Ask Again, Yes
Mary Beth Keane
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
Ask Again, Yes
Mary Beth Keane
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
Mary Beth Keane's new novel is...one of the most unpretentiously profound books I've read in a long time.
...well-wrought, emotionally affecting.
Keane...writes about mental illness and substance abuse with acute sensitivity, and her characters are consistently, authentically lived-in. But they can also feel like less than the sum of their struggles: A late flashback to Anne’s native Ireland offers an enticing but too-brief glimpse of the formative pain in her past; Peter works so hard to tamp down his own trauma that he becomes a sort of cipher. It all makes for a tale smartly and solidly told, without ever quite piercing the veil that separates the reader from the human puzzle pieces on the page..
Keane’s quiet capability embraces a three-generational plot, multiple character perspectives and some complicated topics, notably mental health and addiction.
Even if it occasionally seems like Keane’s male characters seek refuge for their troubles in predictable ways, this is a haunting look at what happens when mental illness goes undefined. The slow-burning and nameless terror it creates swallows everyone in its path..
... both gripping and exhausting.
Displaying impressive reach in this third—and possibly breakout—novel, Keane delivers an epic of domestic emotional turmoil.
... thoughtful, compassionate.