I absolutely, wholeheartedly loved this book! I read it in a 24 hr period- once I started, I could not out it down! These characters were so well developed, and I was completely immersed in every detail of their lives. This was such a beautiful, moving, complicated story, and I can’t wait to read more from this author!

Wow! I LOVED this book. At first, I did think it was a little confusing because the perspectives would switch periods of time, but they eventually all caught up to each other. I was not expecting the incident that caused the families to hate each other. However, forgiveness always wins in the end. This was a heartbreaking story that was also heartwarming.

"You think a person comes out of a house like that undamaged? You don't see it now, Kate, but it's there. I promise you. Marriage is long. All the seams get tested."

Where to begin with how I feel about this book? If you are looking for a story that seeps in to your soul and pulls every heart string that you have, then this is the book for you. Ask Again, Yes is the stirring portrait of the effects of mental illness and addiction on two families and an honest look at marriage and relationships. It’s a tender take on what life can be like when your parents fail you and you are forced to grow up much too fast. I found myself rooting hard for Peter and Kate as they attempted to rewrite their family narrative and I was unprepared for how incredibly close to home the character of Anne Stanhope would hit for me.

The title became more appropriate the longer I read because ... YES. YES TO ALL OF IT. Yes to the conversations that this book will start about mental illness and the complex emotions that one experiences living with a parent who can be volatile. Yes to the authentic portrayal of marriage and sacrifice. Yes to young love and the belief that you can change the world and the people in it for the better. Yes to forgiveness, hope and second chances. Yes to realistic, compelling, family drama enveloped in redemption and grace. Yes to reading a work that so beautifully depicts the daily struggles and joys that people experience as they make their way through life

At the start of Mary Beth Keane’s Ask Again, Yes, Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope are NYPD rookies assigned to the same precinct. They’re not friends, but when they eventually become neighbors in a suburb outside the city, the two men and their families find themselves intertwined for decades to come. Their children, Peter and Katie, form an instant connection, and even when tragedy strikes, they can’t stay apart despite their parents’ demands. The book follows both families, with Peter and Katie at the center as they grow up, fall in love, and deal with the repercussions of their parent’s actions.

Addiction and mental health are central to the plot of Ask Again, Yes. The book starts in the 70s and covers about 40 years, allowing us to see a shift in the perception of both of these over time. At the beginning of the book, characters’ struggles with mental illness and addiction aren’t dealt with responsibly — they’re swept under the rug until they become unavoidable. As time passes and public perception changes, so do the characters’ experiences, and we start to see a narrative that resembles what is slowly becoming our society’s norm. We also experience these intense topics from children’s perspectives, and again see how their perspectives change as they grow older and start to draw their own conclusions. We, as readers, learn the truth along with the children, making them the true unreliable narrators of this story.

Even with its narrative traversing decades, the book’s overall message on addiction and mental illness is refreshingly modern. We see characters who suffer from both at their bests and their absolute worsts. We see them make mistakes and hurt people, often beyond their control. We see them enter treatment facilities. We see them relapse. But we also see them recover, go on to make amends, and lead fulfilling lives.

I thought the pacing of this book was really effective. The beginning is pretty consistent, but as time goes on and our characters age, we skip years, sometimes almost decades, at a time. Sometimes, entire stages of characters’ lives are summarized by other characters’ observations, which I thought worked really well. It’s a multigenerational story that follows three generations of Gleesons and Stanhopes, each with their own stories to tell. Rather than explore each stage of each generation’s life in full detail, Keane artfully summarizes some, allowing more crucial plot points their due time. This book easily could have been 600 pages, but I’m glad it was condensed into something more digestible and poetic.

Overall, I would highly recommend Ask Again, Yes to someone who enjoys multigenerational stories, family drama, and slow builds that really reward you in the end. I might go as far as to call it a modern day Romeo and Juliet, but don’t let that make or break your decision to read this. Just a passing observation.

The Gleesons, The Stanhopes, I loved you all. What a powerful story! This book held characters I’ll think about for a long time. Broken, strong, resilient and flawed and yet I rooted for each one of them. If I could have wrapped little Peter, teenage Peter, college Peter and adult Peter in a hug, I’d tell him how strong and kind and worthy he is. This is a book that touches on heavy topics and makes you think about addiction, mental illness and abuse and it’s spider web of destruction and also beauty. Best book I’ve read so far this year! Absolutely heartbreakingly perfect!

“The thing is, Peter, grown-ups don’t know what they’re doing any better than kids do. That’s the truth.”

All the stars for this wonderful, multi-generational family drama!!

Ask Again, Yes takes readers through the lives of two families, the Stanhills and the Gleeson’s, told over the course of several decades, with themes of love, family, hope, loss, lies and forgiveness.

As two police officers befriend one another, their stories unfold as their lives intersect throughout the years and one tragic day. I can see how this novel has been awarded all the praise and hype amongst the bookish community, and chosen as a BOTM pick, because it’s just such an endearing story, and I will miss these two families.

*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this free ebook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Absolutely loved this book. Heartfelt, heartbreaking story of family, love and the power of forgiveness. Two police officers are raising their families next door to each other when a tragedy occurs that changes their lives forever. Mental illness, abandonment, alcoholism and infidelity are all addressed beautifully in this book. Engrossing story that follows these families through their mistakes and triumphs. It made me cry more than one. This is the best book I have read in several years.

Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane is one of the most talked about novels of the summer, and I devoured it by the pool with a hard seltzer in hand. Read this when you are in the mood for a bold and unforgettable dysfunctional family drama about two neighboring families in a suburb of New York. The Gleesons and The Stanhopes are decent people wholove deeply, get lost, fail spectacularly and forgive when they can’t forget. It is Commonwealth by Ann Patchett meets Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. Best paired with grilled burgers, hot dogs, foil-wrapped corn on the cob and beer. XO, Tara

Unfortunately I feel as if I am going to be in the minority for this review. I could never quit get into this book. The story line is good, i just feel as if I couldn’t “click” with it. I struggled from page one. I feel like the story never picked up pace. The characters were just there. The only one i found semi interested was Anne and her mental health issues.

Special thanks to netgalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion!

This novel explores the dynamics between two families who used to be neighbors and continue to remain intertwined throughout their lives by memory and presence after a tragic event. It follows the lives of the families’s parents as well as one child in each family, Kate and Peter, from before they were born through as they grow up and eventually have children of their own. This profound book about the ramifications of tragedy, childhood trauma, and mental illness is captivating and kept me flipping the pages eagerly throughout.

I think this book would be a great book club pick. It’s a story told over a span of 40-50 years revolving around two families in the same neighborhood. The major conflict happens somewhat early on and I was pretty surprised! It would be best for readers who enjoy novels centered around family drama. It gave off similar vibes as The Great Alone and Little Fires Everywhere.

Ask Again , Yes has stayed with me days after finishing it, and will be one that will probably stay with me for a long time afterwards . Two families are torn apart after a tragic event of one neighbor being shot trying to help their neighbors No one lives will ever be the same .. I really enjoyed all the different depths and layers to this novel and all it deals with ( mental health, love, forgiveness, addiction) Written beautifully and emotional I enjoyed the writing and the characters.

Ask Again, Yes is a heartbreaking and tragic story that is beautifully written. It is about two neighbors whose lives are different and yet the same. They are brought together through tragedy. This book was hard to put down.

I would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

This is a story of forgiveness and redemption.

The topics of mental illness, alcoholism, immigration, and dysfunctional family cycles are discussed.

In this multigenerational story, we see two families be torn apart and come back together.

An absolutely beautifully written account of the repercussions of mental illness gone undetected.

This book had a lot of good elements. It's immensely readable and very well-written. You get so attached to the characters that some parts of the story start to drive you crazy! I definitely recommend giving it a read.

Combining hauntingly beautiful prose with a keen insight into emotional trauma, Mary Beth Keane’s ASK AGAIN, YES is a riveting tour de force about dysfunctional families, loyalty and the desperation of two families trying to stay afloat amid a resounding tragedy.

The novel begins in the Bronx in 1973, as rookie policeman Francis Gleeson is preparing to head out on a job with Brian Stanhope, a fellow newbie. The two are not particularly close --- Francis, recently emigrated from Ireland, is more of the stoic sort, while Brian is a chatty American (though he’s quick to tell Francis that he's Irish too, just “back a ways”) --- but as rookies, who happened to sign up at the same time, they end up as partners. In the context of the book, they are intriguing at first for how perfectly normal they appear. They worry about patrolling the bad sides of town, drink with their fellow officers, and dream about the girls they will marry: Polish-Italian Lena for Francis and Irish Anne for Brian.

Despite his introspective, no-nonsense demeanor, Francis is troubled by the things he sees on the job and convinces his wife, Lena, that the two should move outside of the city, where he can be Francis Gleeson and not Officer Gleeson. They settle in the quaint town of Gillam, and before long are joined by a baby girl, Natalie. Lena, who has settled into the housewife life quickly and devotedly, is pregnant again less than a year later when the empty house next door is purchased by new owners.

As excited as Lena is for the company --- and the prospect of future children to play with her own --- she is shocked to learn that Francis not only knows their new neighbors, but was once partnered with the husband, Brian. Lena tries every trick she knows to befriend the couple, but the wife, Anne, is quiet and standoffish. One day, Anne yells at Lena, accusing her of both insulting her and trying to flatter her husband, and it seems that all offers of friendship are off the table.

Of course, neither the Gleesons nor the Stanhopes could possibly know that their children, Kate Gleeson and Peter Stanhope, would one day become friends, and later, as young teens, fall in love. The Gleesons are too preoccupied raising three daughters to notice the goings-on of their neighbors, but inside the Stanhope house, Peter is dealing with a mother who is battling a serious undiagnosed mental disorder and a father whose laziness is trumped only by his selfishness.

With Anne growing more and more unstable, the rift between the two families seems insurmountable...until the night a 14-year-old Peter asks Kate to meet him outside at midnight. Their innocent encounter forces the families to confront one another head-on, and a shocking, absolutely unpredictable act of violence.

ASK AGAIN, YES is a story that is difficult to summarize without spoiling too much, so I will say that despite their families forbidding them to see one another, Kate and Peter do find their way back to each other again and again. Keane is a master of character study, and her book is full of empathy, insight and an unparalleled ability to capture human nature in a succinct yet gorgeous manner. Together and apart, Kate and Peter face mental illness, the mortality of their parents, struggles of loyalty, addiction, sickness and so much more.

This is a heavy novel, but not a gratuitously or voyeuristically issue-filled one. Keane gives each issue the appropriate attention and weight, but integrates each one so well that you almost do not notice how she is doing it. Larger events like death, marriage and birth occur almost in the background, as they do in life, with the smaller idiosyncrasies, hurts and betrayals taking the foreground in Keane’s careful, crafty hands.

Between the Gleesons, the Stanhopes, and the new family that Kate and Peter form, ASK AGAIN, YES has no shortage of interesting, complex characters. If I had to say what Keane did best in this book, it would be knowing exactly which character should be speaking at which point. Authors have been called choreographers before, but I have never felt the comparison more fitting than with Keane, who possesses an uncanny ability to inhabit her characters’ minds at exactly the right times. She does not waste a single word, and it was often her shorter phrases that packed the biggest punches. She is clearly someone who has studied the relationships around her as research, and though I would not call this book sentimental, it is powerfully sensitive and heartfelt.

For Keane’s characters, trauma seems like an inheritable trait, but even the victims in this book are never wholly innocent. It would be easy to say that there is a villain here, but perhaps it would be more accurate to say that all of Keane’s characters are equally villainous, heroic and tortured. Their journeys are profound and humbling, and Keane has created something wholly unique with ASK AGAIN, YES, a masterful book that will stay with anyone who reads it.

ASK AGAIN, YES by Mary Beth Keane is a thought-provoking novel which will be a popular choice for book groups. In a quiet, but subtly powerful way, Keane encourages her readers to explore their own attitudes towards mental health and alcoholism. Two families, the Gleesons and the Stanhopes, are at the center of this novel. The husbands, Francis (from Ireland and married to Lena) and Brian (married to Anne), are both New York City cops. As young newlyweds in the 1970s, the two couples buy houses next door to each other in a small town called Gillam. The Gleesons eventually have three daughters, including Kate who is the youngest and the same age at Peter Stanhope. This is the story (told from multiple viewpoints) of the parents, their relationships and a tragedy which ensues with consequences for more than one generation: the lives of Kate and Peter become a major focus.

Spanning more than forty years, ASK AGAIN, YES is a well-written novel which is emotionally compelling (I read it in two days) and will likely produce much discussion. Keane's work could definitely also serve as a "jumping off point" for our Junior Theme researchers who are interested in topics such as parenting and marriage, loneliness and friendship, mental health and/or substance abuse. ASK AGAIN, YES received a starred review from Kirkus ("a solidly satisfying, immersive read"), was positively reviewed on NPR, and was named an Amazon Best Book for June 2019.

Link in live post: https://www.wpr.org/ask-again-yes-profound-yet-unpretentious-family-drama

This book took me a few chapters to get into but once I got really into the story I couldn't put this book down. I loved all the details behind the characters and I enjoyed that this book covered so many different angles in a story. It was a dramatic, emotional read but shows what family and love are made of. This story proves that you never know what's going on behind doors.

I loved this book. I did not want to put it down until I found out what happened to characters I quickly became attached to but also didn't want it to end.

A multi-generation family saga, "Ask Again, Yes" begins with Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope, two rookie NYC cops who are partnered together in the 1970s. When they also become neighbors in a suburban town, their lives are inextricably linked through circumstances I won't spoil and the novel continues to follow what happens to the men and their families in the decades that follow.

This book is on so many summer must-read lists for a very good reason - Mary Beth Keane writes about a world and people who you'll care about, root for and, in some cases, curse. The story covers everything - the immigrant experience, marital issues, first love, teenage strife, mental illness, alcoholism and more - but to me, it's the story of family and how one perseveres through tragedy, forgives, finds happiness and more importantly, peace.

What a beautiful book! This novel tells the story of two families over 40 years, and how each of the characters handle a tragedy that affects them all. Highly recommended!