When Eilis leaves Ireland for New York she is at once excited about her new opportunities and sad about leaving her mother and sister behind. After a year in Brooklyn she has overcome her homesickness, met a man she loves, and enrolled in night school to further her education. When her sister suddenly dies Eilis feels the need to go back to Ireland to visit her Mum.

The dilemma comes when Eilis finds a very different and more prosperous homeland; she seems to waiver about her return to New York and the life she has made for herself there.