Brooklyn

On Friary Street in Enniscorthy, Ireland, Eilis Lacey watches from her window as her sister, Rose, returns from a day of work. As Rose prepares to leave for golf, Eilis does her bookkeeping homework. After Rose leaves, Eilis is summoned to Miss Kelly’s shop and offered a job on Sundays because of her reputation for good math skills. On her way home from the shop, Eilis stops at her friend Nancy’s house and the two go for a walk, joined by their mutual friend Annette. Nancy admits to the girls that she is flirting with George Sheridan and begs Eilis to come dancing with them that weekend.

Eilis trains in the shop for a few days and notices how much more expensive products are on Miss Kelly’s shelves than they are elsewhere in town. Miss Kelly also treats her customers differently, showing favoritism and letting people cut the line. Eilis tells her mother stories of her training but does not speak to Rose about it, thinking she will disapprove. Rose supports Eilis and her mother with an office job, as their father is dead and their three brothers are away working in England.

The Saturday night before her first full day, Eilis turns in early and rises early for morning mass. When the shop opens, Eilis notices Miss Kelly’s favoritism in action yet again, as she has special bread in the back only to be given to certain customers. At dinner that night, Eilis does an impression of Miss Kelly and both Rose and her mother laugh. Eilis realizes that these are the first laughs she has heard at the table since before her brother Jack left for England. After dinner, Eilis prepares for the dance and meets Nancy at her house. Nancy’s mother and sister help Nancy to get ready, as everyone in the house wants her to succeed in her pursuit of George Sheridan. His family owns and operates a successful shop, and if Nancy joins the Sheridans, her life will change.

At the dance hall, George doesn’t appear, and Eilis and Nancy sit to the side, joking about all the men. Eventually, George, his friend Jim Farrell, and the rest of their rugby team arrive with girls in tow. Eilis and Nancy go to the bathroom and consider leaving but when they come back out, George asks for a dance with Nancy. Eilis sits to the side until George invites her to the bar for a lemonade. When he and Nancy return to dancing, Eilis remains at the bar with Jim Farrell. He seems ready to ask her to dance but stops himself. Eilis, offended, bids goodnight to George and Nancy before leaving.

Miss Kelly begins calling Eilis in to the store on her days off and pays her little while keeping her for hours at a time. One day, Rose tells Eilis that Father Flood, a priest who knew their parents when he was younger, is visiting from America and coming for tea. The reason for the visit is quickly revealed when the conversation turns to how Eilis could have real work in the US. Father Flood runs a large parish in Brooklyn, with many resources and connections he can use to help Eilis. Eilis soon realizes that Rose, distressed by Miss Kelly’s exploitation of her sister, has enlisted Father Flood to help Eilis get to America for a better life. Eilis thinks of how people who go to England come back and visit Enniscorthy often but those who go to America never come home and are supposedly happy and rich.

In the weeks that follow, Eilis receives a letter from Father Flood, who has found a job for her on a shop floor with many opportunities for advancement. He tells Eilis to contact the embassy and get her documents in order. Rose helps her to put everything together and promises to help her financially as she makes the transition, while her brothers will pay for her ticket across the Atlantic. Eilis is excited but unsure about leaving, and she wishes this was all happening to someone else, especially to Rose. As her date of departure approaches, Eilis begins telling people that she is leaving, but when she informs Miss Kelly, she is dismissed from the shop. With this change, Eilis begins to realize that her life is about to change drastically.

Rose and their mother are sad but do their best to hide it. When Eilis realizes that Rose is sacrificing her own future to help Eilis, she wishes to switch places with Rose. Someone must take care of their mother, and it now becomes the sole responsibility of Rose. Eilis commits to smiling through her pain and fear and leaving her family with happy memories. Rose takes her to the ship that will bring her to Liverpool and they have lunch. When Eilis arrives in Liverpool, she meets her brother Jack, who seems anxious to prove to her that he is happy and settled in England. He tells her of his and their other brothers’ lives in the city and about his experiences with homesickness. He tells her it is intense in the beginning but that it does pass.

On the ship, Eilis finds her bunk, which shares a bathroom with the adjoining cabin. For privacy, both doors can be locked. She meets her bunkmate, Georgina, an English woman returning to the US after visiting family. She claims the bottom bunk and laments her third-class status. They go up to the deck of the ship to watch the lights of Liverpool recede, but Eilis doesn’t join Georgina as she attempts to sneak into first class, saying that tonight will be bad. Eilis instead eats a big dinner, though she notices almost no one else eating. When she returns to her bedroom, the bathroom is locked from the other side and she needs it badly. She searches for another one but in desperation relieves herself in a mop bucket she takes from an alcove.

Georgina does not return, and Eilis wakes in the night to the ship struggling through the storm. She feels intense nausea, and since the bathroom is still locked, she throws up in the cabin and the hallway. She hears her neighbors vomiting in the bathroom and realizes that they have locked the door with the intent of using the bathroom all night. The next morning, Georgina wakes her and tells her that the storm will make the next night worse. Eilis tells her of the bathroom dilemma and Georgina picks the lock, locks their neighbors’ door, and then wedges her suitcase between the door and the wall so that they cannot open their door.

The cleaning crew finally makes its way through third class and Eilis and Georgina make a deal with their neighbors to share the bathroom and suffer together through the trip. When they near New York, Georgina advises Eilis on how to dress and act to get through the immigration checks unbothered. She puts makeup on her, and Eilis looks at herself in the mirror and finds an older, more confident version of herself looking back.