Brooklyn

Eilis Lacey, the protagonist of Brooklyn, crosses the Atlantic twice to find her confidence and begin her own independent life. Eilis is the youngest daughter of the Lacey family and is helped to America by the connections and hard work of her sister Rose. When Eilis leaves Ireland, she struggles to understand her place in the world and her future. Her confidence is not strong and she is shocked by her appearance when her bunkmate on the ship to Brooklyn helps her dress and put makeup on: “She thought that she would love to know how to put her make-up on properly herself [...] It would be much easier, she imagined, to go out among people she did not know, maybe people she would never see again, if she could look like this” (52). This is the first time that Eilis truly sees herself as an adult and feels confidence in her appearance and ability to operate in the wider world of New York. Throughout her time in Brooklyn, in Mrs. Kehoe’s boardinghouse and her fledgling relationship with Tony, Eilis continues to grow into an independent adult and confident woman, spending less time thinking of how others will judge and receive her.