Download or read book Ireland to America - Ellie's Story written by Kate Kerrigan and published by Pan Macmillan. This book was released on 2013-08-15 with total page 600 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ellie and John are inseparable. There is nothing that will tear them apart. Marrying young despite their families’ objections and surviving a poverty-stricken Ireland, they have each other. When John is injured in the War of Independence, their love is tested when Ellie ‘emigrates for one short year’ to pay for his vital operation. Overwhelmed by the seductive energy and promise America offers, Ellie finds herself drawn to the compelling freedom she experiences in Jazz Age New York. When the year is up, Ellie chooses to stay, returning to Ireland only when her father dies. Reunited with her beloved she realises that freedom isn’t a gift from another country, it comes from within. In the 1930s, events compel Ellie to return to New York. Hoping the city’s energy and vibrancy will distract her from thoughts of home she is shocked to find the Depression has rendered the city unrecognisable. Horrified by the suffering around her, Ellie pledges to help and pours her energy into providing a refuge for the homeless. Until, one day, someone she thought she’d never see again steps through her door. It seems that even the Atlantic isn’t big enough to prevent the past catching up with her . . .