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Three adult sisters grapple with a shared tragedy over a Thanksgiving weekend spent in their childhood home, navigating complex relationships and old tensions, in this debut for fans of J. Courtney Sullivan and Mary Beth Keane.
It’s been years since the three Ryan sisters were all home in Long Island at the same time. Two decades ago their lives were upended by an accident on their brother Topher’s boat: a friend’s brother was killed, the lawsuit nearly bankrupted their parents, and Topher spiraled into a depression, eventually taking his life. Now the Ryan women are back for Thanksgiving, hungry to reconnect, but each of them carrying a heavy secret. The eldest, Cait, still holding guilt about the crash, rekindles a flame with her high school crush. Middle sister Alice’s been thrown a curveball threatening the career she’s restarting, and faces a difficult decision. And the youngest, Maggie, is finally taking the risk of bringing a woman she loves home to her devoutly Catholic, often judgmental mother. Infusing everything is the grief for Topher that none of the Ryans have figured out how to carry together.
When Cait invites a guest to Thanksgiving dinner, old tensions boil over and new truths surface, nearly overpowering the flickering light of their family bond. Far more than a family holiday will be ruined unless the sisters can find a way to forgive themselves—and one another.
Heather Aimee O’Neill is a poet, a teacher, and the assistant director of the Sackett Street Writers’ Workshop. She lives in Brooklyn with her wife and two sons. The Irish Goodbye is her first novel.
Joshua Henkin's most recent novel, MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS, was named The Book of the Year by the Chicago Tribune. Joshua is also the author of the novels SWIMMING ACROSS THE HUDSON, a Los Angeles Times Notable Book; MATRIMONY, a New York Times Notable Book; and THE WORLD WITHOUT YOU, which was the winner of the 2012 Edward Lewis Wallant Award for Jewish American Fiction. Joshua lives in Brooklyn, NY, with his wife and daughters and their huge Newfoundland, and he directs and teaches in the MFA program in Fiction Writing at Brooklyn College.
