Saturday, July 24, 2021

7.24.2021 - We Are the Brennan's

 We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for gifting me the audiobook of Tracey Lange's debut novel - 5 stars!

The Brennan's are a large Irish Catholic family in New York.  They were shocked when only daughter, Sunday, suddenly left NY for Los Angeles 5 years ago.  When she wakes up in a hospital after a drunk driving accident, her oldest brother, Denny, is there encouraging her to come back home.  She swallows her pride and heads back.  Back at home, she has to deal with her brothers' resentment for not being there to help out and her ex-fiancee is now remarried with a son and still active in the business.  All of the family are keeping secrets and when the business is in trouble, they are forced to reveal them and deal with them together.

I really loved this book!  I was drawn immediately into the family saga and loved the interaction between all the characters.  This family felt real - they were flawed, resentful, secretive, loving - but they were family above all else.  The writer was so skilled at making this novel flow.  Each chapter ended with a conversation and a snippet of that conversation was carried over into the start of the next chapter, voiced by a different character.  I listened to the audiotape, narrated by Barrie Kreinik, who voiced all the characters so well; I had no issue following along.  Her voice was smooth and pleasant and enhanced the wonderful writing.  Hard to believe this is a debut novel and I can't wait to read more from this author!  Highly recommended!

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