The Irish Goodbye

By Heather Aimee O'Neill

Book Overview

National Bestseller

A #ReadWithJenna book club pick following an Irish American family with three adult sisters returning home to Long Island to face tension-filled dinners, ghosts from their pasts, and family secrets in a gripping novel full of biting wit and profound heart

It's been years since the three Ryan sisters were all together at their beloved family home. Two decades ago, their lives were upended by a fatal accident on their brother Topher's boat. Now the Ryan women are back and eager to reconnect, but each carries a heavy secret. The eldest, Cait, still holding guilt for the role no one knows she played in the boat accident, rekindles a flame with her high school crush. Middle sister Alice has been thrown a curveball that threatens the career she's restarting and faces a difficult decision that may doom her marriage. And the youngest, Maggie, is finally taking the risk of bringing the woman she loves home to meet her devoutly Catholic mother.

When Cait invites a guest from their shared past to dinner, old tensions boil over and new truths surface, nearly overpowering the flickering light of their family bond. Far more than a family reunion will be ruined unless the sisters can find a way to forgive one another--and themselves.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1250408156
• ISBN13: 9781250408150
• Release Date: September 2025
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.2" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

It’s an OK read

A family gathering for Thanksgiving reunites three adult sisters, many years after a traumatic event in their lives. Now, they must decide how to deal with each other and their elderly parents. I felt the book was a bit rushed. The development of the characters would have lent much more depth to the story. Thank you to Librarything.com and the author for a copy of the book.