Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane

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Ask Again, Yes is one of the most emotionally devastating books I’ve read in a long time. I spent the majority of the book crying my eyes out for characters that I just met and woke the next day to an intense book hangover and puffy eyes.

When Franics Gleeson and Brian Stanhope, both police officers, move their families to the suburbs, they both envision a quiet place to raise their families. Living next door to each other, the couples maintain a chilly but cordial relationship but their children Kate and Brian begin a close friendship that lasts through their childhood until a devastating incident tears the families apart. When Kate and Brian find each other again in college, the two families can’t understand why they would speak to one another let alone begin a relationship.

When Kate and Brian get married and begin a family, their love is tested by dark family secrets and betrayals. If the two are to remain together, they will need the love and support of both families to get them through their darkest moments.

I had been looking forward to this book for weeks and I chose to celebrate surviving my Library’s summer reading party to read it. I then went on to stay up past midnight crying my eyes out and wanting to wrap every character in a giant hug and tell them it would all work out. It had to, that’s how books work. But this book left me wondering if they would be able to pull off a happy ending-each character gets knocked down by one devastation after the other. Beginning in the 1970’s in New York, the books follows both families through the modern day and reflects on the changes in motherhood, parenting, work, and relationships over the decades. The discussions about college were interesting-funny how a summer job could pay your college tuition. Ask Again, Yes doesn’t shy away from big topics-it deals with abuse, mental illness, alcoholism, and abandonment. I found it interesting how little the characters were willing to ask for help with their problems. They knew their family would support them but were still unwilling to ask for anything. It really made me think of all the different ways that we struggle through without asking for help when it would be easier, and less self-destructive, if we would just ask. Asking for someone to watch your kids for an hour so you can have a break. Asking for help when you suffered a trauma and don’t know how to process it. Asking for help when you see someone hurting and you don’t know what to do.

This was so good and I can’t recommend it enough. When I brought my loaned copy back into the Library I kept it on me desk so I could tell all of my Patrons that they HAD TO READ THIS BOOK! I didn’t yell, promise.

I did speak very forcefully.

If you would like to give this book a try, grab your tissues and favorite blanket and pick up your copy here:

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