"An unflinching look at the immigrant experience, an unlikely and unique friendship, and a resonant story of female empowerment."—Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Woman with the Blue StarEllis 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 immig