Ask Again Yes
By Mary Beth Keane
Blurb
A gripping and compassionate family drama set between neighbours in suburban New York
Gillam, upstate New York: a town of ordinary, big-lawned suburban houses. The Gleesons have recently moved there and soon welcome the Stanhopes as their new neighbours. Lonely Lena Gleeson wants a friend but Anne Stanhope - cold, elegant, unstable - wants to be left alone.
It's left to their children - Lena's youngest, Kate, and Anne's only child, Peter - to find their way to one another. To form a friendship whose resilience and love will be almost broken by the fault line dividing both families, and by the terrible tragedy that will engulf them all. A tragedy whose true origins only become clear many years later . . .
A story of love and redemption, faith and forgiveness, Ask Again, Yes reveals the way childhood memories change when viewed from the distance of adulthood - villains lose their menace, and those who appeared innocent seem less so. It's a story of how, if we're lucky, the violence lurking beneath everyday life can be vanquished by the power of love.
Our Review
Keane has produced a lyrical piece of writing in the form of Ask Again, Yes. The writing flowed beautifully, and I found I was almost finished before I knew it.
Ask Again, Yes is an impressive book which deals with some difficult themes, themes I cannot discuss without revealing some pretty big plot spoilers.
Brian and Francis were partners in the police academy together. Later they find themselves neighbours in an up and coming neighbourhood.
Lena, Francis’ wife finds it lonely in pregnancy and early motherhood and she makes efforts to make friends with Anne but finds her hostile and unfriendly.
Anne and Brian have a little boy called Peter.
Lena and Francis already had two girls and then they have a third call called Kate who is around the same age as Peter.
Anne’s behaviour is unstable and shows itself early on in her treatment of both Brian and Peter. Pete finds solace in his close relationship with Kate.
Then when they are teenagers Peter and Kate sneak out one night and are caught coming back in and an accident happens that changes the course of their lives.
One family moves away but the young couple find they are drawn to each other still.
The story flows seamlessly and even though it was a fairly long book I cannot say I felt bored or wished I was further along in the story at any point.
It was an enchanting tale and I didn’t want it to end.
Our Final Rating...
Read & Shared 16 Times.
I hope you enjoyed this book review, please consider sharing it with others.
Get In Touch
Please feel free to leave a comment to this book review below. Or even leave your own review if you like.
If you run a blog and/or have posted a review to this book, a Q & A or general author interview online you can always add a trackback to it here and following moderation we'll add a link to it below.