oof, this is a tough one to review. while i really liked the beginning and the ending, i definitely struggled with the middle section; airey’s prose is beautiful, but i think some of the narrative choices were a tad bit questionable. it just felt excessively overt-the-top at times; without entering spoiler territory, i do think the sa could have been handled more carefully and explored in a far more insightful way, as it felt somewhat gratuitous.

as for the characters, i somewhat liked cora, but definitely struggled a lot with máire, who i think could have been a little more developed as a character. i liked michael and i found the exploration of the discrimination he faced as a black irish man quite interesting; róisín was also a very sweet character, and i also ended up liking lyca. overall, i do think there is a lot of merit in crafting such an expansive story of grief, generational trauma, and complex relationships between women; however, i wish it had been done in a more nuanced way, or at least avoiding the more melodramatic parts of the story.

Confessions is set across several decades of recent history, in sections split between New York City and rural Donegal, Ireland. It is told from multiple perspectives, of women in different generations of the same family. It opens memorably on September 11, 2001, with Cora Brady wandering the streets of New York following the attacks, in which it rapidly becomes apparent that her father has died. In an absence of any other surviving family members, we learn that she is to move to Donegal to stay with her aunt Róisín. And that’s the last we hear from Cora for a while, as we first jump back and later forward in time to learn about the stories of her mother, aunt, and later her daughter.

The next section is one of the book’s strongest, focusing on Cora’s mother Máire, who moves to New York in the 1980s, to study. A promising artist, she is disillusioned when her course turns out to be purely History of Art, and following a harrowing incident with the father of a friend, is taken under the wing of a somewhat shady professor who helps her move to an art college. At the same time, though, she is spiralling into a cycle of depression and drugs and isolating herself from old friends and family. Back in Ireland, her sister Róisín is very much the ‘left behind’ family member. She obsesses over Michael, an old family friend whose interest was really in Máire, and with a local building inhabited by an art group known as The Screamers. She’s a character with less direction, although that seems set to change when she forms a friendship and later a relationship with a quirky woman called Scarlett, whose ‘Victorian school’ business is a front for something very much illegal in the Ireland of the time. The book’s later sections are mainly told from the present-day perspective of Cora’s daughter Lyca, who is slowly uncovering the many secrets of the previous generations of her family. A trip to New York with her mother concludes the book, and wraps up some earlier threads.

I enjoyed this rather a lot as a series of really well-executed character studies. The section focusing on Máire is really immersive and powerful, and all the more so when we later learn her eventual fate. The relationships between the characters are also really compelling - aside from the central dynamic between the two sisters (which is largely a dynamic of silence, so interesting in how that plays out) there are little sub-stories that add sparks of interest throughout the book - notably Róisín / Scarlett and the childhood friendship / infatuation dynamic of Lyca and Sanjeet. It’s also a book with a really great sense of place - particularly in the New York sections, where the city very much feels like an additional character.

The same could also be said of the house that is the temporary home of the ‘Screamers’ and later becomes the family home of Lyca, Cora, and ‘Gaga’. It’s certainly an ominous and intriguing presence throughout the book, and its presence adds a note of pleasing strangeness to what might otherwise have been more ‘ordinary’ sections set in Ireland. I did feel, though, that the whole subplot around the Screamers, and the ‘Scream School’ text-based early video game written by one of the characters (it turns out), extracts from which punctuate the novel, felt a little too try-hard in terms of adding some sort of deeper connecting significance between the sections that didn’t quite hang together for me. I found myself seeing these bits as barriers in the way of the far more compelling character-led storytelling that makes up the bulk of the book.

There’s really a huge amount of quality in this, for a debut novel especially. It’s achingly close to being something I would unequivocally love and shout loudly about to anyone listening, but a couple of flaws I think expose it as a debut and not quite the full finished article. In addition to the above, it’s really the book’s conclusion that let it down for me. It’s too contrived, too unlikely a coincidence, and too neatly rounded off (where if left as only a hint it might have just about worked). For me this book has an essential beautiful messiness at it’s heart, and it’s the attempts to tidy up around the edges and give it structure and coherence that don’t quite work. Some things are better left messy.

A really intriguing and in places stunning debut, which deserves (and I think will get) a wide audience. It’s not without its flaws but it’s absolutely worth checking out. (8/10)

I felt a bit indifferent overall by the time I reached the end of this novel. Parts I loved, and other sections I felt dragged and just added nothing to the story. I chat say much than the other reviews have said in terms of story. I know lots of people loved this so it might have just been a case of wrong time, wrong book for me.

Fantastic debut and interesting structure with complex characters. Three generations of women, New York and rural Ireland, this book was very hard to put down!

Confessions by Catherine Airey

Three generations of women from the 1980s to the present day, moving from Ireland to New York and back to Ireland, this book tells the story of lives of sisters Maire and Roisin, and their families.

Wow this book absolutely blew me away - it's my book of the year out of 89 read! In fact it's probably one of my favourite books ever. Epic in all senses of the word it covers multiple characters, generations, timespans and locations in such a clever and fantastic way. A masterpiece! I will be urging everyone I know to read it and hope that it achieves the success it deserves. Can't wait to read what Catherine Airey writes next. Very VERY highly recommended.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Readers tempted by Penguin UK's stunning cover will be well rewarded. Confessions is an ambitious and impressive debut from Anglo/Irish writer Catherine Airey.
These three generations of women hold secrets which are revealed slowly as the family splinters and rejoins across countries and decades. I can highly recommend this novel about losing parents, the bonds and conflicts between sisters, mother/daughter relationships and the challenges facing women over the last three decades.
Catherine Airey writes confidently and with a compassion towards her characters. I'm keen to see where her literary career goes next.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy to review.

Thank you for the ARC this is an engaging moving heart breaking book that will leave feeling uplifted and thinking. I don't have the words to properly describe this amazing book but what I can say is that it's on top ten reads of this year. Beautifully written spanning over time and told though the most memorable characters. A book that will stay with long after reading

I absolutely loved this book, I couldn’t stop reading it. This boom grabbed me from the start. We follow Cora, on the day of 9/11, and how her father worked there. Cora’s mum has already passed away so she goes to Ireland to Donegal to her aunt (her mum’s sister) who she has never met, the story is told from the points of view of Cora, her mum Máire, her aunt Róisín and then her daughter Lyca. We learn about Máire’s backstory first and how she ended up in NYC and her life there. From there it is the other characters, which spreads over a number of decades. It is a very engaging and well written family saga. I loved the connections between the characters.

Many thanks to the publishers Penguin and Viking, and to Netgalley, for a free review copy in exchange for my honest unedited feedback.

I adored this book and am eager to read more from Airey. The interlocking stories of generations of women were fascinating, and I loved the dual settings of New York and Ireland - I thought NYC was particularly well captured. I subtracted one star only because I found that the timelines and connections could get a bit confusing at times.

Absolutely brilliant. From the very first line I was pulled into this family saga set against 20th century Ireland and NYC. The narrative voice was so strong and so compelling - I lost myself to it immediately. Will definitely be recommending.

Unfortunately, this book didn't work for me. I found it difficult to follow the story of the different characters and what happen to them didn't really reach me emotionally..Thank you Penguin General UK for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

New York, September 2001

"The voices became screams when the North Tower fell too. I turned off the TV and closed my eyes, covered my ears with my hands and thought about how ostriches bury their heads in the sand."

Cora Brady is home alone when live news coverage from the Twin Towers brings with it the realisation that her father won't be coming home. A heartbreaking start that gripped and led me straight into this immersive and beautifully written novel.

Originally from County Donegal in Ireland her mother had come to New York to attend art school and her father a childhood sweetheart had followed some years later. With both parents now dead Cora takes up her aunt Rosin's invitation and travels to Ireland.

Moving back and forth in time between rural Ireland and New York, this multi-generational novel tells of two sisters growing up in the 70's on a farm in rural Ireland, the different paths that led to them being separated by an ocean and the nearby house that had such a big impact on both their lives.

A slow burn, immersive and beautifully descriptive novel of family, friendship, choices and what might have been.

Catherine Airey’s debut novel was not totally for me. Tonally, it fell a little flat and the other books, that it seemed it wanted to emulate, felt stronger me, The writing, at times, was very strong but it never quite took off as I hoped it would,

As the title suggests, this book is about acknowledging the things in our past that we might find embarrassing or shameful, about the reluctant acceptance that some well kept secrets need to come out if we want to make sense of our lives not only for ourselves but also for the generations to come, who need to find their own place in their family’s past.

Central to it is the complex and complicated relationship between two Irish sisters, Róisín and Máire, growing up in Burtonport, County Donegal. One of them staying there her entire life, the other one making it to New York. Between the two of them stands Michael, drawn to both of them but compelled to follow his protective instincts towards the much more vulnerable Máire.

The story starts with Cora’s – Michael’s and Máire’s teenaged daughter – unsuccessful search for her dad, who did not return home after the events of 9/11. With both her parents gone now, her aunt Róisín in Ireland takes her under her wing but it is left to Cora’s daughter Lyca to unearth the secrets of the past. Lyca carries this burden with astonishing strength. Driven by a natural curiosity and an anxiety that comes with finding out what she does and what she doesn’t want to know; Lyca is often unsure how much of it to disclose- not wishing to hurt the people closest to her.
Interspersed within the story is a simple computer game, written by Róisín and played by all three generations – Máire, Cora and Lyca. You can only move on with the game if you make the right choice, echoing the main theme of this book: life is all about the choices you make and real second chances only exist in a game where you can rewind, reconsider and start out anew.

As it is the case with so many books set in Ireland, it is the women and their lives that provide the interesting, colourful and multifaceted storylines that give this book its depth. I really enjoyed immersing myself in it.

I am grateful to NetGalley and Viking/Penguin Random House for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

A very ambitious debut novel with many narrative strands, spanning generations and locations (New York and Ireland). I think I’ll be in the minority, but I didn’t connect with the characters or like them very much. I was enjoying being with Cora, the initial narrator, but after the first section, we only see her through the daughter’s eyes. The tonal shifts were difficult for me but I was interested enough to finish the novel.

This book is due to be published in Jan 2025. Many thanks to the publishers, Penguin and Viking, and to Netgalley, for a free review copy, in exchange for my honest unedited feedback.
I love a book that just dives straight in. This one opens with a bang, literally.

We meet Cora living in NYC with her father. It is September 11th, 2001. Cora has skipped school and grew impatient waiting for her drug dealer boyfriend to call around, so she drops some acid. Then she switches on the TV and sees the attack on the Twin Towers, where her father is working. A new perspective on ‘where were you when….’

[As a sidebar, I enjoyed the detailed descriptions of the interior of the towers, triggering memories of my own visits there and eating at the ‘Windows of the World’ restaurant. There were 99 elevators in each! Sometimes the water in the toilet bowels was not level, as the towers swayed on their foundation.]

The book follows three women across three generations slipping between NYC and rural Ireland; Cora, Roisin (her aunt) and Lyca (her daughter). Cora seemed lonely in her life; she feels unseen. We learn Cora’s deceased mother Maire was an artist with mental health issues. This takes us to Maires backstory in Ireland where she was not at all nice to her sister Roisin. Through Maires later experiences in NYC, we learn danger is not where you would expect it and there are quite some unexpected shocks and twists.

There are many strong secondary characters, Franny, Scarlett and of course Michael. The book also covers those years in Ireland where abortion and homosexuality remained illegal or frowned upon. There is a scene where Cora put a t-shirt on her baby Lyca saying, “I should have been a choice”, and took her to a pro-abortion march. Gosh!

It is a complex but highly engaging family saga masterfully delivered. I could not put this book down!

Confessions by Catherine Airey is a strong debut with characters you become invested with as you learn about their family dynamics from each perspective.

A propulsive novel, that takes on so much of social, political and cultural history in Ireland and the US over 3 generations. It has a host of characters, mainly female that are fully drawn out that at times you forget this is a book and not people that you know. Michael was a boy-o and I didn’t not like him, he just wanted his cake and to eat it as well. Also wasn’t sure the Sanjeet character added much to the story, but the female characters are strongly written.

It has 9/11, the AIDS crisis, Repeal the 8th, gaming, an LGBTQ element and lots more. It is complex, and I did wonder how it all tied up but that is what is enjoyable and indeed a strength to the story.

It’s being published Jan 2025, and I read a gifted digital arc from @vikingbooksuk
If it is still available on @netgalley , send your request in as I hope this is going to be a sensation.

A really interesting premise starting with 9-11 in New York in which a family (father and daughter) is torn apart by tragedy. We follow the daughter's subsequent travels back to her parental homeland and her learning more about herself and her family.

Confessions by Catherine Airey is a book about the lineage of women and their messy, yet realistic lives. It begins with Cora, talking about the death of her mother and then later, her father. It is an intriguing opening to the book, sampling the expert and complex characterisation that continues throughout. It sets up a narrative in which personal stories told by each of Cora's family members is interspersed with mysterious snippets of a game called 'Scream School'. There is no part of this book that is not entwined with another, and while that may be briefly confusing for on and off readers, it overall adds a brilliant layer of complexity to the novel.

The most notable feature of this book would be, of course, the characters. Throughout, each have a consistent voice and a distinct personality which carries through. One of my favourite parts about them is the fact that, no matter how far removed they are from one another, they each are connected in some way. This is through obvious things like relation but also through small physical details such as Michael, Cora's father, buying fries so she could dip them into her milkshake and then how Cora's daughter, Lyca does the same for her crush Sanjeet. As the book progresses, there are notable dynamics which are very interesting. The first I picked up on was the mother-daughter dynamic in which the daughter becomes the parent instead. This is seen in Cora mothering Marie due to her mother's mental struggles and how she loved reading Alice in Wonderland together as that was the only time Marie would "behave like a normal mother". This unorthodox relationship is also mirrored in Cora being emotionally managed by Lyca. At first, I found it odd that Lyca would only call her mum by her first name, but as the story progressed it becomes clear as to why she managed her Mum's immaturity the way she did.

Due to the intricacies of their demeanours and the explicit nature of their own personalities, each character comes across as fully developed and realistic which allows for believable connections between them. The battle between Roisin and Marie for Michael's affection is palpable yet also very subtle. The dysfunctional nature of their sisterly dynamic is the underlying theme throughout the book and that was something I enjoyed thoroughly. Reading Roisin's perspective on her childhood both through her youth and old age is a brilliant way to keep the reader's engaged. Roisin's story had the ability to stagnate due to her not encountering many significant changes in her life yet her sections of narration were wildly entertaining. The theme of familiarity and its slow development really added a solid backbone for this book. This allowed for more comedic elements to shine which is needed in what otherwise would be considered a 'heavy' novel. Mini insights to the characters like Marie not allowing Cora dolls but then letting her own a flashlight-doll hybrid adds so much to their development. I constantly found myself relating to the characters, like Lyca believing that if you looked away from a loading screen it would load faster, and thus found myself becoming more invested in their storylines.

Each character had a chance to narrate their own point of views and that is something I always love in a book. It highlights the unreliability of each character and gives the readers a deeper insight into their personalities. This was done especially brilliantly in Marie's portions of the book. Her complex mental health struggles created the most wonderful dynamic between reader and narrator as she was incredibly dysfunctional to read about. Her portions being written in second tense rather than first, like the others, separates her from the rest of the story and further highlights that dysfunction, although it was confusing to read at first. She was by far the most enjoyable character to follow along with, however, there were some instances of abuse which I believe the readers should be warned about before reading, such as the substance and sexual abuse.

Furthermore, the unreliability of each narrator and the sudden changes of time periods did confuse me a couple of times and thus made it hard for me to get totally invested. I found myself constantly trying to refer to previous sections of the book to find out what the connection was to my current chapter. Having two connecting instances/people at either end of the book does somewhat take away from the tension of the mystery and leads the reader feeling less satisfied with the reveal. That being said, seemingly untied loose ends were explained nicely in Lyca's section at the end of the book and were therefore rounded off well. Additionally, interspersing snippets from the Scream School game did drag out the tension but also created a mystery of its own. It allowed for a break between emotionally taxing and complex plotlines which was very needed. It's mystery was also rounded off well in Lyca's portion of the book, I just wish that there were more hints about where it was going to keep up my interest. Yet where the plot structure faltered, the language didn't. It kept the book feeling fresh with each new sentence and was entirely dynamic. Descriptions were done in magnificent detail while not being 'overly flowery' or filled with adjectives. Instead, it described emotions and scenes perfectly and in a way that was easy to read. I especially enjoyed the portion where Marie went to her university friend's family home for Thanksgiving and their whole dynamic ended up symbolising American gluttony. Writing like this adds another layer of the realism that really is the core of this book.

In conclusion, if you want to read a book with no idea of where its going, read this one. If you want to become completely invested in a whole jumble of characters, read this one. While it does have moments where it looses its tension or chronological narrative, in the end you'll have found that you have read a perfectly satisfactory book. At that point, I urge you to read it again because I am sure that you'll pick up on new clues you didn't find the first time.