Review: Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane

It’s been awhile since I’ve read a book that really stuck with me and that whichI had so many things to say. I’d heard the hype surrounding Ask Again, Yes and since I had a free trial of Book of the Month, I decided to add it to my box. 

I am SO glad that I did. 

I felt a lot of kinship with this novel, since I am also from an Irish Catholic family. I’m not from a family of cops, but I could really relate to the characters and their family dynamics. 

I want to preface this review that this book is A LOT to handle if you’ve dealt with mental illness or alcoholism in any form. I’ve not been personally effected by those things, so I think I was able to take away the true point of the book without being triggered. 

The overall theme of this book is quiet and simple, surrounded by overwhelmingly loud events. Yet at the end, I felt totally and completely satisfied and “full”. Do you know that feelings? When you’re just so pleased with the book you read? It’s like taking a deep breath and exhaling into a state of peace. 

Here’s the synopsis: Francis and Brian Gleeson were partners for 6 weeks in NYC during the summer in 1973. They both are newly married and itching for more land. The Gleeson’s move to the suburbs and the Stanhope’s quickly follow, moving in across the street. Lena, Francis’ wife, is hopeful for female companionship in her new life as a mother of three daughters. But something is just not quite right with Ann. 

But Kate, the youngest Gleeson, and Peter, the only Stanhope, form an unbreakable friendship. Regardless of what happens, the two keep coming back to each other. Ask Again, Yes spans a 40 year period that tests the two family’s ability to survive and forgive, throwing every major curveball life could toss. 

I absolutely loved this book. It’s definitely a 5 star read for me and I will recommend it to everyone, with the knowledge that it may not be the right book for all. But I think if you give it a chance, you can really learn a lot.

Ask Again, Yes is on sale now.