The Last Days of Ellis Island
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- 4,99 €
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- 4,99 €
Publisher Description
Winner of the European Union Prize for Literature
New York, November 3, 1954. In a few days, the immigration inspection station on Ellis Island will close its doors forever.
“Josse powerfully evokes the spirit of the ‘huddled masses’ who landed on America’s shores while creating a memorable portrait of a man torn between his commitment to his difficult job and the longings of his heart. Duty and desire clash in the melancholy reminiscences of a former Ellis Island immigration officer.” —Kirkus Reviews, *Starred Review*
New York, November 3, 1954. In a few days, the immigration inspection station on Ellis Island will close its doors forever. John Mitchell, an officer of the Bureau of Immigration, is the guardian and last resident of the island. As Mitchell looks back over forty-five years as gatekeeper to America and its promise of a better life, he recalls his brief marriage to beloved wife Liz, and is haunted by memories of a transgression involving Nella, an immigrant from Sardinia. Told in a series of poignant diary entries, this is a story of responsibility, love, fidelity, and remorse.
“French novelist Josse’s melancholy English-language debut looks at the last few days in 1954 before Ellis Island was officially shuttered as a port of entry into the U.S. (…) Josse’s powerful work finds the human heart within a career bureaucrat.” —Publishers Weekly
“Gripping…The Last Days of Ellis Island is an absorbing novel in which beloved dreams are fast to shatter.” —Foreword Reviews
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
French novelist Josse's melancholy English-language debut looks at the last few days in 1954 before Ellis Island was officially shuttered as a port of entry into the U.S. The novel is structured as diary entries by fictional Ellis Island commissioner John Mitchell, who muses on his history as a gatekeeper, declaring, "I am the captain of a phantom ship that has been abandoned to its ghosts." Two of these ghosts are the women who most affected his life. Mitchell's wife, Liz, was a nurse on the island until her death in 1920 of typhus, brought in with immigrants on the ship Germania. Three years later, Mitchell falls deliriously in love with Nella Casarini, who arrives on the Cincinnati with her mentally disabled brother, Paolo, and then, days later, disappears from Mitchell's life after Paolo commits suicide. Mitchell also recalls others who passed through the port, and remembers Augustus Sherman, a fellow official and amateur photographer, and one of only a few historical figures in the story. Lehrer's translation is both limpid and lyrical, as Mitchell sees himself being put out to pasture. ("He must leave the pack, like an old animal moving away to die, while the herd continues on without him.") Josse's powerful work finds the human heart within a career bureaucrat.
