by Cathryn Conroy (Dublin, Ohio): Imagine this: An old, large, but slightly dilapidated beach house, nicknamed The Folly, located on the wealthy East End of Long Island. The people inside, as we peer through the windows, seem picture-perfect: Aging mother and father still very much in love, their three grown daughters, and four grandchildren. They are gathering as a big Irish family for Thanksgiving.
But wait! Just scratch the surface and what is revealed is far from perfect. It is tragic. It is spiteful. It is lonely. It is heartbreaking.
Written by Heather Aimee O’Neill, this is the story of the Ryan family. Robert and Nora have been married for decades and have four children: Topher, Cait, Alice, and Maggie. In August 1990 as teenagers, Topher and Cait were involved with their friends, Luke and Daniel Larkin, in a boating accident that left 14-year-old Daniel dead. Whose fault was it? Topher took the blame, and with that everything about his life changed, plunging him into a downward spiral.
Fast forward 25 years to Thanksgiving 2015. Topher has been dead for several years, dying by suicide. The family is still reeling, still trying to come to terms with what happened and why—but they barely talk about it to one another. In addition to their grief, each feels responsible for Topher’s death.
The three sisters bring problems and much personal drama to the Thanksgiving festivities: • Cait, who lives in London, is divorcing her husband, Bram, with whom she has five-year-old twins, Poppy and Augustus. After losing her prestigious job as an attorney for a top law firm, she has flown home for the weekend to reevaluate her life. Cait is wealthy. Very wealthy. She has hired caterers to cook the entire Thanksgiving dinner, including a raw oyster bar and signature cocktails. Meanwhile, Cait secretly has eyes on Luke Larkin, something that will horrify her mother and sisters as the Ryans and the Larkins had a huge falling out after Daniel’s untimely death.
• Alice is married to Kyle, the principal of St. Mary’s School; they have two sons, teenagers Finn and James. All is not well. Because she is the only daughter nearby, Alice is solely responsible for caring for her parents, something that feels more onerous and burdensome by the day. She also has a secret—and a solution—that could rip apart her marriage.
• Maggie is a star teacher at an upscale boarding school where she recently met Isabel, a playwright, and Maggie is deeply in love. She brings Isabel home for Thanksgiving to introduce her to her family, knowing her conservative Irish Catholic mother will be horrified. Ever since Maggie came out, she has felt lonely and isolated for who she is. Meanwhile, she, too, has a secret she is desperate to keep from Isabel, knowing it could tear them apart.
Each member of the family tries to act as if everything is fine, but it’s not. Eventually the tensions, lies, and secrets come tumbling out. More than anything, this is a novel about grief and the reckoning it takes on our lives when we try to bury those emotions deep inside. This is how a family comes to terms with the worst kind of tragedy.
The book is a brilliantly paced page-turner with a big heart.
Just remember that no matter how picture-perfect a house may look on the outside, it is the people inside who tell the true story.
Trigger Warning: Topher’s suicide is central to much that happens in this novel. It is a pivotal part of the plot and is mentioned or alluded to frequently.
