The Last Days of Ellis Island - Paperback

by Gaëlle Josse (Author), Natasha Lehrer (Translator)

Winner of the European Union Prize for Literature

"Josse powerfully evokes the spirit of the 'huddled masses' who landed on America's shores while creating a memorable portrait of a man torn between his commitment to his difficult job and the longings of his heart. Duty and desire clash in the melancholy reminiscences of a former Ellis Island immigration officer." --Kirkus, *Starred Review*

New York, November 3, 1954. In a few days, the immigration inspection station on Ellis Island will close its doors forever. John Mitchell, an officer of the Bureau of Immigration, is the guardian and last resident of the island. As Mitchell looks back over forty-five years as gatekeeper to America and its promise of a better life, he recalls his brief marriage to beloved wife Liz, and is haunted by memories of a transgression involving Nella, an immigrant from Sardinia. Told in a series of poignant diary entries, this is a story of responsibility, love, fidelity, and remorse.

"French novelist Josse's melancholy English-language debut looks at the last few days in 1954 before Ellis Island was officially shuttered as a port of entry into the U.S. (...) Josse's powerful work finds the human heart within a career bureaucrat." --Publishers Weekly

"Gripping...The Last Days of Ellis Island is an absorbing novel in which beloved dreams are fast to shatter." --Foreword Reviews

Front Jacket

New York, November 3, 1954. In a few days, the immigration inspection station on Ellis Island will close its doors forever. John Mitchell, an officer of the Bureau of Immigration, is the guardian and last resident of the island. As Mitchell looks back over forty-five years as gatekeeper to America and its promise of a better life, he recalls his brief marriage to beloved wife Liz, and is haunted by memories of a transgression involving Nella, an immigrant from Sardinia. Told in a series of poignant diary entries, this is a story of responsibility, love, fidelity, and remorse.

"Combining real and fictional events, Gaëlle Josse has written a text as visceral as it is melancholy and vibrant."-- Livres Hebdo

"Gaëlle Josse visits Ellis Island and constructs an intimate, collective geography, the story of one man intertwined with those of thousands of others."--Transfuge

Author Biography

Gaëlle Josse holds degrees in law, journalism, and clinical psychology. Formerly a poet, she published her first novel, Les heures silencieuses (The Quiet Hours), in 2011. Josse went on to win several awards, including the Alain Fournier Award in 2013 for Nos vies désaccordées (Our Out-Of-Tune Lives). After spending a few years in New Caledonia, she returned to Paris, where she now works and lives. Josse received the European Union Prize for Literature for The Last Days of Ellis Island, along with the Grand Livre du Mois Literary Prize.

Natasha Lehrer is a writer and literary translator based in Paris, France. She writes features and book reviews for a variety of newspapers including The Guardian, The Times Literary Supplement, and The Observer. Some of her recent translations are A Call for Revolution by the Dalai Lama, Chinese Spies by Roger Faligot, Victor Segalen's Journey to the Land of the Real, and Memories of Low Tide by Chantal Thomas. Lehrer won a Rockower Award for journalism in 2016, and in 2017 was awarded the Scott Moncrieff Translation Prize for her co-translation of Suite for Barbara Loden by Nathalie Léger.