Ask Again, Yes - Mary Beth Keane

Generational trauma is a heavy lift. Emotionally, the tendrils of the trauma wrap around each participant and create outcomes as different as the individuals effected. In Ask Again, Yes, Keane delves into the ripple effects of such trauma with themes of abuse, addiction, abandonment, and violence. 

Beginning with Frances and Bryan, who are trainees together for the NYPD and partners at their very first assignment. Frances, serious and cautious approaches his job with a professional air and thoughtful contemplation. Bryan appears more rash. Talks of the pregnant girlfriend he must marry and searches out ways to stop for a pint of beer while walking the beat. 

Fast forward to their children. Frances' youngest, Kate and Bryan's only, Peter grow up the best of friends. Living next door to each other, they never grow close because something is certainly off about Peter's mother. She's distant and abrasive. And it's clear to the reader that she has some elements of mental health crisis probably not helped by her clearly absentee or alcoholic husband. 

Bryan is only interested in an easy fix for his wife and his issues. So once a disturbing incident happens at the grocery store involving Anne, his wife, he's reassured she's on medication and it's business as usual. But of course it's not.

And everyone being willing to let these things slide in the acceptable and neighborly silence has bad consequences, of course. Violence erupts and both Kate and Peter's families are never the same. But their affection for each other, which was just beginning to blossom into young romance is left interrupted and unfulfilled. As they find their way to each other, they are willing to take whatever broken parts of themselves are left. 

I liked the way that Peter and Kate's relationship serves as a central hub in the book. I liked how smart and independent Kate was, and how unwilling she was to let anyone else dictate the course of her life's events. Maybe the book felt a little overlong, but otherwise it was a good read. 

3.75/5 Stars.