The Next Ship Home

A Novel of Ellis Island

By: Heather Webb

Narrated by: Kathryn Markey

A young Italian woman arrives on the shores of America, her sights set on a better life. That same day, a young American woman reports to her first day of work at the immigration center. But Ellis Island isn’t a refuge for Francesca or Alma, not when ships depart every day with those who are refused entry to the country and when corruption ripples through every corridor. While Francesca resorts to desperate measures to ensure she will make it off the island, Alma fights for her dreams of becoming a translator, even as women are denied the chance.

As the two women face the misdeeds of a system known to manipulate and abuse immigrants searching for new hope in America, they form an unlikely friendship and share a terrible secret—altering their fates and the lives of the immigrants who come after them.

Inspired by true events and for fans of Kristina McMorris and Hazel Gaynor, The Next Ship Home holds up a mirror to our own times, deftly questioning America’s history of prejudice and exclusion while also reminding us of our citizens’ singular determination. This is a novel of the dark secrets of Ellis Island, when entry to “the land of the free” promised a better life but often delivered something drastically different and when immigrant strength and female friendship found ways to triumph even on the darkest days.

©2022 Heather Webb (P)2022 Recorded Books

The character development and the accents were amazing!

A wonderfully written novel about what the immigrants and the workers at Ellis Island dealt with in the early 1900’s.

Historical fiction

N Next Ship Home: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.03
Historical Fiction…. Ellis Island 1902…. Interesting look at how people chose to come to America…. How they got chosen to enter America and what came after

Loved the story and the reader!!!

Absolutely loved listening to this book! The reader Kathryn was amazing and kept me listening for hours!

Conflict and abuse of immigrants.

I liked the inter tangled story. I liked hearing the inner turmoil of the people in the story. This story was sad and also uplifting.

Fully human and timely immigrant story of the heart

This book is so timely, with its focus on the immigrant experience. But it’s also a story of the heart, exposing our human frailties and failings, showing how brave we are, bringing to life the fight to endure, the strife to shake off the old way of ignoring wrongs and rewarding abusers of power.

Francesca escapes with her sister, Marie, to America, but nothing is like she’d imagined, starting with the boat trip over. Soon she meets Alma, a woman who is deep in her own misery. Is there room in Alma’s heart to help another—one of thousands suffering? Maybe not, for Alma has her own problems, with a step-father who doesn’t want her and who seemingly has no power over her own life.

Webb brings these two women and their families and friends to life, while also showing us the horrors that were Ellis Island, the in between land of immigrants. Wonderful! Enjoyed the audio.