Set in Port Haven, Long Island, this novel is about three sisters who have a sometimes complicated relationship. Each is holding a secret from the family. Over a Thanksgiving weekend, these secrets will come out, and the pieces will fall where they will.
The family never got over the death of the oldest, Topher, who committed suicide about ten years after a tragedy where a teenage boy died in a boating accident that seemed to be Topher's fault. The boy's parents sue Topher for a large settlement, which means his parents had to take out a mortgage on the house. Cait, the eldest sister, and Luke, the boy's brother, were there and blamed themselves for what happened. This is one of the secrets Cait is holding on to, as well as what happened the last time she saw Topher. Cait is a divorced corporate lawyer living in London with her uncontrollable twin children, Poppy and Augustus.
Alice, the middle child, is married with two boys and has just started back to work. After the birth of her second child, in which she almost died from preclampsia, she and her husband decided not to have more children. Now, Alice finds herself pregnant and doesn't want to tell anyone, because she's not sure if she wants to keep it. The family is Catholic, and her husband and mother are devout. She has plans for herself, for a change, to go to college and get her degree in business and interior design. Since she didn't move away, she finds herself taking care of her parents as well as her own family. She'd really like to think of herself first for once.
Maggie, the youngest, came out to her family in college, but her mother has never really accepted it. Her ex, who is married to a board member of the private school where Maggie teaches, wanted her to come over when Maggie was in Boston. Maggie thought this was a chance to get some closure, but the other woman had different ideas. Now, Maggie is worried that the woman’s husband might have discovered their secret affair and told her principal, who wants to have an important meeting with her after the holiday. Maggie has a new girlfriend, Isobel, whom she hasn't been all that open with. Not wanting to be away from her that long, Maggie invites her to the family's Thanksgiving/Reunion party.
This book is one of Jenna Bush Hager's picks for her book club. The narration alternates between the sisters as you discover all their secrets and what they are hiding, including the truth of that day on the boat and Topher's suicide, which all three blame themselves for. An Irish goodbye is when you leave without saying goodbye.
I truly enjoyed this page-turner that grabs you from page one and never lets you go. Reading about this family was a real treat as they try to hide their secrets and figure a way out of them, by themselves, but fail because none of them wants to admit they are in over their heads.
Quotes
Nora's power of persuasion had never been in a raised voice of threat of punishment. It was in her sadness, her disappointment.
Heather Aimee O'Neill (The Irish Goodbye, p 98)
Desire makes everything clear.
Heather Aimee O'Neill (The Irish Goodbye, 99)
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