In Brooklyn, Eilis struggles to sleep through the night at Mrs. Kehoe’s boardinghouse because of the heat. Every girl in the house is Irish, and the two primary rules are that there are no guests and no dirty dishes. Eilis writes home about the shared meals and the drama between the other boarders, such as noise complaints and grudges over using each other’s things. The other girls in the house are named Patty, Diana, Sheila, Miss Keegan, and Miss McAdams. Patty and Diana are obsessed with boys and like to go out at night. They invite Eilis to go with them one night, but she refuses.

Eilis likes to wake early and beat the other girls to the bathroom and then make herself breakfast. She does not like how the bread, butter, or tea taste in America and uses sugar to cover them up. She is the youngest boarder and hates how much attention and advice the other girls give her because of it. On her first day at Bartocci’s, she meets Miss Bartocci, the daughter of the owner, who emphasizes that the girls must serve everyone the same. Miss Fortini, her floor supervisor patiently shows her how to use the cash system, and though Eilis is already familiar with it, she plays along.