In this special Fourth of July episode, Irish writer Judith McQuoid reads a story of her first arrival in the United States, in the summer of 1976. This beautiful reflection is a love letter to America, and a reminder of what this country can still mean to people from around the world.  

This episode is part of a special summer series called “Leaving Home Stories,” in which writers from The Habit Membership will read personal narratives on the theme of leaving home, literally or metaphorically, temporarily or permanently.

Judith McQuoid is the author of Giant, a fictional retelling of CS Lewis’s boyhood in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Sponsored by The Habit Membership.