On one hand, I could not put this book down, on the other , I had to because I never wanted it end. The very best multi generational family saga I have read in many years. The style of written was simply fabulous. Author was able to go from character to character, and time line flawlessly. Best characters in a novel ever. This book is sad, yet so filled with love and hope.Plan to send a copy to my daughter the day it is released.

The Gleesons and Stanhopes lived next door to each other in the small town Gillam, outside New York City where Brian and Francis were both police officers. Though the men briefly were partners, their paths diverged, and living on the same street didn’t bring them closer together. Lena, Francis’s wife, lonely outside of the city and away from her friends and family, unsuccessfully tried to befriend Brian’s wife, Anne. But, Gleeson’s youngest daughter, Kate, and Stanhope’s only son, Peter, were born six months apart and became the best of friends, as close as siblings, until their teenage hormones shifted their relationship.

The families lived in a precarious balance until Kate and Peter became eighth graders. That year, tensions flared until an unimaginable act of violence tore the two families apart and shifted the relationships within each family forever. The Stanhopes left Gillam, and the families and individual family members tried to heal, making mistakes along the way, but the events of the fateful night were a fulcrum against which they all pivoted. Even as Kate and Peter found each other again, the ghosts of the past threatened them and their loved ones unless they could find the strength to forgive.

Overall, I enjoyed Ask Again, Yes. The story captivated my attention and I thought the language was lovely. Some of the characters, too, particularly stood out as unusual--Anne--or lovable--George, Brian’s brother. Francis’s journey, too, was a valuable window into his situation. Despite the dark turns the novel takes, it ultimately promotes a message of forgiveness and compassion.

Some things I liked less about the novel included reliance on what I think are overdone conflicts, for example alcoholism and infidelity, though they are perhaps overdone because so common and then deserve attention. The novel shifted perspective among characters, sometimes leaping forward in time, and while I don’t mind that in general, at times in this novel it felt a little jerky. Kate, who is a spitfire as a child, becomes rather passive as she becomes an adult, perhaps because of her circumstances, but it’s a shame she lost her moxy. Finally, the tone of the novel was one of reporting which served a bit to distance me from the emotions of the characters.

Ask Again, Yes should appeal to readers who like contemporary fiction in general or who enjoy family dramas and coming of age novels, and I would e

Ask Me Again, Yes
By Mary Beth Keane
Thank you, NetGalley for the advance copy to review.
Description
A profoundly moving novel about two neighboring families in a suburban town, the friendship between their children, a tragedy that reverberates over four decades, and the power of forgiveness.
Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope are two NYPD rookies assigned to the same Bronx precinct in 1973. They aren’t close friends on the job, but end up living next door to each other outside the city. What goes on 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 stunning events to come.
Ask Again, Yes by award-winning author Mary Beth Keane, is a beautifully moving exploration of the friendship and love that blossoms between Francis’s youngest daughter, Kate, and Brian’s son, Peter, who is born six months apart. In the spring of Kate and Peter’s eighth-grade year a violent event divides the neighbors, the Stanhopes are forced to move away, and the children are forbidden to have any further contact.
But Kate and Peter find a way back to each other, and their relationship is tested by the echoes from their past. Ask Again, Yes reveals how the events of childhood look different when reexamined from the distance of adulthood—villains lose their menace and those who appeared innocent seem less so. Kate and Peter’s love story is marked by tenderness, generosity, and grace.


This is one amazingly written and touching book. This could very well be in a theater. Ask Me Again, Yes shows how out families both help us and harm us and why forgiveness is sometimes necessary for survival. You will indeed cheer and smile for the families.

Thank you to Scribner and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book and provide an honest review.

Ask Again, Yes was a really great piece of fiction writing. If I could compare it to another author's work I would say this is for fans of Celeste Ng or Ann Patchett. Family sagas are something that I look for because they almost always end up being my favorite stories. I think there is a lot to be said for an author who can build an entire story out of one or two families and weave everything together. Mary Beth Keane wrote this absolutely beautiful story with such care and concern for the journey they all take that anyone who reads it will fall in love with each person's faults as well as their strengths in what is a journey of friendship and love.

You know you are reading something amazing when you can't wait to get back to it. When I wasn't reading it, all I did was think about what was going to come next. Ask Again, Yes is that book. Besides the story, it was the WAY the author told the story. I thought switching perspectives and giving us insight into not only the main characters (Kate & Peter), but the other characters directly impacted by "the event" helped make the story stronger. It provided the opportunity to follow each character through their life and see WHY they were able to feel and act based on where you were in the book. It made the conclusion bittersweet and believable.

I will definitely buy this and make it part of my library. Anyone looking for their next great book club pick; this is it!

A great story about friendship, family and love. Very well written and thought provoking. I finished several days ago and it’s still lingering in my mind. I can’t wait to check out more of what this author has to offer.

ASK AGAIN, YES is a truly beautiful, heart-rending story of family. It follows the lives of Kate and Peter, two friends growing up next door to one another in a bedroom community outside New York City. Although their lives look similar from the outside (both of their fathers are police officers) what happens inside their homes is very different. Kate has a loving family while Peter struggles to survive the mood swings of his mentally ill mother and distant father. The two families collide in tragedy when Kate and Peter are in their early teens and Keane's portrayal of the aftermath is powerful and moving. ASK AGAIN, YES shows how out families both help us and harm us and why forgiveness is sometimes necessary for survival. Loved it.

Such a lovely book, deftly and subtly written, portraying the many challenges, different faces and forms, and rewards of family, marriage, parenthood, life and mostly love.

Very well done author Mary Beth Keane. I will need to seek out your other books. Highly recommended.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher Simon & Schuster for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Literary fiction at its best a book that drew me in from the first pages.Two families co workers next door neighbors children who become friends a tragedy that haunts them.A multi layered read a story that will stay with you.Highly recommend.#netgalley #scribner.

It’s such a pure pleasure to get completely immersed in a proper novel. This was very much a proper novel. Exceptionally well written, large, multigenerational tale of families and obstacles. No, actually, that’s way too generic. Try again. Ok, how about a Romeo and Juliet style story middle class American style about two children from wrong families who fall and stay in love irrespective of their parents’ wishes. Yes, that’s more like it. The Gleesons and Stanhopes are neighbors, but not friends and eventually get intertwined together in a terrible tragedy that changes all of their lives. Their children, despite all that, seem fated to be together. That is, at least, until the trials and tribulations of marriage set in, things woven into one’s essential being via genetics and past traumas that come to haunt them. Because no matter wat Gleesons are basically a happy family and Stanhopes are resolutely not and so the union of their children is bound to be fraught with difficulties. The story follows these families, essentially three marriages, for decades from the early 70s until the present day, alternating perspectives to give the readers a more profound understanding of the characters and their motivations. In this the novel shines, even difficult ones to like or care about, like Anne Stanhope, are all fleshed out so cleverly and humanely, it really contributes to how engaging the reading experience becomes. At first it seems like the moral of the story was forgiveness and there’s certainly a lot of that motif in here, but then I realized it’s more about love and specifically marriage. I always thought the reason divorce rates are so high is because no one takes their wows seriously. I mean, they do at the time, but after a while things come up and words get forgotten and the thing is the words are very specific, marriage isn’t a fairweather affair, it’s all seasons, rain or shine, etc. And so this seems very much a story of marriages that get tested to see if they withstand the vicissitudes of life and come through, hence the title…to be able to, if asked again, say yes, to still say yes after all the years together and all the challenges. Very romantic, really, but not at all a romance. Realistic, tragic at times, poignant drama about families you have, chose and make. Not sure if I’m doing it justice with my review, but it was a terrific book and a very enjoyable read. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

This book is about love, loss tragedy and family. It was a good story to see how the characters dealt with all the heartbreak in this book. With that said it took everything I had just to get through it. For me it was just long and boring. The story just seemed to drag. Not a bad book but just not to my liking. Thank you to netgalley for letting me give an honest review of this book.