If you have the opportunity to visit Ellis Island and the Tenement Museum in Lower Manhattan this summer it is well worth your time. Walking through the station where so many of our ancestors knew they’d either be accepted to begin a new life or rejected and sent back across the ocean sent chills up my spine.
Exploring those reproduced tenements during the tour in Lower Manhattan and hearing stories born of poverty brought the world in Band of Sisters alive for me. It helped me better appreciate what our immigrant ancestors endured in order to create lives in this new world.
Maureen O’Reilly and her younger sister flee Ireland in hopes of claiming the life promised their father over twenty years before.
But after surviving the rigors of Ellis Island, Maureen learns that their NYC benefactor, Colonel Wakefield, has died, and his family, refusing to own his Civil War debt, casts her out.
Alone, impoverished, and in danger of deportation, Maureen connives to obtain employment in a prominent department store. But she soon discovers that the elegant façade hides a secret that threatens every vulnerable woman in the city.
Despite her family’s disapproval, Olivia Wakefield determines to honor her father’s debt, but can’t find Maureen. Unexpected help comes from a local businessman, who Olivia sees as more than an ally, even as she fears the secrets he’s hiding.
As women begin disappearing from the store, Olivia rallies influential ladies in her circle to help Maureen take a stand against injustice and fight for the lives of their growing band of sisters. But can either woman open her heart to divine leading, or the love that might bring?
Band of Sisters is available online and can be ordered wherever books are sold.
Until next time, God’s blessings, and happy reading!
Cathy
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Comments 2
I can’t imagine traveling all that way, just to be turned away!
It would have been heartbreaking, especially when torn from your family.
God bless,
Cathy