The triumphant New York Times Bestseller * The Tonight Show Summer Reads Pick * Named one of the best books of the year by People, Vogue, Parade, NPR, and Elle “This is one beautiful book. I was wowed by Keane’s writing and narrative skill–and by what she knows about trouble.” –Stephen King How much can a family forgive? Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope, rookie NYPD cops, are neighbors in …
How much can a family forgive?
Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope, rookie NYPD cops, are neighbors in the suburbs. What happens behind closed doors in both houses–the loneliness of Francis’s wife, Lena, and the instability of Brian’s wife, Anne, sets the stage for the explosive events to come.
In Mary Beth Keane’s extraordinary novel, a lifelong friendship and love blossoms between Kate Gleeson and Peter Stanhope, born six months apart. One shocking night their loyalties are divided, and their bond will be tested again and again over the next thirty years. Heartbreaking and redemptive, Ask Again, Yes is a gorgeous and generous portrait of the daily intimacies of marriage and the power of forgiveness.
more
I was so upset and agitated when I finished this book because I was not ready for it to end. I kept thinking of Francis, Lena, Brian, Anne, Kate, and Peter. I didn’t want to let go of them.
I still don’t.
Mary Beth Keane tells the story of two families entangled in a permanent vise. The Gleesons: Brian, an Irish immigrant who can’t believe he is a member of the NYPD; Lena, the woman he marries and mother to their three daughters; and Kate, the youngest Gleeson girl, a tomboy and the one most like Francis. Next door, the Stanhopes: Brian, at one time Francis’s partner and not without a reckless streak; Anne, cold, remote, and not without a troublesome streak; and Peter, a few months younger than Kate, and not without a heartbreaking streak.
Peter and Kate’s relationship begins almost as early as when they were in their mothers’ wombs. They sense each other, befriend each other, support each other, and love each other, despite the animus between their families, a distrust borne between the mothers. Mary Beth Keane doesn’t just play with the “sins of the fathers” concept; she stretches it to include the mothers.
What really pulled me into this book was the way Keane develops her characters. I knew these people. I understood Lena’s sense of unrest. When she tells one of the characters that “I never would have done that to you,” my heart cracked for her. I understood Francis’s frustrations and pain at having everything he hoped and planned for change. I understood Anne’s desperation to connect with her son. I understood Kate’s seeing a completion where Peter saw a beginning, and vice-versa. I may not have always liked these people, but I think that’s another reason why I loved this book so much: I really liked when I really didn’t like the characters.
Please read this book and let me know what you think about it. Is Francis correct at the end?
There is so much going on in this book. Two cops who knew each other as rookies end up living next door to each other in the suburbs. Their children are best friends, their wives are not. One is a typical suburban housewife, the other is struggling with mental illness. And that is just the very beginning of a story that will grab you and not let go. I loved this book and did not want to put it down.
Ask Again, Yes is an emotional page-turner that examines the origins of how we become the people we become, despite our best efforts to steer our lives in a different direction. Keane lets us into a world of multi-faceted, complex characters who must walk through life with extreme baggage and decide whether to let it overtake them or find a way to forgive and move on.
Last half dragged. I didn’t understand the motivation of the characters.
A beautiful story, fraught with tension, sadness, and the intricacies of love, relationships, and forgiveness. I loved this book.
Characters that are really rounded and believable are not always lovable! I wanted to shake a couple of the people in the book and yell at them – no! Don’t do that! Bad choice. But that’s a sign of how good it was – as I was so invested in what happened. It’s a story of two families – a love story, a story of mental illness and addiction, the story of a crime, a story about parenting… among other things. I’d definitely recommend it.
I am the outlier here – everyone but me [and one other who DNF the book] really liked or at least liked it enough and felt the writing was good whereas I was not a fan. Of any of it. BUT!! I am not all that knowledgeable in this genre so I am pretty sure that its possible I just don’t know what to expect when reading a book like this.
Parts of the book struck very close to home for me and I spent a lot of time thinking that not everyone gets as many chances as Peter does and not every family recovers like his did after he gets his act together. And MANY MANY MANY fathers are just like Brian and their children spend their lives wondering just what they did wrong to deserve a life like that. And even with what happened with Francis, I am not sure I would have been as accommodating and forgiving as Lena was when he goes rogue. Though I know someone personally who has been, even when its shoved in her face and there are moments when I am not sure if I should feel sorry for her or take her by the shoulders and shake her until she walks away. And the whole “happily ever after” scenario at the end – yeah, sorry. That doesn’t ring true and also does a huge disservice to people who deal with crap like this all the time and do not get a happy ending.
I am glad that I didn’t buy this and only had to listen to it. I am also glad that everyone else really liked it – I am used to being the odd man out and just reminds me that I really should think twice about being in book clubs
My favourite book of 2019. As close to a perfect book as I’ve ever read, I’ll be frantically pressing this into the hands of everyone I know.
What a gorgeously profound novel that, like the work of Ann Patchett, initially appears to be essentially a domestic relationship novel, albeit a large and richly detailed one, covering forty years and the points of view of the members of two families whose lives become both tragically and beautifully intertwined. It is really in the absorption of the total story that the reader gets how much more the author is saying. The novel looks at what appear to be random, happenstance events that could just as easily not have happened and how those apparently shape the direction of human lives. Yet people still make choices within those parameters, and have the power to rise to both grace and forgiveness.
Ask Again, Yes is a contemplative, character-driven novel that focuses on the interconnectedness between two families over the course of about 40 years. I appreciated its efforts to address mental illness, infidelity, and love, and felt it did so in a way that was both sensitive and realistic. I enjoyed the fact that none of the characters are wholly “good” or “bad”; they’re human. The format is kind of a close-third person with each chapter focusing on a specific character. For the most part, this device worked quite well and enriched the story in a unique way. And while I enjoyed the fact that Keane didn’t spend too much time in each era, I do feel that there were moments between specific characters that I would have like to have a glimpse into.
Loved this book and the character development as their story unfolded.
Heartbreaking in parts. Very well written.
If I hadn’t listened to audio version, I’m not sure I would have finished. I felt like it was long on description and points of view, but short on plot or on anything really happening. After the initial major event, it’s just about how each person copes with it. And I found Peter to be a pretty boring character. I lost sympathy for him mainly because he’s so passive.
Fantastic storytelling of the best kind—It entertains as it teaches. The read will surely tuck you into bed each night, allowing your brain to come to terms with all those childhood traumas we tend to push down. But it’s by shining a light on those traumas that leads the way out of our suffering.
Gloria Squitiro: Author of May Cause Drowsiness and Blurred Vision: The Side Effects of Bravery—YOU, Too! can OVERCOME ANXIETY and live a bigger more carefree life—Become a New and Better You!
#YayWomenWriters
Great character development throughout the book. However, for a reasons not clear to me yet, I was disappointed in the ending. Regardless of that, the book is a good read.
It was a good but sad story! The main characters, Kate and Peter, grow up together, lose and find each other and deal with the issues of their parents. The choices their parents made when Kate and Peter were little set the stage for this story. You can feel the pain that each character has to live it.
Loved the writing in this book—it reminded me of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
GOOD WRITING, ORIGINAL PLOT (MOSTLY) BEST BBOK I’VE READ IN A WHILE
This book was very well written, delving into the heads of diverse characters of many age groups. It looks into family dynamics, friendships, loyalties, betrayals, grudges, forgiveness in the least expected people. There is some mental illness that is heavy to read, but so realistic. The story contained tragedy alongside love and the effects on everyone–neighbors, coworkers (2 NYPD police officers), friends. Ms. Keane did an amazing job of exploring the emotions and actions of very realistic people in odd situations. Very imaginative with plot twists.
Even though on the heavy side, it was a very compelling story of humanity, especially the coming of age of the main characters, and why we are driven to do the things we do. It showed how we might forgive and move on, and how that action affects our lives. It may take a lifetime, but anything is possible is what this story told me.
I think that my tastes have changed. I no longer like to read books that I don’t learn something. This book just seemed to drag and drag. I have quit reading it half the way and just want to know what happens in the end. Felt like reading it was a waste of my time.
This was a heart-wrenching tale of two families. Two officers meet at training school and then begin their careers together. Then, the Gleesons, Francis and Lena, along with the Stanhopes, Brian and Anne, move next door to each other. They begin to raise their families, but behind closed doors, things are not always perfect.
Peter Stanhope and Kate Gleeson have always been best friends, from the time they were toddlers. Tragedy strikes one night when they are in 8th grade, and the rest of their lives revolve around how they and their families come to cope with this moment in time.
This is a very sad tale of mental illness, of healing, of redemption, of love, of forgiveness. Very moving.
#AskAgainYes #MaryBethKeane