Mary Beth Keane

Mary Beth Keane is the author of The Walking People, Fever, and most recently, Ask Again, Yes, which was an instant New York Times bestseller. Both Fever and Ask Again, Yes are in development to become limited television series. Mary Beth Keane’s Ask Again, Yes (Scribner) is a novel about two neighboring families in a suburban town, the bond between their children, a tragedy that reverberates over four decades, the daily intimacies of marriage, and the power of forgiveness. Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope, two rookie cops in the NYPD, live next door to each other outside the city. What happens behind closed doors in both houses —the loneliness of Francis’s wife, Lena, and the instability of Brian’s wife, Anne—sets the stage for the explosive events to come. Ask Again, Yes reveals the way childhood memories change when viewed from the distance of adulthood—villains lose their menace and those who appeared innocent seem less so. Publishers Weekly called it “Thoughtful, compassionate… illustrates the mutability of memory and the softening effects of time… poignantly demonstrates how grace can emerge from forgiveness.”