Ask Again, Yes

Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane begins with two New York Police officers new to the beat in 1973 and follows their families for the next few decades.

Francis Gleeson, born ins Galway, Ireland and his partner Brian Stanhope, who is engaged to a young woman from Dublin are assigned to the Bronx. After working for a while, they each get the idea to move to a suburb where their future families can grow up in a quiet neighborhood. This will also let them get away from work more fully that if they lived close to their work neighborhood.

Francis and Lena Gleeson move to a house in a town where, at first Lena feels isolated. She is so far from her family in Brooklyn. The only people she speaks to in the day are the older couple next door. Then the wife dies, and the man moves away.

After a while someone buys the house. Brian and Anne Stanhope move in next door. Lena is thrilled for someone to speak to – someone who is about to have a child, while Lena is about to have her third. But Anne is standoffish and does not want to become friends. Even though their husbands used to be partners, there is little interaction between the two houses.

Then Anne’s son Peter and Lena’s daughter Kate become best friends. This brings the families into closer proximity, if not better relationships. This proximity leads to a startling event that changes the lives of everyone in the two families.

Keane has beautifully written a story of two intertwined families. This is not your typical story path. This is a great read. Such a wonderful book that looks a life and what it means. Read this today.

Keane, Mary Beth. (2019). Ask Again, Yes. NY: Scribner.