The Irish Goodbye
05 February 2026Synopsis
Three adult sisters reunited at their childhood home must confront a shared tragedy in The Irish Goodbye - the devastatingly beautiful debut novel from Heather Aimee O'Neill.
It’s been years since the three Ryan sisters were all home together at their family’s beloved house on Long Island. Two decades ago, their lives were upended by a tragic accident on their brother Topher’s boat that drove him to suicide. Now, the Ryan women are back for Thanksgiving, but each carries a heavy secret.
The eldest, Cait, is still holding guilt for the role no one knows she played in the boat accident, when she rekindles a flame with her high school crush, Topher’s best friend. Middle sister, Alice, has been thrown a curveball threatening her career and, potentially, her marriage. And the youngest, Maggie, is finally taking the risk to bring the woman she loves home to her devoutly Catholic mother.
When Cait invites a guest to Thanksgiving dinner, old tensions boil over and new truths surface. Far more than a family holiday will be ruined unless the sisters can find a way to forgive themselves – and each other.
Details
05 February 2026
9781035074563Reviews
The Irish Goodbye has it all: a lovable cast of complex characters; forbidden affairs; a stately, crumbling beach house; a doomed sailboat; long-suppressed family secrets; and one pressure-cooker of a holiday weekend. Above all, this finely-crafted novel explores what it means to be a family, and what we owe each other and ourselvesAmy Shearn, author of The Mermaid of Brooklyn
A sparkling debut, The Irish Goodbye is a rich, compassionate novel about sisterhood, marriage, grief, and forgivenessJenny Jackson, author of Pineapple Street
The family saga we all need—utterly un-put downable, beautifully drawn, thrilling and heartfelt at once and totally not to be missed. Heather Aimee O'Neill has arrived with gorgeous skills and a keen eye for what drives families apart, and brings them together, tooJessica Soffer, New York Times bestselling author of This Is a Love Story
Lovingly rendered and acutely felt, The Irish Goodbye takes the reader into the aching, complicated nooks and crannies of a single family trying to find their way back to one another, even as none is sure they have hold of themselves. A beautiful and moving debutLynn Steger Strong, author of The Float Test
