Summary

Eilis returns home and is surprised to find the home does not feel strange to her. Eilis’s mother explains that she sometimes forgets Rose is gone. Eilis wonders how her mother will react if she tells her mother she is married. She writes to Tony every chance she gets, for she misses him and Brooklyn terribly. She feels as if her old room is very empty of life, and cannot wait to return to her husband. Eilis’s mother shows Eilis all the cards, letters, and mementos sent to her since Rose’s death. As Eilis moves through the streets of her hometown, she realizes she is drawing looks because she now looks more American than Irish, and less rustic than the traditional way of dressing in the area.

Eilis and her mother bring a wreath when they visit Rose’s grave...