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33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfectly executed historical fiction, July 10, 2011
I'm always in the market for a good historical fiction novel, so when I heard about Ellis Island I was immediately intrigued. I was thrilled to discover that Ellis Island was everything I had hoped it would be and more. I found myself drawn into the story right from the very first page, and my enjoyment of the novel did not cease until I turned the very last page. I loved the peek into rural Ireland this novel afforded me. Ellie and John grew up in a poor, tight-knit farm community, and over the course of the novel Kerrigan illustrates perfectly what it must be like to live in those kinds of circumstances. The people in the town, while being very close, are also very cliquish and gossipy. Growing up, Ellie never fit in with her classmates because her parents didn't fit in with the other adults in their town. Her marriage to John helps give her roots but also inspires her to grow wings, based on his need for the surgery. And once Ellie spends time in New York, she can't imagine going back to her (what she perceives as) small, insignificant life on the farm. The strong ties she felt to this life she really didn't even want showed me just how much small-town life in that time would pull a person in. They truly took pride in their farms, their homes, and everything else about their lives - especially since this was just after they became independent from the English. It really was a joy to read about this part of Irish history. In addition to a peek into rural 1920's Ireland, Ellis Island gives the reader a thorough look into New York City at that same point in history. Ellie hobnobbed with the most influential socialites of that day, so the reader really gets a taste of the kind of luxury enjoyed by the richest people in New York at that time. Also, since Ellie came into America via Ellis Island, the book gives the reader a look at what the immigrant experience was like at that time. This was truly historical fiction at its best, and I loved every second of it. In addition to loving the historical fiction aspects of this novel, I loved the character of Ellie. She is resourceful and smart, plucky and very determined. She's a dutiful wife but also clear on the fact that she needs to do more than take care of her home and her husband. Her courage in going to America by herself is inspiring and the fact that she assimilated so well and so quickly is pretty amazing. I loved reading this story about her and from her perspective. She was truly the perfect heroine of this novel and I honestly loved everything about her. I cannot possibly continue explaining how much I enjoyed Ellis Island without encouraging you to just read it! If you enjoy historical fiction with an excellent main character, this book is absolutely not to be missed.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A book marred by bad editing, September 7, 2011
I enjoyed the book, but the pleasure was marred by horrendous editing. Not only spelling and grammatical errors and wrong names, but some other errors that were truly egregious. For example, at one point it was said that Maidy and Paud were in their late 60's when 11 year old John came to live with them. A few pages later, Paud was 60. Later on in the book, when John must have been near 30, Maidy and Paud were still as active and physically busy as when John was a child. They would be near nearing 90 if the first description of them were true. I'm a stickler, so this really bothered me.
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14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What is the cost to live the American dream?, July 5, 2011
All of us dream someday to find the perfect person to marry. Sometimes we find that person in our very best friend we have grown up with. Now much older we see them in a different light. Once just someone who we would climb trees with, scour the land for small animals and even walk us home from school, now they have matured into something much more. We shared a friendship and a love that isn't known until you find it in your best friend like John Hogan and Ellie Flaherty. Ellie's spent her childhood growing up under her father's watchful eye being the priest of the village in which they lived. Living a life that he considers proper he wants only the best ethical life for Ellie, however when Ellie sees fit to fall in love with John and runs away to get married, it will create a dividing line for Ellie between her and her family. Now living with John struggling to make ends meet in a run down college in the midst of war between the Irish and the British, Ellie worries that John efforts in helping out in the war will be their undoing. When he is wounded and can no longer walk, Ellie fears that now they will wind up poor since John can no longer work. Receiving hope in the form of a letter from her friend from school, Shelia offers Ellie hope in working in America for a rich lady in need of help. Seeing an opportunity to help John with paying for an expensive surgery to make him walk again, Ellie sees no choice but to head to America long enough to make John well again. In the novel Ellis Island by Kate Kerrigan we see the difficult choices that people had to make in living their homelands in hopes of coming to America for a better life. What some find here isn't the land of dreams being fulfilled while others are seeing that and so much more than they ever thought possible. Ellie will be faced to make a choice to return to her life with John with all his letters pleading for her to return, or see the possibilities for them all to come to America and make it in a land of hopes and dreams. I received this book compliments of TLC Book Tours and Harper Collins publishers for my honest review. I LOVED how open and honest this story is of the struggle of leaving home for the possibility of something better like so many emigrants did back in the 1900's. While the work is hard at first many find their efforts worth it when little by little they see the prosperity just waiting for those willing to work hard for it. This book rates a 4.5 out of 5 stars.
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