Finished Read With Jenna's October book pick, "The Irish Goodbye" by author Heather Aimee O'Neill?
The novel, which is O'Neill's debut, follows three sisters as they return back home for Thanksgiving and confront the aftermath of a fatal accident that continues to haunt them into adulthood.
“They return for a Thanksgiving weekend to all be under one roof, and just as families know better than anybody, old patterns come out,” Jenna previously told TODAY. “We find out about a tragedy that has left these sisters reeling, but it also is full of love and hope and humor.”
Author O'Neill recommended five books to read as follow-ups. Like "The Irish Goodbye," they deal with familial trauma and mending broken relationships, with beautiful prose.
Meet Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope, two rookie NYPD cops, who are also neighbors in the suburbs of New York City. Their friendship and 30 years of loyalty are tested after one shocking night. Filled with heartbreak and redemption, this novel paints an intimate picture of marriage and forgiveness.
A woman looks back on her childhood in a wealthy Long Island enclave. The area was chosen deliberately: Her parents think her best chance at a good future will come in marrying a rich man.
At 14, Theresa spends the summer babysitting. Everything changes when her younger cousin, Daisy, comes to visit, and Theresa learns what it is to look after someone.
This book follows two sisters, Nora and Theresa Flynn, from Ireland as they move to Boston. After moving, Nora, the shy and responsible sister, becomes engaged to a man that she is may not love and finds herself coming up with a plan for the more outgoing Theresa, who becomes pregnant.
Fifty years later, Nora has a huge Catholic family that she couldn't be more proud of and Theresa is a cloistered nun in Vermont. A sudden death brings the two of them back together to confront the major life choices they have made.
What if you could escape into another place or life? Well, you can in Binchy's novel "Tara Road." The novel follows Ria, who lives in Dublin, Ireland. Ria has the perfect life with her dashing husband and two children — until her husband tells her he is leaving her for someone younger.
Ria befriends Maryland, a grieving mother from New England, by a chance phone call. They spark a friendship that leads them to exchange houses for the summer. The two women both enter drastically different worlds filled with love, secrets and most importantly, friendship.
Uncertainty and comedy take over this novel that follows a family who once thought they knew everything only to find out that things are not what they seem.
Sullivan family members Gretchen, Jane and Teddy deal with career setbacks and failure as they navigate the world that they once thought was familiar.
