Heather Webb has done an extraordinary job of telling the immigrant experience in the early 1900’s. Ellis Island is brought back to life with her characters and her depictions of both the immigrant as well as the inspectors, interpreters, matrons and all employees who were involved in this massive undertaking. Their hardships and what they had to endure is told through a powerful friendship between the women. Their growth and resilience makes this a novel to treasure. Well written and well researched! #HeatherWebb #TheNextShipHome #NetGalley

3.5 stars

I really enjoy reading HF for the history lesson and a realistic story. It's Ellis Island in 1902 when The Next Ship Home takes place.

Francesca, an Italian immigrant and Alma, German background, are similar in age and personalities. Where one runs from her past the other stays put. Both wanting something better for they lives and actually just wanting a say in their future. As Francesca arrives on US soil she is greeted with heartache and turmoil. Becoming friends with Alma changes everything and even more so as tension between different immigrant groups threaten their relationship. Add in rumours of corruption on the island.

The Next Ship Home is a story of new beginnings, self discovery and standing tall. While this might not be my favorite Heather Webb book - I've read each of her books, I enjoyed learning more about Ellis Island and appreciated the author notes at the end.

My thanks to Sourcebooks for a digital arc in exchange for a honest review.

The Next Ship Home: A Novel of Ellis Island by Heather Webb is an incredibly moving and riveting historical fiction novel centered around the immigrant experience and life in New York City in 1902.

Francesca, a young Italian woman, arrives on Ellis Island with her sister in 1902. That same day, Alma, a young German American woman, begins her first day of work at the immigration center. Francesca dreams of a better life in America, while Alma dreams of becoming a translator. After the two form an unlikely friendship, they alter their fates and the lives of the immigrants who come after them.

Webb’s rich and detailed writing vividly portrayed the dark side of the immigration process on Ellis Island and transported me there amidst the chaos, confusion, and corruption. My heart went out to the immigrants, especially the young women who already dealt with so much oppression. They felt scared and alone while facing language barriers and suffering prejudice, abuse, and appalling conditions. I was outraged about certain ways Francesca was treated, but I admired her outlook and determination, and I was glad she had Alma in her corner.

Despite their different backgrounds and circumstances, Francesca and Alma were both strong, independent, and intelligent women. With her tenacious and passionate spirit and kind heart, Alma fought to overcome adversity in the face of inequality. Francesca persevered because she was willing to do whatever it took to have an opportunity for a better life in America. The beautiful friendship they formed added heart and soul to this powerful story, which was inspired by true events. Be sure not to miss the fascinating Author’s Note at the end!

Based on true events, Ms. Webb tells us about what really happened on Ellis Island. How the immigrants were treated and taken advantage of. A subject that I knew nothing about. This is also a story about strong women and the power and strength of friendship. A little slow at the beginning but definitely worth reading.

**Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley in exchange of an honest review. **

This is an amazing historical fiction novel. Set in 1902 at Ellis Island. The turmoil that surrounds the characters will break your heart. The love and strength will mend it.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Heather Webb’s newest novel, The Next Ship Home is a compelling and engaging story of Ellis Island and the immigrants that fled to this country in search of a better life. This is a very well written story filled with such descriptions you will feel you are there. An emotional and touching story that will stay with you and make you think about it long after reading it. Webb does a fine job with historical events and the detail she uses is superb. She hits a lot of tough topics in this one including racism, sexual assault, bribery, corruption, poverty and bigotry but handles it with utmost care. She sheds light on and gives understanding on just how complex the immigration process to Ellis Island in 1902 really was. People fighting for their freedom and independence in search of better life but not always finding it. This is an intensely passionate story that I highly recommend all to read.

Thank you NetGalley, Heather Webb and Sourcebooks Landmark for an advanced copy of this heart wrenching novel in exchange for my honest opinion.
#netgalley #heatherwebb #thenextshiphome #sourcebookslandmark #arc #historicalfiction

Heather Webb's The Next Ship Home: A Novel of Ellis Island is a fabulous read. I loved every single page. I am giving it five stars.

Thanks to SOURCEBOOKS Landmark, I was provided an ARC of The Next Ship Home by Heather Webb via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

****Coming out Feburary 8, 2022****

An incredibly moving book that was hard to put down.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Two sisters, Francesca and Maria start their journey from Sicily, Italy on a ship headed to Ellis island, in order to escape the abuse they have endured from their father. Will they be accepted through immigration or be deported? Will they be able to navigate their new life to achieve the “American Dream” ?

Alma, a German American, lives in NYC with her family. Her stepfather gets her a job at Ellis Island in order to help save money, so they can move into a nicer property. Her stepfather thought since she was a disgrace and wouldn’t be marriage material, that she needs to work to make money for the family.

Alma meets Francisca and Maria while at her job at Ellis Island. Will she be able to help them navigate the immigration process or will they be sent back to Italy? This heartfelt book will have you turning the pages to find out.

An interesting read that portrayed the immigration process, and what life was like coming through Ellis Island! Not everyone survived, not everyone was accepted, and many were detained at Ellis Island with the fear they would be sent back home.

An incredible story that is a must read and leaves you thinking about long after it’s done. Be sure to add to your TBR list A great book club pick!

In 1902, Francesca Ricci and her sister, Maria are leaving their only home they've ever known and their abusive father in Sicily aboard a ship to the USA.  With no one to meet them and no jobs lined up, the Ricci sisters are hoping for a miracle upon their arrival.  Alma Bauer works at her family bierhaus, but her stepfather wants her to bring in more income.  He finds Alma a job at Ellis Island with the matrons.  At first, Alma does not want to help the immigrants, but she finds purpose in translating and helping people.  Alma is taken by the Ricci sister's cause, especially after Francesca helps her.  Alma decides to help Francesca stay in the USA and not have to go home on the next ship home.   As Alma and Francesca's lives intertwine, they help each other more than they could imagine.  

The Next Ship Home is a sweeping historical fiction novel of Ellis Island.  Webb's beautiful writing sets the scene of chaos, confusion, hope, sadness and enchantment that makes up Ellis Island.  Francesca and Alma came alive as their stories unfolded. They saw themselves as very different but found strength in their friendship and were both able to learn and grow as people and women in America.  I was amazed at their ability to overcome a series of situations that seemed impossible and loved the way that their stories were linked together.  Through Francesca and Alma, the many types of oppression of women were explored: from exploitation, abuse, rape, non-consensual marriages, and reliance upon men for basic needs. I have always adored Webb's writing and the way that real historical information is weaved in throughout.  Through the story, I learned of the drama of the commissioners of Ellis Island and the rampant mistreatment of immigrants that came through.  With that, I also learned of the movements that immigrants and the people of New York were able to create from their struggles including the labor movement, the subway system, and women's rights.  

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

This is one of the best books I have read in the last year, and it is probably my favorite Heather Webb book. It is a social commentary reminding us that all people are worthy of friendship, respect, and help regardless of race and nationality. The eye-opening and soul-opening lessons that Alma experiences are incredible.

After the last couple of years of intense racist revival in the United States, I cannot think of a better time for this book and its lessons to come out. While reading this, I could think of how much I love that Webb wrote the shift of perspective for the generational prejudices that each of the characters in the book has. And while only a couple of characters are open to battling their prejudices, that is all it takes to break a cycle, just a couple of strong people to decide to change.

Next Ship Home is a terrific historical fiction novel based on Ellis Island. Alma and Francesca meet on Ellis Island and their friendship evolves in an interesting manner. I discerned a major plot twist fairly early on. Webb is able to bring authenticity to how the lives of these two young women were. I did read with my heart stuck in my throat most of the time.
Life was hard for the women, but they persevered. I could picture exactly where everything was on Ellis Island, having been there three years ago. Reading this novel demonstrates the temerity and grip all immigrants progressed.

This book really resonated with me when I saw the title and read the summary. I love genealogy and it was a dream come true to visit Ellis Island. My great-grandfather emigrated from Italy a few years after this story took place, so I felt an immediate connection to it.

I found this book to have a very engaging storyline. I really felt connected to both main characters, Alma and Francesca, and their plights as women with dreams in a time when women typically did not dare to dream, let alone realize any dreams. I found myself rooting for each to have a happy ending. Both of the characters showed a lot of growth throughout the story, becoming better versions of themselves through their trials and tribulations.

I wasn’t satisfied with the way the last chapter ended, but the epilogue wrapped up Francesca’s & Fritz’s story nicely, although I do wish there was more foresight into their future as well as Alma’s & Jeremy’s (because I’m convinced something was about to blossom there).

As much as I liked the story, I was not a big fan of this author’s writing style. Some of the sentences are structured oddly so I had to reread them several times before they made sense. I felt like the newspaper articles would be more natural at the beginning of a chapter or between chapters with a clear delineation separating them from the chapters. There were also quite a few punctuation and grammar mistakes throughout that will hopefully be resolved prior to the publication.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this advanced copy.

1902, Sicily: Francesca wants to escape her abusive father. She runs away with her sister and is bound for NYC and a new life. She is willing to do whatever it takes to get there.
1902, NYC: Alma is a dutiful German American daughter who is overworked, unappreciated, and unloved by her German stepfather who wants her to make a marriage that would be advantageous to the family and their bierhaus. When he forces Alma to work at Ellis Island, she meets Francesca whose beloved sister has been hospitalized.

Through Heather Webb’s well-developed narrative, the era comes alive. Women had few rights. Men made all the decisions and had the majority of the opportunities. Working conditions were abhorrent. Bias and prejudice were the order of the day. For me, great historical fiction demonstrates how far we’ve come, yet shows there is still room to grow. This book fits the bill.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this glimpse into life on Ellis Island and New York, set in 1902. It was especially interesting to me after visiting New York and Ellis Island in 2020. I liked the contrast between Alma, an American from the German section of NY, and Francesca who left a brutal father in Sicily for a new life in America.
The immigration process at Ellis Island could be harsh, dark and brutal. Millions made it through, though, whatever the personal cost, because they wanted a better life. I kept thinking how horrified they would be, after enduring so much at Ellis Island, to see thousands of illegal immigrants simply walking across southern borders so easily now, with no government checks or balances enforced by the current administration.
In the story, Francesca and Alma learn there will always be stereotypes and judgements to overcome, but through strength, character and hard work it can be done. As Francesca tells Alma: “You always have a choice. It may not be the easiest path, but there’s always a choice.”
Advanced reader copy courtesy of the publishers at NetGalley for review.

I am reminded again and again how much I love historical fiction after reading The Next Ship Home by Heather Webb. I have clear memories of being a little girl and going to the library, looking for books about immigrants coming through Ellis Island. Any book that is based on Ellis Island and the early days of New York City is one I’m going to want to read. So when I saw The Next Ship Home, I knew I needed to read it.

I was swept up in the worlds of both Francesca and Alma.



Ellis Island, 1902: Two women band together to hold America to its promise: “Give me your tired, your poor … your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…”

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.

This is a fantastic story!

This wonderful new book of historical fiction by Heather Webb is a look at Ellis Island in 1902. At this time there were as many as 5,000 people per day coming to America on ships from other countries who wanted to start a new life here. They had to be processed, medically checked and they needed to have a sponsor before they were accepted. These people who were yearning for freedom had come in steerage from their countries and arrived at Ellis Island hungry and sick, poorly clothed and confused with the process. When they arrived at Ellis Island it took several hours to stand in line to be processed and medically cleared. Most didn't speak English and needed an interpreter. There was also a lot of corruption at Ellis Island from the people who were working there who took bribes and harassed the immigrants.

Francesca and her sister Maria escaped Sicily to get away from their abusive father. Marie has been sick most of the trip and Francesca worries that her sister may not get approval to stay in the United States and they will both be sent back to Sicily. She speaks minimal English and is helped by an interpreter, Alma on her first day working on Ellis Island. As she feared, Maria was not healthy enough to pass the medical assessment so she was sent to the hospital. Plus Francesca didn't have a sponsor so it began to look like they may be sent back to Sicily. Alma takes a personal interest in these two women and does what she can to help them.

Alma lives in the German section of NYC and helps her parents and family with their restaurant. She is content to help her family and take care of her sisters but her step-father has decided that she's not really helping the family plus she's too ugly for anyone to want to marry her so he gets her a job at Ellis Island as a matron. Their main jobs are helping the doctors, working with registration and basically doing everything that no one else wants to do. When they find out that she can speak several languages, she also gets called when an interpreter is needed. After being taught that anyone but Germans are dirty and lazy and less than....she quickly learns that that they are all people just like her looking for a better life.

Alma becomes interested in Francesca's life and works to keep her from being deported. Once Francesca finds a job, the two women become friends despite their differences. When Alma has to make some decisions about reporting corruption at Ellis Island, she relies on help from Francesca. Both of them work to have a better life and to be able to make their own decisions about their future.

It's apparent that the author has done considerable research into Ellis Island and the way the immigrants were treated. She created two wonderful, real characters in Francesca and Alma and I quickly cared about both women and them being successful in life despite continued problems.

I was instantly sucked into this fantastic story of two women and Ellis Island in 1902. Heather Webb has outdone herself! What a page turner!!

Thank you Net Galley for an ARC of The Next Ship Home by Heather Webb in exchange for an objective review. Wow, what a story! I could not put down this historical fiction story set in 1902 in New York City and Ellis Island. Alma is part of a German immigrant family that runs a beer hall in lower NYC. Alma's stepfather makes her take a job at Ellis Island. It turns out that Alma enjoys helping people and using her love of languages even if she struggles with not being able to help more immigrants. She helps sisters, Francesca and Maria, from Italy that arrived on Ellis Island after escaping from their dangerous father. Without giving away key plot points, I loved how Alma helped Francesca and found her voice as a strong character. Francesca also found out how strong she was when she had challenging decisions to make. After reading A Fall of Marigolds, I was looking for another book about Ellis Island and immigrant experience arriving in America. The Next Ship Home was a page turner as I read to see how Alma and Francesca managed their lives. I would love to read a sequel that follows Alma and how she transforms into an interpreter, maybe, and how she would possibly continue her friendship with Francesca.

Ellis Island stands in the imagination of anyone who has ever studied their family tree or echoed the famous line of Emma Lazarus' poem etched on the Statue of Liberty -
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,..."

What few know much about, without visiting Ellis Island or studying the history of immigration to the United States and the millions who entered through Ellis Island. This is the setting of Heather Webb's latest and I think Webb does a great job of painting the picture of the reality. The desperation of the immigrants. The waves of corruption in the management and administration at Ellis Island. The hoops one jumped through, the steps, the examinations, the dehumanizing of people desperate to improve their lives and to just have a piece of hope again in a new place.

Alma is from a German family, who lives in tenements in NYC. She is forced by her stepfather to take a job at Ellis Island, helping process arriving immigrants. At first, she carries many of the same prejudices that she's been taught by her family, against people of other nationalities and religions. The us vs them mentality of immigrants, all built of a fear of someone who is different, and the fear that maybe they will get something and thus I will not -it's not so different today. When, as Alma learns, these are people who simply want to work and live and love, just as she does.

Alma is also shown as a young woman of the time. Her employment options are limited. The options to new immigrants are even fewer and more limited, and she feels both trapped in her circumstances but lucky that she has the options she does. She is also lucky in that she has some language abilities, which provides more opportunities at Ellis Island, and she wants to learn more and become a certified interpreter. But her stepfather only wants her to work and earn the family money. Education is not valued and definitely not valued for a working-class young woman in the early 20th century. She sees her mother working hard, doing only what her husband allows, having more children, and that is not the life she wants for herself. Working at Ellis Island not only opens her eyes to the truth about immigration and about people, but about the possibilities for herself. Her interactions with the immigrants and seeing their strength, helps her harden her own resolve to follow her own dreams. I imagine a life for her after, where she goes to college, and maybe she and that very nice Irish boy, Jeremy Kerrigan, become more than friends.

Francesca is the other main character, an Italian immigrant from Sicily. She and her sister have fled Sicily and their abusive father, for a chance at freedom and hope in America. But the travel across the Atlantic is only one small piece. Landing at Ellis Island did not equal admission to the United States. No money, no job, no family sponsoring you, health issues, the random whim of an inspector or the inability to bribe the right person - all of these and more, could be reasons why an immigrant could be rejected. Francesca has to deal with all of this and more. Lucky for her, Alma and she becomes friends, and Alma finds a way to help Francesca realize her dream.

The story pace is mostly excellent. There is a point in the middle where I thought it slowed down a lot, but I think it was necessary for Alma's character to grow and that could not happen with a quick paragraph. There are many scenes included showing the racism and bigotry of the time. There are also scenes showing how people can learn to know the other and become friends, if just given the chance. Discussions of the labor struggles of the time, unions, anarchists, gangs, tenement conditions - all of this is present. It keeps the story grounded in the place and time, as well as rounding out Alma's and Francesca's stories. None of this happened in a vacuum for Alma and Francesca. It is well for readers to remember the same now, when considering immigration and those from other countries and cultures.

Ultimately Alma's and Francesca's stories are about hope and opportunity. And that goes right back to Lazarus' poem. Both are yearning to breathe free, and each finds a way to do so.

Hopefully readers come away with some understanding of how complex immigration was then and remains today. I'm also hopeful that readers will see the evils of bigotry and racism. This is a great read, thought provoking and emotional.

Historical fiction fans looking for something based in the US, should check this out. I'll be thinking about it for a long time.

Content warnings include sexual assault, bigotry and racism, ethnic slurs, assault by parent figures, bribery and corruption, police brutality

A rags to riches story that is engaging and fast moving. The characters are well developed and sympathetic. An enjoyable read