Brooklyn Part 2 Summary

Eilis is in Brooklyn. FINALLY… I mean it’s not like the title of the book is “Brooklyn” or anything.
She lives with five other women. No, it’s not a convent.
Eilis is a lodger at Mrs. Kehoe’s Brooklyn home and four other ladies live there.
Miss McAdam is an older lady who loves to complain about everything. Basically she’s the annoying biotch of the house.
Patty McGuire is a department store worker.
Diana Montini is the only redhead in the house and ironically she’s half Italian.
Patty and Diana are besties who man hungry. They are either in the house, at work, or hunting down men to date.
Sheila Heffernan shares the top floor with Patty and they get in cat fights all the time.
Miss Keegan is an older lady who lives in the basement with Diana. She’s quiet and only talks when she can rant about American politics.
Mrs. Kehoe runs a tight ship. She’s like a strict mother only a little worse. She cooks dinner for the girls every night and expects them to talk about fashion so she can learn the latest hip trends. So basically, she’s like a strict mother who wants her daughters to teach her how to make a Twitter account.

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50-BROOKLYN-Lionsgate

Eilis works at Bartocci’s Department Store.
The store is owned by Mr. Bartocci and run by his daughter, Ellisabetta. It’s like Donald Trump and Ivanka.
Eilis describes Elisabetta as the most fashionable woman she’s ever seen with jet black hair and vibrant red lipstick.
Miss Fortini is Eilis’s supervisor and both Miss Fortini and Miss Bartocci expect Eilis to work the shop floor and bend over backwards for each customer with a constant smile.
She will also work as a cashier and do simple math. How glamorous!
About a month into Eilis’s Brooklyn life, Bartocci’s hosts its annual surprise “Famous Nylon Sale” where every nylon product is at least 50% off. Imagine every department store has these sales nowadays?!
Eilis could not get over how crowded work was that day. Poor girl had no warning about how much Americans love sales.
On the bright side, Eilis was allowed to get four things for free. She got four pairs of nylon socks, one for Mrs. Kehoe, one for herself, and one pair each for Rose and her mother for Christmas.

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Eilis wrote a bunch of letters to her family back home but hasn’t gotten any back until now. They are from her mother, Jack and Rose. Their messages are impersonal and short except for Rose’s.
Eilis comes to the harsh realization that she has lost everything- her family, her home, her life in Enniscorthy. Nothing in Brooklyn belongs to her.
She gets into a depression and has vivid dreams of herself flying over Enniscorthy only to wake up and be in her little room in Brookyln.
She goes to work and can’t keep a smile. Miss Fortini realizes and knows something must be wrong.
Father Flood comes to Bartocci’s and speaks privately with Eilis… only its not Confession.
He teaches her that she is homesick and it’s natural for her to miss her home and be emotional.
He wants to keep her busy so he enrolls her in accountancy night classes at Brookyln college. He assures her that if she passes all of her exams that in two years she will find no trouble getting a job in any New York office.

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She’s the only Irish person in her classes. How times have changed…
Her favorite teacher is Mr. Rosenblum and he teaches Law Instruction. He loves to tell jokes and ramble on and on about court cases past and present. We all know a teacher who loves to ramble.

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Christmas in New York is approaching but who knew if the Rockette’s were even around at this point.
Father Flood asks Eilis to work in the parish hall on Christmas Day to help serve dinner to the people who have nowhere to go.
Eilis works the night shift on Christmas Eve at Bartocci’s and works Christmas at the church.
She works all day with two sisters both named Miss Murphy. They prepare food for the Irishmen that come for a home-cooked Christmas meal … and of course some booze. Is there ever an Irish gathering without booze?
One Irishmen reminds Eilis of her father. She almost thinks it’s him until she realizes her father has been dead for years. After dinner, this man goes up to sing for everyone.
He asks Eilis to join him on stage and he holds her hand as he sings passionately and strongly.
Eilis is overwhelmed with joy and does not want the song to ever end.