Long Island

Every Saturday, Tony’s father comes to each house in the family and checks on their cars. He always suggests to Eilis that if her car has trouble, she should talk to his friend Mr. Dakessian. Eilis knows Mr. Dakessian through her jobs keeping the books for Tony and his brothers, as Mr. Dakessian works on their cars. When she sees him, he laments that his son does not want to take over the business and that his daughter, soon to be married, will no longer do the books. When he offers Eilis a job to replace his daughter, she accepts, frustrated with how dismissive Tony’s brothers are of her suggestions to improve their business.

After dinner, Eilis washes the floor to ensure that no grease is left behind. Later, when Tony joins her in bed, he turns off the light and they sit in silence. Finally, Eilis tells him about the man at the door, asking if the man meant what he said. Tony tells her that he does, and Eilis admonishes him for not having told her about the affair and the pregnancy himself. As time goes on, Eilis and Tony do not discuss the matter, and life returns to normal, though when Eilis does try to bring it up, Tony refuses to speak. Finally, she tells him that if the man makes good on his promise, she will not raise the baby and does not want it in her house. Eilis tries not to not empathize with the man too much, worrying she will crack, especially if Francesca finds out and makes this seem normal.

Eilis makes an appointment to see Frank, Tony’s youngest brother, a lawyer. Frank has offered to pay Rosella’s tuition to attend Fordham. When Eilis told Tony about Frank’s offer, Tony became uncomfortable and finally asked Eilis why Frank does not have a girlfriend, to which Eilis replied that he is gay. Tony made her promise not to tell anyone. When Eilis visits Frank to see what can be done if the man leaves the baby on their stoop, he asks if they can speak in confidence before telling her that he knows about the situation and has met with the man. He tells her that Francesca will take the baby and raise it while Tony adopts it. When Eilis questions if this means she will also have to adopt it, Frank tells her she must figure that out with Tony, and that no matter what, she cannot share that he told her everything.

In the many years since the Fiorello family moved to their compound, they have spent every Sunday afternoon having a long lunch at Francesca’s. One Sunday, as scenes from protests of the Vietnam War flash across the TV, Eilis and her father-in-law get into a fight, with her father-in-law saying that the students should fight for their country, while Eilis does not want any of her own children fighting in the war. Her father-in-law asserts that he would be proud of his grandchildren, but Eilis doesn’t back down, eliciting criticisms from Tony’s brothers. A few days later, Francesca tells Eilis that she does not have to come to Sunday lunches anymore, believing that they are too overwhelming for her. Eilis stops attending and grows to cherish her Sundays alone.

Eilis tries to discuss the matter of the child with Tony, but Tony refuses to engage. She continues to work at the garage and tells Mr. Dakessian about her mother in Ireland, prompting him to comment that she must be sad never to have met her grandchildren. When Eilis receives a letter from her mother, documenting all the people she sees in town, she notices that Jim Farrell is missing. It reminds her of the summer she secretly married Tony and returned to Ireland, where she was too afraid to tell anyone about her marriage and had a short fling with Jim, only leaving right as he prepared to ask her to marry him.

May arrives and Eilis remembers her times with Tony and, later, her young children at Jones Beach. Eilis visits the beach, hoping to reconstruct those happier times. May turns to June, and Tony still does not share anything with Eilis. Finally, Francesca comes to visit and asks what Eilis wants to do. Eilis realizes that Francesca is not offering a real choice; she simply wants to make Eilis the villain. Nonetheless, Eilis remains firm, asserting that she does not want the baby in the house or raised by anyone else in the family.

After her conversation with Francesca, Eilis talks to Mr. Dakessian and decides to visit her mother in Ireland for her 80th birthday in August. When she tells Tony, he asks her if she will come back and she tells him she will if he can promise her that the baby will not be in the family. He cannot make that promise. Eilis then tells her children about the baby and her trip to Ireland. Larry has already deduced the situation at a previous Sunday dinner, as his uncles mocked his father about the baby, but Rosella is taken by surprise and upset. Both tell Eilis that they want to join her in Ireland, and she plans for them to fly over at the end of July. They tell their father, and Tony, who hates being alone, is upset that he can do nothing to change this.