"Miss Kelly, might I talk to you later?" "Not if what you're going to say will cause trouble for me in some way or another." "9:00 mass is over, girls." " Now." " Thank you." " One moment, please." " Excuse me." "And some rashers and some cheese." "Mrs Brady, what would you like this morning?" " Half a dozen rashers, please." " Of course." "Eilis will get that for you now." " I was next." " And you still are." " Yes?" " I need some shoe polish." "Shoe polish?" "That's not really a Sunday item, now, is it?" "These people need things for their dinner or their tea." "Why couldn't you have remembered yesterday?" "Because it looks like you needed it yesterday." "I'm sorry." "Miss Kelly..." "I hadn't forgotten." "Spit it out, whatever it is." "I'm away to America." "Whose idea was that?" "Father Flood in New York arranged it." "Rose used to play golf with him." "He sponsored me." "And he found me a job and got me a visa." "Well, we won't be needing you back here." "I could work every Sunday till I go." "No, thank you." " Your poor sister." " My sister?" "Well, mothers are always being left behind in this country." "But Rose, that's the end for her now, isn't it?" "She'll be looking after your mother for the rest of her life." "I wish I'd written to Father Flood about you, Rose." "Me?" "I have a job." "You had a couple of hours on a Sunday working for Nettles Kelly." "You shouldn't call her that." "I think it's quite a kind name." "Considering she's actually a terrible old witch." "Well, I don't want to talk about her any more." "Good." "They say it's hotter there in the summer and colder in the winter." "What in heaven's name will she do about clothes?" "She'll buy them, Mother." "She doesn't want to be wasting her money on clothes." "She won't have much choice." "She'll be there for..." " You look beautiful, Nancy." " Thank you." "You look so beautiful." "It makes me despair of this place." "Why?" "Well, you're the prettiest girl in County Wexford." "You should be able to choose any man you want and we're hoping that George Sheridan from the rugby club looks your way." "Do you think he might?" "Of course he will." "I know you like him, Nancy, but he's not Gary Cooper, is he?" "And those boys with their hair oil and their blazers." " He has beautiful eyes." " Mmm..." "And he's going to come into a beautiful shop in the market square." "Why didn't you wear your blue dress?" "Are you asking why I didn't make more of an effort?" "I suppose cos I'm going away." "Mind, now." "Come on." "He's looked over here twice already." "He hasn't!" " He's walking over here now." " He's not!" "Why would I keep lying to you about what George Sheridan's doing?" "Would you like to dance?" "Is that really everything you own?" "Oh, Eilis." "I should have looked after you better." "You've bought most of the clothes in this case." "That's one of the reasons I'm going, cos I can't buy my own." "If it was just that, I'd spend every penny I had on you." "Gladly." "But I can't buy you a future." "I can't buy you the kind of life you need." "I know." "But you'll come see me there one day?" "Yes." "And you'll look after yourself?" "You don't have to worry about me." "And I'll come home to visit, won't I?" "Cos I couldn't bear it if..." "You haven't packed your shoes yet." "They'll take up a bit of room." "There." "Oh!" "I'm sorry." "Off." "Number one, bottom bunk, that's mine." "You're on the top." "This is hell." " Never again." " Never again to America?" "The mistake was coming home from America in the first place." "I'd do anything to get out of this horrible cabin." "Let's go for a smoke." "I don't." "Suit yourself." "I'll see you later." "Unless I find a nice man in First to smoke with." "It's good to see that not everybody's put off their dinner by the weather forecast." "It's supposed to be a rough one tonight, so none of the other passengers are eating." "A few spoonfuls of soup maybe, but not the mutton stew." "Please unlock it." "Go away!" "I'm sorry about the smell." "And the bucket." "Don't worry." "The whole boat stinks." "Even First Class." "I've just been thrown out of there, by the way." "The bathroom door was locked all night." "Oh, those bastards." "There." "Won't be very comfortable, but at least it's ours." " Open the door." " Feck off." " Open the door right now." " Do you hear me?" "Fuck off." "If you'd been nice last night, we would have played fair." " Now you've got no toilet." " Get out of the bathroom." "You bastards." "Go on, you can use it." "I'm going to get us some water." "That's all you're allowed." "Are you going to live in America?" "Yes." "You have papers and everything?" "Yes." "And a job." "How'd you manage to arrange all that?" "I didn't." "Someone did it for me." "A priest my sister knows." "And how do you feel about it?" "How long do letters from Ireland take to arrive?" "My sister Rose said she'd write straightaway." "They take a long time at first." "And then no time at all." "You have family in America?" "Friends?" "No." "You'll meet people easily enough." "Where are you gonna live?" "Brooklyn?" " How'd you know that?" " Lucky guess." "Try to remember that sometimes it's nice to talk to people who don't know your auntie." "That's what it's like?" "That's what it's like." "I haven't been sick for hours." "Nice, isn't it?" "I'm very hungry." "That's why you haven't been sick for hours." "We'll eat tomorrow." "Or the day after." "Oh, dear." "We're gonna have to do something with you." "They'll put you in quarantine or something if you try and enter the country looking like that." "Nothing fancy." "You mustn't look like a tart." "Oh, well, looking like a tart isn't going to be a problem." "This doesn't look too bad." "My sister gave me that." "Wear it with this and... this." "Have your bags ready for inspection." "Don't look too innocent, though." "I'll put some rouge and mascara on you." "Perhaps a little eye liner." "Step out of the line, please." "Thank you." "Next, please." "Thank you." "Step over this way, please." "Get out of the line." "Next." "Passport, please." "Stand up straight." "Polish your shoes." "And don't cough, whatever you do." "Over this way." "Don't be rude or pushy, but don't look too nervous." "Step this way." "Think like an American." "You have to know where you're going." "Welcome to the United States, ma'am." "Through the blue door, please." "Next, please." "Bless us, oh Lord, and these thy gifts which we are about to receive from thy bounty through Christ our Lord, amen." "Amen." "I saw you had a letter today, Diana." "Any news?" "Mr de Valera's had another operation on his eyes, she says." "He's been in Holland." "I don't want news I can read in a newspaper." "Anyway, we would describe Mr de Valera as politics, would we not, Mrs Kehoe?" "And we do not like politics at the dinner table." "We don't." "It's not politics to talk about eye operations." "It is if the eyes belong to a politician." "And I don't like to talk about hospitals very much either." "Patty, did you have any luck with that cold cream?" "No, Mrs Kehoe." "I asked Miss Tyler in Cosmetics." "And I showed her the advertisement." "I don't want to have to travel all the way into Manhattan just for a jar of cold cream." "Maybe you could have a look in Bartocci's for me, Eilis?" "Yes, Mrs Kehoe." "Oh, Bartocci's is bound to have it." "She doesn't know that for sure, Mrs Kehoe." "She's only saying that Bartocci's is a better store than Webster's to get at Patty." "They're both very good and you girls are very lucky to be working there." "Eilis, from the look of you, you have greasy skin." "Is that right?" "What do you do about that?" "Just..." "Well, I wash it, Mrs Kehoe, with soap." "There's nothing wrong with soap." "Soap was good enough for Our Lord, I expect." "Oh, and which brand did he use, Miss McAdam?" "Does the Bible tell you that?" "Our Lord was a man, anyway." "He didn't care about greasy skin." "Ladies, no more talk about Our Lord's complexion at dinner, please." "The girls will help you find something suitable, Eilis." " Won't you, girls?" " Mmm-hmm." "Hi." " Good morning." " Did you go out last night?" " Out, the opposite of in." " No." "Well, I saw a movie with my boyfriend." ""What did you see, Dorothy?"" ""I saw The Quiet Man, Eilis." "They filmed it in Ireland."" ""Oh, I'm from Ireland."" ""I know you are." "That's why I thought you might be interested."" "Thank you." "Shouldn't be a moment." "Is it still hot out there?" "I haven't been outside since this morning." "But I can tell that it might be very." "It just looks it." "It's warm, yes." "Thanks very much." "Remember, if people like it here, they'll come back, so you treat every customer as if she's a new friend." " I'll try." " It's not a matter of trying." "It's what you have to do." "Do you try to wear panties every day?" "No." "I mean, I don't..." "I don't try." "I just put them on." "You see what I'm saying?" "Yes." "Good." "Can we get another side of toast, please?" "Slice up some hot dogs." "They want 'em sliced down the middle." "Sorry." "Could I have the bill, please?" "I hope that when I go through the Pearly Gates, the first sound I hear is you asking me for the cheque in that lovely Irish brogue." "Diana?" "Have they told you a date for the nylon sale yet, Eilis?" "Never had a Bartocci's girl living here." "Might get some inside information." "I haven't been told anything." " I bet you wouldn't let on if you had." " She's that sort." "More loyal to her bosses than to her friends." " Like a Red spy." " Oh, dear God." "I'll thank you to keep His name out of a conversation about nylons." "He might be everywhere, but he's certainly not in Bartocci's on sale day." "Sorry, Mrs Kehoe." "I was glad to see you finally got some letters from home today, Eilis." "Did I?" "I forgot to check." "They'll still be there after dinner." "Sorry." "Dear Eilis." "It's hard for me to believe that you're reading this in America, thousands of miles across the sea." "The big news here is that since you left," "Mammy has stopped shopping at Nettles Kelly's." "As you know, her bread wasn't always fresh and she overcharged for everything..." "And she's awful." "I haven't told her to her face." "There's no need." "She knows that she overcharges and her bread's not fresh." "We talk about you every evening, of course." "We want to know everything." "I'm sure you're busy, but even if your letters were 200 pages, they wouldn't be long enough for your mother." "Take care of yourself." "Love." "Is it your time of the month?" "So what is it?" "Take some time off now." "Go and sit in the staff room." "I'm so sorry, Eilis." "This is all my fault." "I was led to believe that you didn't need looking after." "Franco Bartocci says you're doing great here." "Ma Kehoe says you're the nicest lodger she's ever had." " What?" " "Ma Kehoe"?" "Don't ever call her that to her face." "I'd forgotten just how bad it feels to be away from home." "I've enrolled you in a night class, for book-keeping." "Brooklyn College." "It'll be three nights a week and I've paid your tuition for the first semester." " Why?" " Why?" "Not thank you?" "Sorry." "Thank you." "But why?" "Well, I was amazed that someone as clever as you couldn't find proper work at home." "I've been here too long." "I forget what it's like in Ireland." "So when your sister wrote to me about you," "I said the Church would try to help." "Anyway, we need Irish girls in Brooklyn." "I wish that I could stop feeling that I want to be an Irish girl in Ireland." "All I can say is that it will pass." "Homesickness is like most sicknesses." "It'll make you feel wretched and then it'll move on to somebody else." "Now, Taylor v. Standard Gas Company is one of the most important corporate cases decided in the Supreme Court in the last 20 years." "This was the case responsible for the Deep Rock Doctrine, so it's maybe the biggest milestone in parent-subsidiary law." "In public utility integration proceedings alone, literally thousands of investors may be affected by its application." "Did you understand any of that?" "I mean, a single word?" "He's not even reading from a book." "He just knows all this." "Well, let's hope the next hour's easier, huh?" "One of the things that ruins Christmas in America is the turkey." "It all tastes of sawdust." "So that's one cheese sandwich for Miss McAdam and extra turkey for everyone else." "Ladies, please." "Eilis, Father Flood told me about your Christmas plans." "Oh, you're not serving lunch to the old fellas who've nowhere to go, are you?" "He asks us every year." "We always say no." "Eilis, you're a saint." "They smell awful." "Sheila knows how they smell because that's where she goes husband hunting." "It's a marvellous thing you're doing, Eilis." "A Christian thing." "I wish there were more like you." "In you come." "How many are we expecting?" "We had a hundred last year." "There may be more this." " Are they all Irish?" " All Irish." "Why don't they go home?" "If there's nothing there for clever young girls such as yourself, there's gonna be even less for men like these." "Some of them have been here 50 years." "They've lost touch with everyone." "Lovely." "Thank you." " Merry Christmas." " Thank you." "These are the men who built the tunnels, the bridges, the highways." "God alone knows what they live on now." "Anyway..." "I don't want to interrupt proceedings, but I'm sure you'd all like to show your appreciation to all the ladies here for their hard day's work." "And by way of a thank you, we have a great singer in the room with us today." "Frankie." "Mind yourself, there." "Would you like to come into the front room for a glass of something?" "You've earned it." "You survived." "Ah..." "It wasn't so bad." " Happy Christmas." " Cheers." "Now, Miss McAdam is leaving us." "She's going to live with her sister in Manhattan." "She has the best room in the house, the basement, and it has its own entrance." "Now, I can only let a certain kind of girl stay there." "Oh, and I'm not talking about looks here." "Although I will admit, God did give Miss McAdam an advantage when I had to think about who I could trust to live down there." "No, no, you're a pretty girl, Eilis, but you're sensible." "So, you're having the room and that's that." "Will the other girls not mind?" "Oh, I expect so." "What don't they mind?" "Girls, you'll take Dolores to the dance with you on Saturday night, won't you?" "There's a dance?" "At the parish hall." "There'll be no alcohol, but you can have fun without it." "Um..." "Patty and I aren't going this week." "We're going to see a movie instead." "Well, I'm sure Dolores would enjoy a movie just as well." "I would, very much." "There are so many more movies here in New York than in Cavan." "Yes, surprising, isn't it?" "You'd think it'd be the other way round." "Of course, you would be welcome to join us, Dolores." "So long as you don't mind being a gooseberry." "So you both miraculously found boyfriends over the last couple of days, did you?" "Well, I hope you have more luck with these than you did with the last few." " Will you be going, Eilis?" " Yes, Mrs Kehoe." "Well, you can take Dolores, then." "Of course." "God." "There's nobody here." "How are we supposed to get a fella if there's nobody here?" "I expect most people will come after 9:00." "People or fellas?" "Some of the people will be fellas." "I'd love to meet a fella." "They came." "The liars." "What a pair of bitches." "That's what the old woman called them." "She said they were all bitches." "Apart from you." "Well, hello." " Hello." "It's good to see you." " I can see why." "Come with us." "There." "That's better." "Now you don't look like you came in from milking the cows." " Is that what I looked like?" " Just a bit." "Nice, clean cows." "One, two, three." "Two, two, three." "Not bad." "Two..." "Maybe we can have a dance later." "I'm sorry?" " A dance, later." " Oh." "Sure." "Would you like to dance?" "Are you here with that guy, the one who was teaching you to dance?" " No." " So would you dance with me?" "I'm not sure he taught me anything." "Doesn't matter." "Secret is to look as though you know what you're doing." "I wish someone had told me that years ago." "Come on." "Where do you live?" " Clinton Street." " Yeah?" "That's on my way home." "Can I walk you?" "I'm going to say yes and then I'm going to tell you why." "So I don't get the wrong idea?" "I suppose so." "Is there a girl in a white shirt sitting on her own over there?" " You don't know her?" " I do." "She lives in my boarding house and she's awful." "If I leave with you, I'm sure she'd understand." " You'd be rescuing me." " I get it." "I'm not Irish." "You don't sound Irish." "I need to make this clear." "No part of me is Irish." "I don't have Irish parents or grandparents or anything." "I'm Italian." "Well, my parents are, anyway." "So what were you doing at an Irish dance?" "Don't the Italians have dances?" "Yeah, and I wouldn't wanna take you to one." "They behave like Italians all night." " What does that mean?" " Oh, you know." "No." "Hands." "Too many of them?" "I guess it could seem that way if you was a girl." "Listen..." "I want everything out in the open." "I came to the Irish dance... because I really like Irish girls." "And I was the only one who would dance with you?" "Oh, no, it wasn't..." "Oh, so you danced with loads of others?" "This is me." "Can I take you next week, maybe get something to eat first?" "That'd be nice." "Good night." "So..." "What do you do when you're not working?" "Well, there's school." "Just, you know, Brooklyn College." "I'm studying book-keeping." "You wanna be a book-keeper?" "Well, I want to be an accountant one day, but, yes, book-keeping first." " Wow." " Mmm." "Is that difficult?" "I'm talking too much." "Tell me about plumbing." "You know enough about plumbing already." "I don't know anything." "You know that taps drip and that toilets get blocked and that's all you need to know." "I mean, I don't know anything about book-keeping." "Well, there's a lot to it." "There's all the maths, of course, but that's not so complicated." "The double-entry system, that takes a while to get used to." "And we study company law too and that terrifies me." "So we had to read about an insurance company that went bankrupt in the 1930s and all the legal issues that went along with that." "She plays golf and she's really good at it and if she'd been at the dance last Saturday, then I don't think you'd have looked at me twice because Rose is beautiful." "I'm worried." "You haven't eaten anything." "Oh." "Too busy talking." "What is the matter with you girls now?" "Nothing is the matter with us, Mrs Kehoe." "Is this all because Eilis has found herself a young man?" "Eilis has a young man?" "We didn't know." "She won't say anything about it." "And why should she to you awful gossipmongers?" "Anyway, I met him on Saturday night when he called for Eilis, and he's a gentleman." "Will you tell us what you know about him, Mrs Kehoe?" "We know he's quite nice-looking." "Didn't like his shoes much." "What on Earth is wrong with his shoes?" "They were a funny colour." "I'll tell you this much." "I'm going to ask Father Flood to preach a sermon on the dangers of giddiness." "I see now that giddiness is the eighth deadly sin." "A giddy girl is every bit as evil as a slothful man, and the noise she makes is a lot worse." "Now, enough." "All I wanna do is travel home with you." "No food, no drink, no nothing." "I know you gotta study and get some sleep." "I'll take you to your house and say good night." "Otherwise, it's too long to wait." "I wanna ask you something and you're gonna say," ""Oh, it's too soon." "I don't really know him well enough." ""We only been out a couple of times."" "Oh, it's nothing so bad." "It's just something that most guys, they..." "Please just ask." "You're beginning to terrify me." "Oh..." "Sure." "Will you come for dinner and meet my family sometime?" "That's it?" "I'd love to." "You like Italian food?" "Don't know." "I've never eaten it." "It's the best food in the world." "Well, why would I not like it?" "You're in a good mood, huh?" "Yes." "Why?" "It's just..." "I like how you're being." "I don't know the word, when you go along with everything." " Amenable." " Yeah?" "Amenable?" "OK, so while you're being amenable, can we go see a movie this week when you're not in night class?" "I'll sign up for two movies." " Really?" " Yes." "Even if the first date is a disaster, I'll give it another chance." "Parkway's next stop." "Parkway's next." "It certainly feels like it, but this is my first year, so I don't know how to judge." "Well, congratulations." "You've survived your first New York winter." "Ah." "Wasn't so bad." "Really?" "It's colder in Ireland?" "Oh, no, it's colder here." "Over here that's how we judge the winter, on how cold it is." "But you have heating, heating everywhere." "You're only cold outside." "I guess that's true." " Thank you for your help." " Have a good day." "Eilis." "You're like a different person." "How did you do it?" "Maybe I can pass some advice on to the next poor girl who feels that way." "I met somebody." "An Italian fella." "Oh, no." "I'm not passing that on." "I'd rather have them homesick than heartbroken." "Does he talk about baseball all the time?" " Or his mother?" " No." "Then keep him." "There isn't another Italian man like him in New York." "Hold it." "Now, remember you're getting off easy because we haven't got sauce." "Yeah, you have to remember that the sauce flies everywhere, so take it slowly." "I'm gonna say "splash" any time I see problems." " Good idea." " Can I start now?" " Yeah." " Go." "Splash!" "You just splashed his mother, his father, and the walls." "Let's go again." "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?" "Oh, and I'd better warn you about Frankie." " He's the little one?" " Yeah, he's eight going on 18." "I mean, he's nice and he's smart, but he's been talking and he's talking about all the things he's gonna say to you." " What sort of things?" " We don't know." "It could be anything." "I mean, I tried to pay him money to go out and play ball with his friends and my dad, he threatened him, but I think he's looking forward to causing trouble, so much so he'll happily take a beating." "This is us here." "You ready?" "Hey, how did you learn to eat spaghetti like that?" " I've been taking lessons." " Lessons?" "Like in a class?" "You can do that?" "Maybe I could teach it." "No, no, Diana, who lives in the boarding house with me cooked me some spaghetti and made me try and eat it without making a mess." "So what do you eat in Ireland?" "Just Irish stew?" "Not just." "We eat..." "So, first of all, I should say that we don't like Irish people." " Hey, watch it." " Frankie." "What?" "We don't." "That is a well-known fact." "Why, Frankie?" "Cos a big gang of Irish beat Maurizio up and he had to get stitches, and because all the cops around here are Irish nobody did anything about it." "There's probably two sides to it." "I might have said something I shouldn't." "You know, I can't remember now." "No, because they beat you up." "Anyway, they probably weren't all Irish." "No, they just had red hair and big legs." "All right, up." " Ow!" " Excuse us." "All I can say in his defence is he's the only one of us who'll get a college education." "If he can keep his mouth shut." "So, Tony tells me you go to college." "Oh, just night classes." "I want to be a book-keeper." "I like working in the shop well enough, but I don't want to be there forever." "I'm sorry, Eilis." "I'm an idiot." "I'm a rude idiot." "So has Tony offered to take you to Ebbets Field when the season starts?" "You like baseball?" "He never mentioned the Dodgers?" "Not even once?" "Tony, what's the matter with you?" "You wanna know why?" "Too much of this." "Anyway, you'll have to go to Ebbets Field if you wanna see him in the summer." "They're that important to you?" "Put it this way, if our kids end up supporting the Yankees or the Giants," " it'd break my heart." " Mine too." "She's not laughing, Tony." "Think it's too late." "She's a Yanks fan." "What are you talking about?" "What's wrong with you?" "She's a Yanks fan." "I love you." "I..." "Thank you for the evening." "It was lovely." "Oh!" "Sorry." "I'd finished." "Sheila, can I ask you something?" "Why aren't you married?" "Because my husband met somebody else and left me." "Oh..." "I'm sorry." "And, well, would you get married again?" " Has somebody asked you?" " No." "Not really." "I won't ask what that means." "Would I get married again?" "No, I wanna be waiting outside the bathroom of my boarding house forever." "Of course I do." "That's why I go to that wretched dance every week." "I want to be waiting outside my own bathroom while some bad-tempered fella with hair growing out of his ears reads the newspaper on the toilet." "Then I'll wish I was back here talking to you." "Eilis!" "I'm sorry." "I didn't think you were coming." "Yeah, I know." "I thought you were gonna think that." "That's why I wanted to be here no matter what." " I need to say something to you." " Can you..." "Can we just talk about something else until we get to Mrs Kehoe's?" " It's not..." " Please." "So..." "Ten minutes before I'm supposed to meet you and I'm standing ankle-deep in sewage that's pouring through this old lady's ceiling." "Yeah." "Even if you're thinking of inviting me in for a coffee," "I'd have to say no for your sake." "So how did you fix it in 10 minutes?" "I didn't." "I spent the whole 10 minutes explaining to the lady" "I had to be somewhere and I'd be back, and she don't wanna let me go." "So the sewage is still pouring through the ceiling?" "Oh..." "Well, what's the difference between six inches of sewage and a foot?" "Will you let me say what I want to say?" "I don't think you'll mind." "OK." "You remember that after I had dinner at your house, you told me you loved me?" "Well, I didn't really know what to say." "But I know what to say now." "I have thought about you, and I like you." "And I like being with you." "And... maybe I feel the same way." "So the next time you tell me you love me, if there is a next time..." "I'll say I love you too." "Are you serious?" "Yes." "Holy shit." "Excuse my language, but I thought we were having a different kind of talk." "Can I go home now?" "You love me?" "Yes, but don't ask me anything else, and don't talk about our kids being Dodgers fans." "What, you want kids who like the Yankees?" " Tony, please, don't push me." " All right." "I'm sorry." "Dear Eilis." "Thank you so much for the nylons." "The Bartocci wrapping paper makes them look so glamorous." "It seems everything is so exciting and new compared to here." "I can't wait for you to show it all to me one day." "Oh, Eilis, you know I'm by your side, even when I'm not." "Well..." "You're marvellous, that's all I have to say." "It looks to me as if you didn't just pass those exams." "No." "You flew through them." "I can't remember the last time anyone came in here with good news." "I've saved some money." "I'll be able to pay for next year's tuition and pay you back for last year." "One of my parishioners paid." "He needed to do something for mankind and I won't tell you why." "He's not out of the woods yet either, so he can cough up for next year, too." "I'd love to know what sort of woods he's in." "Yes, I'm sure you would, but you won't hear it from me." "Qualifications and a boyfriend, Eilis." "You're not the miserable young girl who wanted to go home last winter." "It seems like years ago." "Now, I think this is the first time any girl of mine has ever passed an exam while living here." " Have you told Tony yet, Eilis?" " Of course." "And is he taking you out to celebrate?" "We're going to Coney Island at the weekend." " Oh, boy." " What does that mean?" "Do you have a bathing costume?" " No, I was going to..." " Do you have sunglasses?" " No." " You need sunglasses." "I read that if you don't have them on the beach this year, people'll talk about you." "And what exactly will they say, Sheila?" "That's the thing, Mrs Kehoe." "You'd never know cos they'd never say it to your face." "Oh, dear God." "Diana's right, though, Eilis." "You need to think carefully about your costume." "It's the most Tony will ever have seen of you and you don't want to put him off." "You'll have to shave down there." "I'll give you a razor that'll do the trick." "You're all right there for the moment." "And most Italian men appreciate a fuller figure." "But watch yourself over the summer." "Black's too dark for your pale skin." "Let's see you in the green." "Why didn't you tell me to put my costume on underneath my clothes?" "I thought you'd know." "Right, I'm ready." " Tony." " What?" "Come on." "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." "Rose." "Who'd have thought there would be two book-keepers in the family?" "Rose." "I'll soon be able to afford to come home and see you and Mammy." "Rose?" "Rose." "Oh, my God." "Rose!" "Oh, Rose!" "One moment." "It was sudden." "I think perhaps she was ill, and she knew she was ill, and she didn't tell anybody." " What'll happen?" " What can happen?" "When will they bury her?" "Tomorrow." " Without me?" " Without you." "You're too far away, Eilis." "Why did I ever come here?" "Rose wanted a better life for you." "She loved how well you were doing." "But I'll never see her again." "That's right, isn't it, Father?" "I'll never see her again." "You know that I think you will." "And that she'll be watching over you every day for the rest of your life." "Hello." "Mammy?" "I can't really hear you." "Well, the rain held off anyway." "And the whole of her golf club came, every single one of them." "We had a real houseful afterwards." "Are you still there?" "Yes." "People really loved her, Eilis." "Her friends from work, the neighbours, everybody." "Nobody knew what to say to me." "When your daddy died, I said to myself that I shouldn't grieve too much because I had the two of you." "And then when you went to America," "I told myself the same thing because she was here with me." "But everyone's gone, Eilis." "I have nobody." "I can't bear it, Tony." "You wanna go home, I guess." "How would it be for you if I did go home?" "I'd be afraid every single day." "Afraid that I wouldn't come back?" "Yeah." "But home is home." "I'm not sure I have a home any more." "You're not going to work tomorrow, are you?" "After the Mass, can I take you somewhere?" "This is it." "We're gonna build five houses here if we can and Mom and Dad, they're gonna have one cos Ma always wanted a house with a backyard." "We'll sell three." "And the other one, my brothers, they asked me if I wanted it and I said that I did." "So I guess what I'm saying is, you wanna live out here on Long Island?" "I mean, I know it doesn't look like much right now, but all the land around here has been sold, so we wouldn't be on our own, and there'd be telephone cables and electricity, everything." "We're gonna set up a company." "A building company, the three of us." "And I'm gonna do the plumbing and Laurence'll do the carpentry and..." "Don't go all quiet on me." "At least tell me you'll think about it." "I don't need to think about it." "It's just for a month or so." "I know it'd make her feel a little better." "Will you marry me before you leave?" "You don't trust me to come back?" "Marry me." "Marry me." "We don't have to tell anybody." "We just do it quickly, just keep it between us." "Why do you want to do it?" "Because if we don't, I'm gonna go crazy." "Would a promise not be the same?" "If you can promise, you can easily do this." "So this is it." "This is where you live." "Yes, and if you make one tiny noise, she'll evict me." "There's no point in worrying now." "Stay with me." "You wanna play?" " Yeah, sure." " All right, here we go." "One bat coming up, huh?" "I'll take that." "All right, you ready?" "Hands up." " Yeah." " All right." "Boom." "Oh!" "Right down the third base line." "Is he annoying you?" " Cos he was annoying me." " No, no, no, no." "I got a brother the exact same age." " Hey, are you Irish?" " Is it so obvious?" "I'm just about to marry an Irish girl, so I guess I notice it more." "There are a lot of you in Brooklyn." "Sometimes it seems as though there can't be anybody left at home." "Where's your girl from?" "Enniscorthy in County Wexford." "My wife has family there." "Hey, Eilis." "Come here a sec." "Anthony Fiorello and Eilis Lacey." " Good luck." " Thank you." "Come on, come over here." "Come on." "Will we ever tell our children we did this?" "Maybe we'll save it for some anniversary." "I wonder what they'll think of it." " Nancy." " You look so glamorous." "I told you so." "I'm so sorry about Rose." "Thank you." "How are you?" "No." "I knew, but I wanted to let Nancy tell you herself." "I'm so glad you can come to the wedding." "Can I?" "Your mother accepted the invitation on your behalf." " When is it?" " The 27th of August." "Will you come out with George and me tomorrow night?" "Annette wants to see you, too." "Oh, I don't mind." "I'll have to find you a key." "I don't want you getting me out of bed." "We all want to hear what life in New York is like." "I'll try and think of something to say." "I'm booked to go back to New York on the 21st." "Well, you can wait an extra week to see your best friend married." "I can't believe I'm married to someone you'll never know." "But you'd like him." "I know you would." "He's sweet." "And he's funny." "And he's got these wonderful eyes that..." "I wish everything were different." "So, now, Mrs O'Toole from Cush." "Do we really have to do this?" "Getting a letter of condolence isn't like getting a birthday present, is it?" "What if Mrs O'Toole from Cush writes back to thank you for your thank you?" "Then I'll thank her." "And you'd be happy to spend the rest of your life like that?" "It's not as if I've anything else to do or anybody else to talk to." "It might as well be Mrs O'Toole from Cush." "What do you want me to say?" " That'll be Nancy and Annette." " Off you go." "Enjoy yourself." "Eilis, this is Jim Farrell." "It's a great pleasure to meet you." "We could try the Connaught Hotel bar." "There may be a few of the fellas from the rugby club there." "OK." "Do you have to be with other fellas from the rugby club all the time?" "No." "But Nancy told us we wouldn't be allowed to talk to you cos you have too much to say to each other, so we're just looking for company." "Oh, well." "Do you not like the fellas from the rugby club, Eilis?" "I don't particularly, George." "When I first went to America," "I missed every single thing about Enniscorthy except one." "We're not all the same." "You all look the same." "It's the blazer and the hair oil." "Nancy." "Where's Annette?" "And why has he come?" "He's very nice, so don't be too hard on him." "Is this the same Jim Farrell that was engaged to Cathleen Cassidy?" " What happened to her?" " He broke it off." "He didn't think she was serious about him." "He was very upset for a while, but he's over her now." "Nancy, I'm..." "I'm going back." "But you can have a bit of fun while you're here, can't you?" "Come on, George." "How's your mother?" "She's..." "Well, she's sad." "She's got much older very quickly." "It was a terrible thing." "We all went to the funeral Mass," "Mother and Father and myself." "I didn't know that." "My mother played golf with her, you know." "She was very fond of her." "It was..." "It was the saddest thing to happen in the town that I can remember." "Thank you." "Come on, you two." "And what about the skyscrapers?" "Ah, but that's Manhattan." "I live in Brooklyn and I work in Brooklyn, and if I go out, I go out in Brooklyn." "All the skyscrapers are across the river." "You don't make it sound very glamorous." "It's not, really." "Not even, what do you call it, the department store where you work?" "Oh, Bartocci's?" "Well, it sells lovely things." "But I can't afford many of them and I don't like the work, so..." "What would you like to do?" "I want to do what Rose did." "I want to work in an office and deal with numbers." "Well, you should call in at Davis's." "They haven't managed to replace Rose, you know." "I'll be going back to New York straight after the wedding." "But you might want to earn a little money in the meantime." "I'm sure they'd be glad to have you." "You just want her to stay." "I'm only thinking of Eilis." "Do you hear that, Eilis?" "He's only thinking of you." "That's it, that's it." "Remember, Mrs Grogan didn't notice a thing." " Good night." " Good night." "See you." "How was your evening?" "It was very nice, thank you." "Was that Jim Farrell I saw in the car with them?" "It was." "His parents are moving, you know." "They're retiring to the country." "He'll be in that big house on his own." " Is that right?" " Hmm." "He's a catch for someone." "Good night, Mammy." " Hello, Eilis." " Hello, Mrs Brennan." "Quite the star." " Thank goodness you're back." " What's the matter?" "A lad from Davis's came round." "They have a problem in their accounts department." "They need you up there straightaway." "Is that all?" "I'll just put the shopping away." "No, no, leave it." "Straightaway, the young fella said." "It doesn't matter what he said, Mother." "I'm not an employee." "I'd be doing them a favour." "Please, let me do the shopping." "The problem is that it's our busy season, so all the mill workers and drivers did overtime last week." "Well, they filled out the overtime slips, but there's been nobody here to work it all out and to add to the wage slips, and some of the men have started to complain, and I can't blame them." "As you can see, it's all a terrible mess." "Well, if you leave me for a couple of hours," "I can work out a system so that whoever comes in after me won't have any trouble." "Hello, Eilis." "Maria has been telling me you've done the most marvellous job here." "Thank you." "We should have known you would, of course." "You're Rose's sister, after all." "I'm told you have a certificate in book-keeping." "Is it American book-keeping?" "I got the certificate in America, but the two systems are very similar." "Well, we'll certainly need someone to deal with wages and so on during the busy season." "So I'd like you to continue on a part-time basis." "Let's see how that goes and then we'll speak again." "I'll be going back to the United States soon." "As I say, let's you and I speak again before we make any firm decisions one way or the other." "Yes, Mr Brown." "Of course." "Thank you." "Now, if you go and see Maria, she'll have your money for today." "I'd forgotten." "What?" "This." "You have beaches in Brooklyn." "Yes, but they're just very crowded." "There'll probably be quite a few walkers along here later." "Yes." "It's still not the same." "I'm sure it's not." "We don't really know anything of the rest of the world." "We must seem very backward to you now." "Of course not." "You seem calm and civilised and charming." "Come on!" "My mother wanted you to know that the golf club is inaugurating a prize in Rose's name." "A special trophy for the best score by a lady newcomer at the club." "She was always very nice to the newcomers, my mother says." "I hope you're pleased." "Yes." "Of course." "So every year someone will win the Rose Lacey Trophy?" "Yeah, every year, as long as there's a golf club." "And I think she'd like you to come along and present it to the first winner." "Yeah, and my mother would like to meet you too, by the way." "I'm supposed to arrange a time when you can come around for tea." "Thank you." "I'd like that." "I wish it had been like this before I went." "Before Rose died." "Like what?" "There was nothing here for me before and now I have a job and..." "Here?" "Is that an American trick?" "Yes." "It's a good one, isn't it?" "It's depressing, though, that we don't think of things like that, isn't it?" "I mean, how long have they known about it?" "A hundred years, probably." "I don't think they had bathing suits like that a hundred years ago." "We still don't have them now." "Well, come on." "You wanna go see the Dodgers on Saturday?" " Sure." " OK." " Will you do something for me?" " What?" "If you laugh or you say anything about this to anybody in the family, you don't get to go see the Dodgers on Saturday or any other day of the season." "Also you get a beating." "Maybe it's just better if I don't get involved." "I really need your help, Frankie." "You know you're the best writer and reader in the family?" " Yeah." " I'm trying to write to Eilis." "And I want it to be..." "I don't know." "You've wrote before already about five times." "Yeah, but they're no good, Frankie, and..." "She's only written back once." "She's never read my writing before." "I'm worried I'm putting her off me." "Listen, I'm eight years old." "I don't know anything about kissing." "You don't need to know anything about kissing." "You need to know about spelling and..." "And..." " Grammar." " Yeah." "Will you look?" "Dear Eilis." "I hope that you are doing well in Ireland." "I hope that your mother's feeling less sad." "It will not be long before your friend gets married and you can come home." "This week, it's like the whole world's basements are flooding." "I've fixed three." "I've been working hard." "I've been saving money." "Everybody asks me about you all the time." "You missed out an "E," I think." "It's "everybody."" "Anyway, I think that is all my news." "Mom and Dad and all my brothers, they all say hello." "I think about you most minutes of most days." "Even when I go see the Dodgers," "I do not concentrate on the games." "With love, your Tony." "No hair oil." "And that's not a blazer." "It's a sports jacket." "Have you come out in disguise, Jim Farrell?" "Are you trying to trick me?" "No." "I knew what you meant when you said we were all the same." "It made me think that my life must seem very easy to you." "I run my father's bar." "I'm going to live in my parents' house." "I know what that must look like from the outside, but..." "It doesn't feel like that." "What does it feel like?" "And I've never been anywhere." "I've never even been to England but I'd like to see London and Paris and Rome." "New York." "It frightens me, the idea of dying without ever leaving Ireland." "And there are other things too." "I'm so sorry, I wanted to ask you a thousand things and all I've done is talked." "I'm glad." " Really?" " Yes." "Will you finish that wretched pipe and sit with us?" "I can hear perfectly well from where I am." "We're not here to provide you with entertainment." "Oh, don't you worry." "I found that out many years ago." "Just ignore him, Eilis." "It's as well Jim takes after me, not him." "Speak up." "Are you looking forward to your move?" "We'll miss Enniscorthy, but it's lovely and quiet in Glenbrien." "Mother's worried about leaving me here on me own." "She thinks I'll destroy the place." "Well, I'm hoping you won't be on your own forever." "I'm sure he won't." "I mean..." "God, aren't we blessed with this weather?" "It's lovely." "The summers in New York are hot, eh?" "They can be, yes." "It can get quite humid sometimes." "Dear Tony." "Thank you for your letters." "I want you to know that..." "I don't know what I want you to know." "I don't want to be sitting right at the back." "We'll make sure you get the best seats in the house." "But it wouldn't feel right sitting up there with Nancy and George." "We'll find the second best seats in the house, then." "Would you like me to run ahead and save you a couple of places, Mrs Lacey?" "Would you mind, Jim?" "That'd be grand." " Such a gentleman, isn't he?" " He is." "Came along at just the right time for us." "I invite you now, Nancy, to declare before God and his Church your consent to become George's wife." "I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health." "I will love you and honour you all the days of my life." "The rings." "Lord, bless these rings." "Grant that those who wear them may always be faithful to each other." "May they do your will and live in peace with you in mutual love." "We ask this through Christ our Lord, amen." "Amen." "Your mother tells me things are working out very well for you in Enniscorthy, Eilis." "It was a lovely service." "And Mr and Mrs Farrell are moving out to Glenbrien," " so Jim'll..." " Yes, I know." "Jim and I promised my mother we'd take her back to the car." "Mmm!" "Do you hear that?" ""Jim and I. Jim and I."" "It won't be long now by the sound of it and your mother will have a wonderful day out." "Will you excuse me?" "There they are." " Hello, Mrs Byrne." "How are you?" " Jack." "Can we talk?" "What about?" "The future." "I can't let you just go back to America without saying anything." "I'd regret it for the rest of my life." "So..." "I don't want you to go." "I want you to stay here with me." "And I know that means asking you another question but I don't want to bombard you." "So I'll save that one for later." "Thank you." "I'm grateful." "And I'm flattered." " That's all?" " No." "No, of course not." "I just..." "I'd imagined a different life for myself." "I understand." "But your life here could be just as good." "Better even maybe." "Mary." " I was just coming to fetch you." " To fetch me?" "I haven't worked for Miss Kelly for a long time, Mary." "Please come, Eilis." "She told me not to come back without you." "You know what she's like." "You look after things for five minutes while I'm upstairs with Eilis, please, Mary." "There are no customers in there at the moment, so I don't think you can make too much of a mess of things." "So, how have you been getting on?" "Very well, thanks, Miss Kelly." "I heard that you're working over in Davis's, in the accounts department." "That's right." "And there's lots of talk about you and young Jim Farrell." "Oh, well, you know what people are like." "They love to talk." "Yes." "Do you remember Mrs Brady?" "She usually comes into the shop on Sunday morning for her rashers." "No?" "Well, you have a very busy life now, what with one thing and another." "Anyway, Mrs Brady has a niece living in Brooklyn." "The world is a small place, isn't it?" "She had a letter from her a couple of weeks back." "And what did it say?" "Oh, only that she'd been to a wedding at the city hall and her husband bumped into a girl from Enniscorthy who was getting married there." "I'm not sure what you're telling me, Miss Kelly." "He didn't bump into me." "Oh, you can't fool me, Miss Lacey." "Although I'm not sure that that's your name any longer, is it?" "He couldn't remember." "Something Italian, he thought." "I'd forgotten." "You'd forgotten?" "What a thing..." "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." "My name is Eilis Fiorello." " Putting you through now." " Thank you." "How can I help?" "Hello." "I'd like to make a reservation for the next available sailing from Cobh to New York." "I think people spend even more money after a wedding." "Nancy's mother must have been in every shop in the town." "She was buying firelighters in Broom's." "Firelighters in August." "But she'd seen Mrs Stapleton in there and she hadn't had a chance to go through the whole day in detail with her..." "Eilis, what's the matter?" "Has something happened with Jim?" "Mammy, I'm sorry." "I'm so sorry." "I'm married." "I got married in Brooklyn before I came home." "And I should have told you." "I should have told you as soon as I got back." "I want to be with him." "I want to be with my husband." "Of course." "Is he nice?" "Yes." "He'd have to be nice if you married him." "So you're going back?" "Yes." "Tomorrow." "Are you on the early train?" "I'm going to bed." "Mammy, it's not even 8:00." "You don't have to." "I'm very tired." "And I'd like to say goodbye now." "And only once." "Perhaps you'll write and tell me about him." "I will." "Good night, Eilis." "So are you away to live in America?" " No." " Just visiting?" "No, I live there already." "Really?" "What's it like?" "It's a big place." "I'm gonna live in Brooklyn, New York." "Do you know it?" "Yes." "People say that there are so many Irish people there, it's like home." "Is that right?" "Yes." "It's just like home." "You're not to eat." "But I might be there years." "No, you can eat when you get there." "Don't eat on the boat." "It'll stop you getting so sick." "Do you promise me?" "I promise." "And in a moment I want you to go straight down to your cabin and lock the bathroom door on your side." "When next door starts hammering, you can negotiate." "When you get to immigration, keep your eyes wide open." "Look as if you know where you're going." "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 straightaway, 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 realise... that this is where your life is."