Reprinted from Becoming Americans: Four Centuries of Immigrant Writing, edited by Ilan Stavans (The Library of America, 2009), pages 63–69.

                                      John McElgun’s 1873 novel Annie Reilly; or, The Fortunes of an Irish Girl in New York follows two young immigrants— James O’Rourke and the Annie of the title—from Munster in southern Ireland to Liverpool and then New York City, where their separate, harrowing stories finally and happily reconnect. Subtitled “A Tale Founded on Fact,” the novel vividly documents the injustices and indignities that typified the experience of those who left Ireland in the steerage of “coffin ships” in the wake of the Great Famine.

Condition note:

       This is a hardcover. It is in poor condition with both the front and back end papers having separated from the text block. In addition a single leaf ( pages 237-238 ) has separated from its signature and is laid in place. This copy also has a book plate from the presentation convent school library parishes St Francis. The binding is loose and there is considerable wear at the head and tail of the spine with bumps to the corners that have exposed the underlying board.