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

This is a story of two neighborhood kids who were best friends when a tragic incident happens in their childhood and then goes on to follow their lives and how the aftermath continued to affect them and their families. This was a story revolving around quite a few topics; family, love, mental illness, and forgiveness. This was beautifully written but I hard time connecting with the characters. This literary novel was a bit slow but I did find the end better than the start. I would say this is a book that may be enjoyed by fans of literary family dramas such as the Immortalists or The Rules of Magic.

A few years ago, I was staying with my family at a beach cottage on the coast. I brought a book with me, hoping to get some research done on my own novel, but found myself drifting through it aimlessly. The cozy conditions of our vacation house were ideal for getting lost in a really good book and I was longing to be drawn in. Helpfully, the owners of said house had a lovely, if sparse library, and I decided to take a chance on the book with the most interesting cover. To say, “And I was not disappointed” is an understatement because the truth of the matter is that the book, Fever, stayed with me for months. It left such an impression, I vowed from that day forward I would read anything Mary Beth Keane wrote…even if it was just her grocery list.

Though the events of Ask Again, Yes take place in the same area of the country as Fever, Keane takes us much further into the future in her latest novel. Opening during the early years of the 70’s, we are introduced to rookie cops, Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope, and led through the birth of a partnership that will have far reaching consequences for generations to come. One of the things I loved most about this story was the way Keane revealed the twists and tangles enmeshing these two families, so I’m not going to say anything more than I already have about the plot. I’ll leave those moments between Keane and the reader. What I will say is that Keane has written a masterpiece.

As we walked the beat with Francis and Brian, I could feel the sweat and grime of the city streets, instantly transported in much the same way I was when I read Sleepers by Lorenzo Carcaterra. Both writers know exactly how to make New York live and breathe as few authors can. Keane gives the story depth and complexity with incredible attention to detail. This is most evident in small moments, such as when Francis describes, quite late in the story, a side-effect of having a glass eyeball. Through these nuanced intimacies, the reader is never allowed to forget the humanity of these characters.

And it is their humanity that is the most important part of the story, because though the Gleeson and Stanhope families were created in the author’s mind to be put on the page, the truth is that we know these people and their struggles in real life. They are our mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, neighbors and friends. Ask Again, Yes is an unflinching portrayal of tough subjects like alcoholism and mental illness, but it’s a compassionate one too. Keane gives readers like me, daughter of a recovering alcoholic and step-daughter of a bi-polar manic depressive, hope that joy is not lost, even in the darkest of times.

I truly can’t say enough good things about this book or the author. Mary Beth Keane is so amazing at her craft that it makes me weep as a novelist because all my words pale in comparison. Gorgeously written, Ask Again, Yes is a moving tale about love and loss, tragedy and triumph. It is one of those novels that will stick with you long after you’ve turned the last page.

Thank you for the ARC of this book. My reviews can be read on my GoodReads page at https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1335387-kelly.

This book was so profoundly heartbreaking and heartwarming — mostly heartbreaking, but I think the word I’m really looking for is moving — that I finished it within hours and proceeded to dream about the characters all night long.

There is not a boring detail in here, everything is so important to the story, from the first page to the last. It’s a beautiful novel about mental illness and love, family and heartbreak.

I didn’t know what exactly I was getting into when I received the reviewer’s edition from Netgalley (thank you to the website, publishers and the author for providing it) but whatever I thought it was — I was just blown away.

The gift given to the father is so profound, and I hope every reader catches onto the deep routed meaning of why it is. Typically when I write that I cried during books, I’m slightly over exaggerating, but when I got to that part, I actually did cry.

Thank you so much for this beautiful piece of art — because that’s only what this book can be called.

This was quite a moving novel, difficult to review without spoilers. Two NYC cops, Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope end up buying homes in a small Westchester community next door to one another in the 1970s. Frank and his wife Lena have three daughters, the youngest, Kate being the same age as Brian and Anne Stanhope’s son, Peter. You’d think the families would be best friends but it’s clear Anne has issues despite Lena’s offer of friendship. Anne doesn’t even like Kate and Peter playing together but there’s a bond between them nothing can break. Their friendship is the catapult to a tragedy in the mid 80s affecting both families; one that reverberates through the years and serves as the basis for much of the conflict as we go from the 70s up to present day.

Mary Beth Keane has created characters the reader roots for and characters not so likable. To say more would mean spoilers. I was up until 4:00 in the morning reading and finally went to sleep with 50 pages left. Yet the next day I only read a few pages at a time because I didn’t want it to end. I’m off to find Keane’s backlist.

4.5 stars

I have always enjoyed reading family stories that take me on their journey across time. This is a story of two families over four decades and how their lives intersect in a tragic way as well as one that is filled of love and ultimately forgiveness. Two NYC police officers, living next door to each other in the suburbs, connected mainly by the friendship of their two young children. Abruptly the things going on in one of the families impact the other in a way that changes everyone’s life and the two young friends are separated. In less capable hands, this book could have been melodramatic, but it wasn’t. The author addressed some tough, realistic issues - mental illness, alcoholism, parental abandonment and the effects on these characters, who I was vested in throughout, felt for throughout. This could never be a happily ever after story because the things that happened to these characters are burdens that while can be lightened by that love, loyalty and forgiveness, they can never fully be erased. An ending that was satisfying and provided realistic closure. Highly recommended.

This was a monthly buddy read with Diane and Esil.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Scribner through Edelweiss and NetGalley.

I love a good family drama but I can be impatient with stories that don’t give me characters worth following. This story involves two families, neighbors who become linked by one adult seriously injuring another. I was immersed in the story and highly recommend it.

Thank you for this advance copy.

Mary Beth Keane delivers an intricately woven and tantalizingly premised novel rich with secrets, friendship, sadness and joy. It's impossible not to connect with these wonderfully compelling characters. An irresistible read.

On a recent podcast interview, when asked which new release I was most anticipating, I instantly answered with Mary Beth Keane's Ask Again, Yes. Just listen to this premise: NYPD cops Francis and Brian happen to move next door to each other in the suburbs. Though their children Kate and Peter become the best of friends, Francis and his wife have learned to keep their distance from Brian's wife due to her precarious mental health. When tragedy strikes between the two families, Brian's family is forced to move away. But when Kate and Peter fall in love, the two families must learn to confront the tragedy that ties them together. A story of love and forgiveness, Ask Again, Yes serves up the perfect blend of family drama and character study to win it all the stars in my opinion.

There are stories, and then there are stories. This is a rich, delicious novel that makes you forget there’s an outside world. There’s only this handful of characters and the love and heartbreak between them.

The two main characters are Kate — the youngest of three daughters to Francis and Lena — and Peter, the only son of Brian and Anne. But the narrative starts with Francis’ perspective as a young police officer in the Bronx. He yearns for the suburbs, an escape from the stress and violence of his job and a return to a world sort of like his childhood in Ireland. Lena never wanted to leave NYC, but she can see it’s important to him. Still, she’s lonely. Then Brian — Francis’ partner but not quite friend — and Anne move in next door. Lena tries to make friends with Anne, but Anne will strangely have none of it.

So Kate and Peter grow up next to each other, and from the very beginning, they know intuitively that their souls are entwined. And yet their parents’ chilly animosity to one another won’t let them just be. When they’re about 14, they’re torn apart by a terrifying, violent night that will impact every day of the rest of their lives. But years later, they reconnect, and then their own relationship becomes the forefront of the story. But it’s not simple, and it’s not easy — the scars our childhoods leave behind never are.

Rather than switching POVs between chapters, the narrative weaves between the characters’ points of view seamlessly from one sentence to the next. When they’re young, most is from Peter; when they’re adults, most is from Kate. And a bit is from each of their parents, too.

The story has really strong themes of love, childhood trauma, mental health, the danger of pretending to the world that everything is fine at home when it’s not. Also addiction, the repetition of parents’ mistakes, and acceptance. So much to pack into a relatively short novel, but wow, was it beautiful and heartbreaking and just meant to exist.

This novel will be one of my favorites this year. I absolutely adored it.
The character drama was written so very well. I loved the timelines and how it all fell into place at the end. Amazing writing. I have already posted on Instagram....will post again closer to pub date. This book gave me all the feels and still has me thinking. The writing was well done and the plot very well thought out. The characters were delightfully flawed and I loved it. Although it had strong triggers for mental illness and addiction, I personally appreciated the way Mary Beth Keane wrote this so apologetically. I'm still trying to process my full review. It will be posted on my Instagram page. But this book got all the stars from me!

"But as Francis Gleeson had once told Kate, love is only part of the story."

F$%& yes. This book was so good. So hard to put down. And the ending.I had to dab at my eyes a bit. Dust, you know.

Anyway, this book covers a whole lotta years, but it's done in a really interesting way. (At one point, the narration reminded me of the song Help--the actual words in each line of the verse sung by the backing vocals precede the main vocals--but that wasn't precisely what was going on. Nevertheless, the structure is interesting enough that I was thinking about it while reading it.)

It's not precisely a beach read--it's a little too serious for that, with some weighty topics in it--but again, I found myself longing for an extra minute here or there to read it, so I could find out what would happen. I willed myself to bed last night even though I probably could have stayed up long past my bedtime reading.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope are police officers assigned to the Bronx right out of the Police Academy in 1973. They only work together for 6 weeks as young rookies starting their lives and families. Francis and his wife, Lena, buy a home in the suburbs and a few years later, Brian and his wife buy the house next door. Francis's wife would like to be friends with Brian's wife, but Brian's wife is mentally ill, difficult to get along with and often hides in her room. She is difficult even for her son, Peter, who befriends Francis and Lena's youngest daughter, Sarah.

This novel spans several decades, with a terrible incident that affects both families deeply, forgiveness and moving on. It shows how people cope with tragedy and deftly explores mental illness and alcoholism. The ending is beautiful and a message that I needed to hear.

This was the first book by Mary Beth Keane that I have read. I thoroughly enjoyed her writing but not so much her characters. I will definitely read another book by her, hoping I feel more invested in her characters.

It is a story about what is meant to be; love, loss, forgiveness and finding our way back to each other.

Kate and Peter were meant to be together and they worked hard to get there and to stay together. Though I understood their story, even empathized with many of their problems I never connected with them.

Part of the problem could be the novel covers so many years I felt as many of the years were summarized and I lost tough with who Kate was as a young girl, who Peter was during his formative years. .

I enjoyed the writing and got through the book fairly quickly. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a multi-generational family saga.

4.5 stars! Two families, living next door to each other and ties that bind them over the decades. Kate and Peter grew up together. Their friendship was a strong one, but also one that neither of their mothers really wanted. Tragedy strikes and Peters family leaves their home, and Kate and Peter are separated. This is a story of the families lives after the tragedy, how Kate and Peter find their way back to each other, and how everyone involved finds a way to live their life beyond the horrible event from years past.

I’m not sure why but recently I have loved stories like this. I love the neighbor kids having a strong friendship, being torn apart for some reason or another, and eventually finding their way back to that friendship. I really enjoyed and highly recommend this book!

Thank you to netgalley and scribnerbooks for allowing me to read and review an advanced copy of this book!

I thoroughly enjoyed this read about two families who suffered hardships only to become reunited later on in life. The characters, who in their own ways, came alive and contributed to an engaging story.

Ask Again, Yes is a multigenerational story of the Gleason and Stanhope families and the tragedy that ripped them apart? Will they heal the wounds that tore them apart?

This family drama has themes of mental illness, alcoholism, love, loss and forgiveness.

This story. These characters. I found myself thinking about them during the day and couldn’t wait to get back to them. Family sagas are fast becoming my favorite stories.

Ask Again, Yes would be a wonderful book club selection. I know I will continue thinking about this story and the characters and can’t wait for my friends to read so we can discuss.

Thank you Scribner and Netgalley for the free copy to review.

For fans of Celeste Ng or Jodi Picoult. Loved this family drama. Very sad and heartbreaking, but also asks a lot of tough questions. I think this will be a good a recommend to my book club and friends.

Beautifully written novel! I love all of the dynamics within each character and each relationship. I would recommend this to anyone you liked 'Little Fires Everywhere' by Celeste Ng. I am excited to read other novels by Mary Beth Keane.

4.5 stars I really liked this book about small town people with small town problems throughout the years from childhood to parenthood. Peter and Kate are next door neighbors and best friends for life, until life got in the way. His mom had some "issues" that ended up affecting both families in very different, but serious ways.

Sometimes many years would go by without a lot of detail, but it was not a problem in the telling of the story. It felt long, but none of it should be cut as it all was important to the story and I really looked forward to having time to sit down and join their families again.

The writing flowed and I felt I was there watching the story unfold which is my favorite kind of story. I will now follow this author, new to me, but one who can really write. I just wish I understood the title.

Thank you NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.