Overview

It's been years since the three Ryan sisters were all home at the same time. Two decades ago, their lives were upended by an accident on their brother Topher's boat: a boy was killed, the lawsuit nearly bankrupted their parents, and Topher spiralled into suicide. Now the Ryan women are back for Thanksgiving, hungry to reconnect - and each sister is carrying a heavy secret. The eldest, Cait, feels responsible for the crash and is rekindling a flame with her high school crush Luke - Topher's best friend and the brother of the boy who died. Middle sister Alice's surprise pregnancy threatens the career she's restarting after raising kids, but she worries her marriage will be equally doomed if she terminates. And the youngest, Maggie, is finally taking the risk of bringing a woman she loves home to her Irish Catholic mother. Infusing everything is grief for Topher, which none of the Ryans have figured out how to carry together instead of separately.

Full Product Details

9781035074563

Table of Contents

Reviews

The Irish Goodbye has it all: a lovable cast of complex characters; forbidden affairs; a stately, crumbling beach house; a doomed sailboat; long-suppressed family secrets; and one pressure-cooker of a holiday weekend. Above all, this finely-crafted novel explores what it means to be a family, and what we owe each other and ourselves -- Amy Shearn, author of <i>The Mermaid of Brooklyn</i> A sparkling debut, The Irish Goodbye is a rich, compassionate novel about sisterhood, marriage, grief, and forgiveness -- Jenny Jackson, author of <i>Pineapple Street</i>

The Irish Goodbye has it all: a lovable cast of complex characters; forbidden affairs; a stately, crumbling beach house; a doomed sailboat; long-suppressed family secrets; and one pressure-cooker of a holiday weekend. Above all, this finely-crafted novel explores what it means to be a family, and what we owe each other and ourselves -- Amy Shearn, author of <i>The Mermaid of Brooklyn</i> A sparkling debut, The Irish Goodbye is a rich, compassionate novel about sisterhood, marriage, grief, and forgiveness -- Jenny Jackson, author of <i>Pineapple Street</i> The family saga we all need – utterly un-put downable, beautifully drawn, thrilling and heartfelt at once and totally not to be missed. Heather Aimee O'Neill has arrived with gorgeous skills and a keen eye for what drives families apart, and brings them together, too -- Jessica Soffer, <i>New York Times</i> bestselling author of <i>This Is a Love Story</i> Lovingly rendered and acutely felt, The Irish Goodbye takes the reader into the aching, complicated nooks and crannies of a single family trying to find their way back to one another, even as none is sure they have hold of themselves. A beautiful and moving debut -- Lynn Steger Strong, author of <i>The Float Test</i> Emotionally gripping and achingly poignant, The Irish Goodbye is about the secrets we keep from our families and from ourselves. In the Ryans, Heather Aimee O’Neill has created a family that, despite its glimmering specificity, could very well be our own. Mesmerizing -- Daisy Alpert Florin, author <i>My Last Innocent Year</i> I picked up The Irish Goodbye one morning and finished it later that night, unable to do anything else until I got to the end. These characters captured my heart, and I got lost in this family weekend full of secrets, resentment, and emotional landmines. Heather Aimee O’Neill has written a beautiful debut about family, grief, love, and loss -- Jennifer Close, bestselling author of <i>Marrying the Ketchups</i> Fans of writers from Maeve Binchy to Alice McDermott to J. Courtney Sullivan will relish this big-hearted novel * Kirkus *

Author Information

Heather Aimee O'Neill teaches creative writing at CUNY Hunter College of New York and is the assistant director of the Sackett Street Writers' Workshop. She lives in Brooklyn with her partner and their sons.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available