Ask again, yes took me a little while to get through. Although I did enjoy the plot of the book it just didn’t seem to be gripping me in any meaningful way that made me want to return to it.

The book reads from several different perspectives, which works really well here and gives a nice 360 view of every event.

The Stanhopes and Gleesons are next door neighbours, the fathers used to be partners back when they were cops in the same precinct. This shared history, however, does not bring them together. Their children, Peter Stanhope and Kate Gleeson are best friends who spend every day together. That is until Peter’s mother is sent over the edge and commits a violent crime.

The story follows the events of both family’s lives until their paths are once again entwined and they must face new obstacles together as a unit.

Mary Beth Keane has created an enjoyable book with some powerful life lessons, but I’m afraid I just wasn’t given enough of these characters to know or care about them. The way she has written about some of the serious issues in life we sometimes refuse to deal with is admirable and very well done.

The ending, though heartwarming, was rather anti climactic and slightly boring to me. I can’t say precisely what it is I wanted from this book but I do know that I feel something is missing.

If you want to learn a little something about forgiveness, understanding and compassion I would still definitely recommend this one.

I didn't know what sort of book this was when I got sent it, just that I'd read similar things before and I'd like them. So I picked it up, didn't look it up, didn't read the blurb and I just started reading. I have to say , this was a very touching and moving book.

The story follows two families, the Gleesons and the Stanhopes, two beat cops, two neighbours, two families, both with Irish roots, and in some ways mirror images of each other, and in some ways polar opposites. But families are difficult and complex and there are underlying struggles that one cannot even begin to imagine. When tragedy strikes both families they're wrenched apart, and it's Katie and Peter, the two youngest children that feel it the most. Everything changes in an instant, and it's up to them to figure out their way forward, figure their way back to each other.

It's a really compelling read, beautifully written, complex characters and totally engaging. I challenge anyone to read it and this book not touch their soul. At the heart of this book is a love story, and it's beautiful.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book. This book was quite hard to get into at first, it was confusing as it went from one thing to another. I found it hard to read so it took a while to read. It was a good story but just not for me.

My favourite kind of book is a good family saga and this didn’t disappoint. The characters are intriguing and some are very complex. Mary Beth Keane isn’t an author I’m familiar with but I will be looking out for more of her work. The story is centred around Peter and Katie whose families lived next door to each other in Gilliam, New York. Their relationship began as they started school together and progressed into adulthood. Along the way a tragic incident forced their separation for a while until they find each other and the relationship continued. The story occasionally does veer from one time frame to another although it doesn’t detract from the story or make it difficult to follow. I would have liked to have read more detail about the important events in their family life as it occasionally seemed to skip past them. The story covers lots of personality traits in the characters such as mental health issues, violence and alcoholism all cleverly woven into the story. Highly recommend. Thank you netgalley.

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. I was at a loss on what to read and then I received an email offering me this book to review and I'm so glad I read it.

This story spans many years. It's a love story, a story of life, families, friendship and so much more. It's definitely a lovely read which will give you all the feels. It deals with some difficult subjects, but it does not retract from the readability of this book. I highly recommend this book.

I will definitely look out for more books by this author.

Working in the Bronx and then moving out to the city suburbs…you’d think this was the start of the American dream, but no. Two families are torn apart and then we revisit the families and see how this tragedy has affected them and what has gone on behind the scenes since.
It’s a great family drama and saga with plenty of emotional baggage thrown in. It’s the American dream in book form with all the pitfalls that you hope will never happen. A study of what can happen and how families cope with it.

The characters were rich and well drawn. You were part of those families from the start and felt their hopes and dreams as loud as they did. It’s a slow burn of a novel but one which brings ups and downs as we follow the families and their various members through life. Four decades. What a lot can happen in that time.
There’s a lot of inward looking into issues such as mental health and coping with loss. It was very moving but I felt it wasn’t the right book at the right time for me. It’s too long and I think it would have been more impactful with a shorter tale to tell.

This is quite a powerful and poignant story.

The focus is on two main characters and their families and just how their lives intertwine.

Weaving between past and present, there are many ups and downs and along with them an abundance of emotional trauma.

I think what this book, (one that I probably wouldn't have picked if it wasn't from an invite from Netgalley) cleverly demonstrates is just how easily we can miss certain moments, little pieces of time that might not seem significant at the time but they could in fact impact a person/s future in one way or another.

We all know that life isn't all black and white, what we might not realise is the courage it takes to get through things that we may not be so prepared for.

Mary Beth Keane perfectly demonstrates the dynamics of a not so typical family life and just how life has a strange way of working itself out in the end if the fates allow.

Starting from the year 1973 moving seamlessly to the present day, changing from one character to the next in a way that is not confusing in the slightest.

This novel carefully tells a story of love, loss, friendship and family.

I was moved and compelled to turn the pages in a strange way I wanted to slow down my own reading pace to fully appreciate the tale that was unfolding in front of me.

There isn't anything that I thought could be improved, if anything I guess I'd like to go into more detail with some of the supporting characters as they were all interesting, each with their own stories to tell.

Highly recommended.

I wasn't sure what to make of this book when I first saw it but I gave it a chance and I am so happy that I did. Such a well written and engaging story. Give it a go you won't be disappointed.

Thank you for the opportunity to read 'Ask Again, Yes'. It follows two New York families, specifically a child from each family, and how their lives are intertwined. I thought the characters were well formed and I loved the gentle tone of the narrative. It was easy to empathise with all of the characters and I felt that I travelled with them as they aged. This is a book I really enjoyed reading and I definitely recommend it.

The book is well written and the characters well drawn. The inter-relationships between two families is cleverly done. The way the author manages illness, tragedy alcoholism and mental illness I found very believable. I particularly liked the way the author handled the changes in society over the period of the story. It starts in the 1970s with Irish immigrant families and the role of 'the wife' for two NY police officers is clear. It ends some 30 years on when gender roles have changed considerably. The characters were both interesting and intriguing. Their relationship with each other was fascinating. So for me it was an enjoyable book to read with a lot of positives. I did find the book a little slow in places, Interestingly my overall view of the book is better now that I have finished it then it sometimes was when I was reading it!

A story about being content with what you have - a great moral message which delivers through careful description of everyday happenings - apart from a huge event which rocks the family's world. In my view this is an exploration of mental health issues probably developing from post natal depression with traumatic loss. The whole story is built on this issue but explores other family issues carefully and I recommend it without avoiding the families responses to the horror.
It is very American to a British reader. There are many assumptions about the American way of life which can be puzzling. The whole summer experience of American children is different and there are police procedures which are not quite clear but can be picked up along the way.
It is an engrossing read and I recommend it.

Ask Again, Yes is a beautifully written, gripping and compassionate family drama. It spans over four decades and follows the lives of the Gleeson and Stanhope families.

Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope meet when they were NYPD rookies and end up by chance living next door to each other in suburban New York. The families don't particularly get on but Francis's daughter,Kate and Brian's son, Peter form a very strong friendship. However once night a tragic event changes everything and the families are torn apart. Kate and Peter's friendship is challenged as they lose touch and then reconnect years later. The events of that night are still impacting on their lives and the pair are faced with some difficult choices and decisions.

This is a story about love, marriage, tragedy, addiction and depression. The challenges of families whose lives have been affected by tragedy. Mary Beth Keane has developed her characters brilliantly in this book. The stories are told from alternative perspectives which gives the reader a good understanding of the characters and their motivation.

A thoroughly enjoyable read. Highly recommended.
Thank you to Penguin Michael Joseph, and Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the way this was written, there was lots of detail which brought it to life. The setting is New York with a pair of families whose fathers, of Irish origin, are police colleagues, living next door to each other. Their respective children, Kate and Peter, form a strong bond and are obviously meant to be together. However, a horrific accident blows them apart. It was a compelling story and had me gripped from the start. The characters were well-rounded and interesting. Although it was basically the love story of Peter and Kate, it was also about the ties that bind families together. It had strong themes; depression, alcoholism, mental illness, but in the end all comes right.

A gripping thriller of strong love Mental illness and love thy neighbour. Kate and Peter are neighbours both their dads are Police officers in New York guess that is NYPD I'm a Brit I've of those waiting to leave Europe.
So they have known each other all their lives and have had string bonds and week I let you read the rest. Peters Mum and Kate's Dad are from Ireland Kate's Mum is also European and Pete's Dad's is the American. Neighbours but assist from Kate and Peter their parents don't get in that well and then the events of one night that start of innocent enough the two teenageers decide to meet up after everyone else is settled, apart from Kate's Dad who is on a late shift so well it of the way. By the Morning it all changes and life is never the same for any of them. Once the horse had bolted so to speak it's hard to see how any of them will recover and can love survive. Don't worry guys this is no sloppy love story this is a story with bit and of dealing with what life throws at you.
How lasting is the effects of your parents obviously that is strong no matter how hard the resistance and strength to conquer their weaknesses, and puch on past their pain for what is right for you. This is not a story of rebellion fighting against establishment but of honest families dreaming with life with twists that come at them.
I was totally hooked with this thriller it was honest and real informative in the best way possible with plenty of action and passion of spirit rather than actually it best you read it for yourself and you will understand what I mean. It's a great book and we'll worth getting infact I highly recommend you do get it.

My thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC of Ask Again, Yes. Mary Beth Keane's novel is a magnificent tour-de-force. In 1973 two NYPD rookies are assigned to a Bronx precinct. Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope are not close friends. When Gleeson graduated from the police academy he asked Lena Teobaldo to marry him. They moved to the suburb of Gillam, soon to be followed by Stanhope and his wife Anne. Children follow: three girls for the Gleesons - Natalie, Sara and Kate. Kate - born just six months after the Stanhope's son, Peter.

Two families living side by side, one neighbourhood and a sense of false domesticity. All families have problems, don't they? And then one violent, tragic event, unexpected, unpredictable (or was it?) tears the fabric of family life apart.

The broad canvas of Ask Again, Yes spans four decades. Despite everything that has occurred, years later Peter and Kate get married. Old family wounds sit just below the surface and lives spin out of control. A very moving story told with great skill and wonderful character development. A story that draws you in and gets under your skin.

Thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommended.

Two young teenagers separated by a tragedy that affected both families, finally reunited and all reconciled in the final chapter.
There are many interesting characters in this story and each has a story that would make a novel in it’s own right. This is a family story which mirrors so many of the pitfalls and incidents of real life. Unfortunately by trying to fit them all into one story has diluted the characters and their frailties to thumbnail sketches. And don’t get me started on the final scenes !!
I do not want to write plot spoilers but there are so many interesting and insightful snippets that are not followed up. I was quite frustrated – there is so much potential for a here for a family saga.

Those who like family sagas will love this book. It is well written and entertaining. However, it was far too long and slow moving for my personal taste. It covered over forty years of two families history and while certain traumatic events occurred, I kept hoping for something more.
I am very grateful to the publisher and author for an ARC of the book in exchange for my honest review.

This was truly a powerful story. A well told story about 2 people and their families, their ups and downs with some dramatic events thrown in. Not everyone's story is smooth sailing and this book illustrated it again for me. I loved how the story flowed seamlessly from 1973 until present, from one year to the other, from one character to the other, telling each one's story. There was nothing about the book that I did not like. I loved the writing style, it was difficult to put the book down and I constantly found myself picking up the book again. I loved how the book turned out and I think this book will be loved by all who read it. I would definitely recommend this book to my friends.

I absolutely loved this book! It has all the ingredients of a great book - interesting and relatable characters, a really good story, and to top it off it's beautifully written. Once you start reading, you won't leave it down. I know that I'll be searching for more of Mary Beth Keane..

Thank you to netgalley.co.uk for giving me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'm so glad I got an email advertising this book otherwise I probably would have read this one. This is indeed one book that I have never read before; I thought the author handled the sensitive, tough topics uniquely. I wasn't put off by the nitty-gritty topics Keane dealt with, but she had written them such a way, it made it feel for the characters. Keane's writing was fantastic. I was sucked into the novel right away and could not believe how much I had read in one sitting. I was so close to finishing the story; it's always an excellent novel for me when I'm just lost in the novel and not looking at how many pages are left in the book.