1950s Ireland. All Eilis has to look forward to are slick-haired rugby players, gossip at the local shop, and bad weather. When a kindly priest sponsors her to go to America, she packs her meagre belongings, says a tearful goodbye to her mother and her sister, and hello to…

Brooklyn: with its bright lights, brownstones and brash confidence, it’s a very different world for Eilis. However, while working at a glamorous department store and being courted by sweet young plumber Tony, Eilis experiences The Dodgers, Coney Island, spaghetti sauce…and love.

A family tragedy forces her back to Ireland, and Eilis marries Tony in secret before she goes. Once home, everyone is struck by Eilis’s ‘new world’ sophistication. She finds comfort in old friends, and one new one – the eligible Jim, who encouraged by Eilis’s mother, starts to woo her.

Before long, Eilis has to make a heart-breaking choice between two men and two countries; between duty and true love.