City of Hope
- Book: City of Hope
- Location: County Mayo, New York City (NYC)
- Author: Kate Kerrigan
Ellis Island completely mesmirized me so I was very excited to read and review the sequel for TripFiction.
In Ellis Island we end with Ellie returning to Ireland and to husband John, setting up her own shop and coping with the heartache of miscarriage.
City of Hope starts ten years later by now Ellie has a successful business Empire and is pretty well off by Irish country standards. She and John have not been blessed with children and Ellie keeps busy with her enterprises and home whilst John runs their farm. Strong willed and independent Ellie is devastated when John dies and unable to cope with his loss runs away, back to New York, thinking she will pick up where she left off ten years before.
In 1934 New York is nothing like the city she left behind, Depression has hit and the streets are full of beggars and homeless families struggling to survive. Ellie contacts old pal Sheila but soon realises she cannot be flighty and flirtatious like Sheila but knows she needs something to ground her and keep her busy and from thinking about John. That something proves to be the old housekeeper of her old workplace and a homeless family she comes across on the streets.
Using the wealth she accumulated in Ireland, Ellie begins buying up derelict houses and housing homeless families, running a highly successful co-operative that keeps them all fed and housed. At last she has something to work towards. However, nothing is plain sailing and Ellie and her new family come up against some dilemmas and finally when Ellie realises she has to face up to her own life and stop running, she has to make a choice that will affect her own future.
It was great to be reunited with Ellie, a much harder but an equally determined Ellie. She is not always likeable, often selfish but you can see why she is and underneath it is a softer, more needy Ellie that she can’t quite keep down.
The details of the Depression with it’s Hoovervilles and despondent men were realistic and actually all the more shocking because of similar things happening nowadays but the story showed the strength of the characters, Ellie’s determination to always do good and help others whilst still showing her underlying vulnerability.
The contrast between Ireland and America was described to good effect I thought, the glittering, showy New York of old gone and a grey, despairing world in its place, whilst Ireland has not really moved on at all seemed somehow to emphasise to the reader what America has lost.
A quick paced read, time moves on quickly and such a lot seems to happen in that space but that is how Ellie describes her new and busy life so it fits with the narrative and the sense of energy and urgency.
I will be looking forward very much to reading the final book in this trilogy and finding out what Ellie’s decision is and what becomes of her. Hopefully she will find lasting happiness.
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