Now it's halfway across the sea. So that's something, isn't it?