Written by Mary Beth Keane

 

 

 

 

A gripping and compassionate drama of two families linked by chance, love and tragedy

Gillam, upstate New York: a town of ordinary, big-lawned suburban houses. The Gleesons have recently moved there and soon welcome the Stanhopes as their new neighbours.

Lonely Lena Gleeson wants a friend but Anne Stanhope – cold, elegant, unstable – wants to be left alone.

It’s left to their children – Lena’s youngest, Kate, and Anne’s only child, Peter – to find their way to one another. To form a friendship whose resilience and love will be almost broken by the fault line dividing both families, and by the terrible tragedy that will engulf them all.

A tragedy whose true origins only become clear many years later . . .

A story of love and redemption, faith and forgiveness, Ask Again, Yes reveals the way childhood memories change when viewed from the distance of adulthood – villains lose their menace, and those who appeared innocent seem less so. 

A story of how, if we’re lucky, the violence lurking beneath everyday life can be vanquished by the power of love.

 

 

 

 

Both Mysterious & Surprising!   

 

This is a solid read, demanding full attention and not a book you can lightly skip through.

Moving out of the city, newlyweds Lena and Francis look forward to settling into their new home in the suburbs and raising a family there. When another young couple move into the house next-door, Lena makes friendly overtures but finds herself swiftly rebuffed. However, as both their children grow up, their lives are bound to overlap and mingle – with unforeseen consequences for them all.

This is a packed read. Full of information and detail, it’s one I found myself really absorbed into in a very short time. Not only did I like the characters and found that they interested me, I was also interested in each of them and where it was all heading. Could I have guessed? No, definitely not. This is very much a family saga but with lots of extras and I found it both mysterious and surprising, holding my focus all the way through. If you love a good saga, then you can’t go far wrong with this one. It’s certainly brought Mary Beth Keane to my attention and I’ll be keeping an eye out for any future novels from her. I consider this easily a four star read.

My thanks to publisher Michael Joseph for my copy via NetGalley. All stated opinions are both honest and entirely my own.

 

Tags: family saga, women’s fiction

• Format: ebook, paperback, hardcover, audio
• Size: 384 pages
• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication Date: 8 August 2019
• Purchase Links: Google Play
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Author Bio

 

 

Mary Beth Keane attended Barnard College and the University of Virginia, where she received an MFA. In 2011, she was named one of the National Book Foundation’s ‘5 Under 35,’ and in 2015 she was awarded a John S. Guggenheim fellowship for fiction writing. She currently lives in Pearl River, New York, with her husband and their two sons. She is the author of The Walking People, Fever, and Ask Again, Yes.