If you’ve been following along here for a while, you know I’m a HUGE sucker for a multigenerational family drama, and tend to stamp them with a five star rating after I hungrily consume them. Don’t get me wrong, psychological thrillers are my bread and butter, but it’s a family drama that tends to stick with me for years and years. Books that I still think about today. I believe Ask Again, Yes will be one of them.
Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane
Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope first meet in the New York police academy, as young twenty somethings, and eventually, end up living next door to each other outside the city with their new wives and growing families.
Francis and Brian are important players in this story, but they’re not our main characters, as one might think. And I loved that. I loved that we got several chapters of Francis and Brian, and then boom! We’re introduced to our two main characters. This story is about Peter and Kate. Peter is Brian’s only son, and Kate is Francis’ youngest daughter. We watch their friendship bloom and their love blossom for roughly fourteen years and then tragedy strikes on one fateful night.
The story continues and spans over the next thirty-ish years, and we watch and follow each and every character that was touched by that one devastating night. But mostly, we’re following Kate and Peter. And oh my god I could cry just thinking about their respective journeys. We take a look at forgiveness and regret and sorrow close up and it’s beautiful. This was a beautiful story.
I really enjoyed the pacing of the story and appreciated the deep character development, peppered with rich backstories that felt perfect. I genuinely cared for and felt for every single character.
If you’re into family dramas as much as I am, I highly suggest you give this one a go as well. As of today (September 2019) it hold a 4.09 star rating on Goodreads with 23K reviews. Happy Reading!