The Irish Goodbye: A Novel

Great family characters! ☘️

I read this book on three airplane rides and couldn't put it down. Heather's use of third person narrator got us right into the heads of all three sisters!

Are you happy? If you’re only as happy as your least happy child, what happens when there’s no possibility of that child ever being happy again? Heather Aimee O’Neill’s The Irish Goodbye is a tale of three daughters (and their notably absent brother). The eldest Alice is a happily married boy mom and her parents primary caregiver, but also tired. The middle Cait is a successful lawyer who has forged a life for herself and her twins as a newly divorced single mother on the other side of the pond, but also lonely. The youngest Maggie is in love and has brought her girlfriend home to meet her family, but also conflicted. Golden brother Topher ended his life in suicide like an Irish goodbye and his absence is the wound they can’t bear the guilt of letting heal. Matriarch Nora, orphaned as a young child in Ireland, loves her children, but like mistaking happiness for reassurance, love is not the same as respect. She turns a blind eye to certain facets of their lives, and her daughters suffer because of it. If a mother cannot accept her children: who they are, the lives they lead, the choices they’ve made, she will lose them. Like the great-great-great-grandkids of the geese they used to harass, “they return home every year to nest…they made a big flap of their wings and honked at one another, as if trying to decide whether to stay or leave. Then the loudest of them took charge, and the rest of the flock lifted off the ground and ascended into the air, still bickering. They circled the Folly in a wide loop before assembling into a V formation and soaring over the snow-covered lawn and the dark blue water, heading to wherever they were going next.” Heather Aimee O’Neill’s The Irish Goodbye is a poignant exploration of sisterhood, motherhood, happiness and forgiveness. Pull up a chair for a Thanksgiving feast that will return you to the world refreshed and reminded of the true family values.

https://cerebralspice.wordpress.com/2025/12/31/book-list-the-irish-goodbye-by-heather-aimee-oneill

This was the perfect last book for me to read in 2025. I adore O'Neill's poetic voice and I loved every bit of the story. If you care about the relationships in your life, please read "The Irish Goodbye."

An interesting book about family and the struggles the sister go through to finally be accepted in their own way by their mother and the rest of the family.