223 Orchard Street

By: Renee Ryan

Narrated by: Karen Peakes

Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

A heartening novel of the immigrant experience - and of redemption, self-sacrifice, and the power of hope when all else seems lost.

Irish immigrant Katie O’Connor and her younger sister, Shannon, risk everything to journey to America at the turn of the twentieth century. As each woman passes into an intimidating, stirring, and unpredictable New York City, she is forced to rethink her dream of a better life. It isn’t until Katie begins serving the sick in the depressed slums of the Bowery alongside Dr. Titus Brentwood that she discovers her true calling. Meanwhile, fate directs the vulnerable Shannon down an unsettling path that could put her life at risk.

As Katie’s and Ty’s selflessness and devotion turn into something deeper, Ty must make a choice that could save one O’Connor sister at the expense of losing the other. But Katie hasn’t come this far to let go now. She’ll do anything to save Shannon and hold on to the man she’s come to love.

©2018 Renee Ryan (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Very nice

I enjoyed this book very much. It was pleasant and easygoing. The story was good. It was not heavy and I recommend it.

Performance was wonderful

I truly enjoyed this book both for the performance and the story. The performance, thick with irish brogue but easy to understand paints a picture of the struggle for immigrants and they entered our country years ago and the lack of trust with "Americans". Once the story was laid out, it was easy to see the ending however it was so well performed that it didn't matter, it was lovely to listen to and a great story.

Irish immigrants

A predictable tale of Irish immigrants with a happy ending. A weak cup of tea,but decent narration, but a book I wouldn’t read again. It wasn’t horrible nor was it a memorable read for me.

Immigrant Life in Early 1900s

This story of immigrants in New York in the early 1900s is both eye-opening and heartwarming. When Shannon O’Conner arrives at Ellis Island after her trip from Ireland and is detained due to illness, her sister, Katie is over wrought with emotion. She has come to Ellis Island to retrieve her, but is turned away. Enlisting help from the same doctor that had saved her life after her own trip across the ocean, Katie met up with Dr. Ty Brentwood on the ferry. The crowded living conditions in the tenements, the extremely low wages and lack of jobs, and unsafe streets all combined to portray the way these people lived. Katie, Shannon and their family along with a myriad of other immigrants took on odd jobs in addition to factory and retail jobs in order to survive. Soon Katie was helping Dr. Brentwood in treating the wounded and sick in his clinic which was the only one where the immigrants were accepted. I loved this story which not only shows the historical, but also the human side of life in early New York, as the immigrants blended into the society. The prejudices against them, and those who sought to help them, were enormous. The long separations from their loved ones as they waited to immigrate made for doubts and hardships. Then, as now, the differences in class and economic levels put up barriers between people, that only love and grace can pull down. Great story!

More fairy tale than historical fiction.

More fairy tale than historical fiction. The performance was very good, I listened to the entire book, if I had been reading I would have put it down and forgotten it.

Overwritten and Predictable; Cloying language

I started this book during a long car trip. There is no way that I would have kept listening otherwise. As it was, I struggled to make it to the end due to the overwritten quality of the story and its predictable plot line. Cloying language. Everyone man is "rugged" and "beautiful," every woman "fiery" and "breathtaking." Love makes your heart go pound-pound-pound. Etc. A sentimental and predictable story. The author is good at creating characters and a story line, but then she fills it all in with a lot of cliched language ("rosy dawn" "heavy mahogany tresses" and so on). I did like the insight into the Irish experience of immigration, but that was about the only thing I enjoyed.