In 1905, this novel was the second best-selling book in America. Alice Hegan Rice drew from the real boyhood of S.S. McClure, the magazine publisher who would revolutionize American journalism, crafting an irresistibly romantic portrait of an Irish immigrant boy chasing the American dream. Sandy Kilday stows away on a ship bound for New York with nothing but ambition and memories of Ireland, and what follows is a story of vulnerability, first love, and the relentless drive to remake oneself in a strange new land. Rice writes with compassion and wit about a boy caught between worlds, belonging fully to neither, and the kindness of strangers that can make a newcomer feel less alone. For readers who appreciate early 20th-century American literature and immigrant narratives that still resonate today.
