Confessions is a very strong debut novel that I enjoyed reading. It opens in New York in 2001 when Cora realizes that her father has died and she decides to return to live with an Aunt in rural Ireland.

The narrators and timelines switch further back to when her mother was growing up and then much further forward which unsettled me a little bit. The relationships between the women and the society at the time they were alive is intense as they face various challenges.

A powerful account of three generations of women that clearly shows Airey as one to watch. Loved the opening and the sense of place in NY, especially. Beautifully written if, at times, just a touch too contrived for this reader but will definitely be keeping an eye on what she does next.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I was intrigued by the structure of this novel - at first I wasn't sure if jumping around different time periods with different characters (in different tenses!) and also interspersing sections of video game text would work, but actually I think it really does. Airey's prose is simple but effective, and the characters that emerge across the novel feel realistic. The novel deals with some big issues, including death, grief, mental health, abortion and sexual assault, but they blend in with the plot perfectly. The ending feels slightly contrived, but that's my only criticism. An accomplished debut.

This is a well-written family saga which was a good page-turner. Sorry uses different narrative techniques effectively to tell the different parts of this story. I felt invested in all of the characters and they were all distinct from each other.

I think what this novel ultimately lacked was in doing anything different. In a way this is an Irish novel we've read many times before.

Still, a robust debut and an author to look out for in the future.

This honest review is given with thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

Well, this was an emotional read.

Confessions follows a family across multiple generations, through love and tragedy, as they come to understand their history and its impact.

I love generational stories and Confessions was such an intricately plotted and compelling one, switching between perspectives and time periods to create a portrait of a complicated family and their relationships. The characters were so layered and realistic, with complex narratives and distinct voices making this a thoroughly engrossing novel. I was instantly drawn in by each voice and loved seeing how their stories linked to previous characters, with Airey skilfully interweaving time-distant threads to build an expansive plot.

The content was heavy, tackling trauma and grief, and showing the impact this can have for generations to come. It was quiet but thought-provoking, commenting on family relationships, mental health, abuse, power dynamics and bodily autonomy, tackling these difficult topics with sensitivity. I absolutely loved this book, and can’t wait to add a physical copy to my shelves!

Thank you to @vikingbooksuk for the chance to read this early!

*I was gifted a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

Wow what a tour de force!

Confessions is a multi-generational tale that follows four women from an Irish-American family - Cora, Máire (her mother), Rósín (her aunt) and Lyca (her daughter). Each woman gets the chance to tell their own story, while also uncovering more about their family. The book starts in New York, right after 9/11, with Cora, who finds herself in a very difficult situation and feels lost in life, which is when she gets a letter from an aunt she has never heard about, Rósín. The book takes us back to the 1970s in Ireland and we get to know more about Máire and Rósín, from when they were kids to adulthood, and start to understand how things came to be in Cora's life and her relationship with her family. It's hard to explain this narrative without either sounding generic, so you don't miss out on the journey this book takes you on, or being too specific, ruining all of the twists and turns of this story. Just know, this is a story that will keep you guessing until the end.

Confessions is a nuanced and complex tale of a family, but it also discusses gender politics in Ireland and so many other issues throughout its narrative. The writing style was impeccable and so different. The sections' openings had the format of a videogame, which reminded me of Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. This is such a sensational debut novel! I am really excited to read more of Catherine Airey's work.

It's honestly one of the best books I've read in a long long time and I already want to read it again! This is definitely one of the highlight releases of 2025.

Thank you so much to Viking for the proof and also NetGalley for the e-ARC!

Confessions takes us between New York and Burtonport, a small town in Ireland and spans decades from 1974 to 2023.

As we delve into each characters story, we piece together the pieces of the puzzle just as one of the characters, Lyca does. This is brilliantly clever writing. Secrets are revealed over time, and demonstrate the complexity of what is to be human.

Whilst many stories have referenced 9/11 this really gives us an insight into the aftermath from a family members perspective. But this is just one part of the puzzle. There are so many other strands which make it hard to describe the brilliance of the story with any justice.

This is a story to savour and immerse yourself in. It's heavy at times for sure, but beautiful for that heaviness. Life can be heavy, and this book doesn't sugarcoat the struggles we may all have at times.

A lovely multi-generational story set in New York and Ireland in the aftermath of 9/11. The story follows three generations of the same family as we discover what happened to each of them and how they ended up in the current day.

Airey’s prose is both sharp and immersive, capturing the weight of unspoken histories and the quiet defiance of women who refuse to be erased. Confessions isn’t just a story about family secrets; it’s a testament to the power of reclaiming one’s past.

An exceptional debut with exquisite writing that portrays an intercontinental and multigenerational saga of women

Congratulations to Catherine Airey on this accomplishment!

Thanks NetGalley and Viking Books UK for the invite to read this ARC!

Confessions is very well poised to become the most talked about literary fiction this year!

We follow 3 POVs of women spread across the US and Ireland set in three different timelines -

Just after the 9/11 attacks in 2001, Cora Brady is suddenly an orphan after losing her father and is now embarking on a transatlantic journey to Ireland to live with her aunt who she didn’t know existed.

In 1974, sisters Maire and Roisin sisters are navigating unique circumstances - with Roisin and the boy next door Michael’s intervention, Maire’s life is about to change forever.

Burtonport, 2019 - Lyca Brady is living with her mother Cora and aunt Ro in their infamous old house that has its share of secrets buried deep within it.

Review -

This is a deeply character driven novel, but one that also excels in storyline construction. Airey weaves a tale around these 3 women and brings them together in a way you can never imagine!

This is in no way an easy read. The novel encompasses so many difficult themes - mental health issues, the aftermath of 9/11 and abortion rights - while also exploring convoluted sister dynamics, decades old secrets and the complex emotions of a teenager who’s just orphaned.

It’s the writing that takes the spotlight of course and portrays women who belong to each other yet are distant, cold and almost estranged as oceans separate them - the twist of fate intertwining their lives in an impossible manner.

The style of narration and the presentation format are unique - although some might find the jumping timelines and POVs slightly confusing initially. But the gravity of the story is powerful enough to sweep us away into its immersive, captivating world.

Definitely worth a read if you are a fan of the genre!

This inter-generational, multilayered saga flits between the story of two sisters, Róisín and Máire, in 1970s Donegal and teenager Cora Brady who finds herself alone in New York City in the aftermath of 9/11. It’s an ambitious debut that I have a hunch is going to make quite a splash this year.

Given current affairs stateside, its publication date feels auspicious and timely. Airey explores the isolation and alienation experienced by Irish immigrants and the silencing of women’s voices - especially in relation to reproductive rights and sexual freedom.

In rural Ireland, some of the key scenes take place in an old school building which is taken on by a primal therapy group known as ‘The Screamers’. I didn’t realise until later, that Airey drew this concept from real life and based it on the Atlantis commune who owned a house in Burtonport in the seventies. It’s a seductive concept (I’m drawn to the idea of a Scream Shed at the bottom of the garden) as is the use of the choose your own adventure sub-plot/narrative (I loved these books as a kid).

The Scream School acts almost like a portal to another world - broadening the sisters’ horizons and offering them escape routes and glimpses of other ways to live. For me, this aspect of the story worked really well. I was less convinced by the choose your own adventure thread. To me it seemed stapled on to the story and took me away from the action at key points, as did the gaming narrative.

The plot of this tale is really propulsive and Airey weaves in repeated references to connect the different women’s stories. In this way she reminds us of inherited and residual trauma and its repercussions through the generations. I did feel at times that this story was overstuffed with themes and ideas. There was little room for characters to breathe and for the reader to reflect. There’s a lot to love yet I hope she pares it back a little in her next novel. I’ll most certainly be reading it. Confessions is published on 23 January in the UK and Ireland.

With thanks to @vikingbooksuk, @penguinukbooks and @netgalley for granting me an eARC for this review.

A story about the complications involving an extended family after the 9/11 attacks. I understand the impact as written in the book and the effect of the dreadful attack on the family but i found the timelines difficult to follow at times. The times and narrator changes regularly.
The first half of the book i found depressing, the focus is on endless misery.

This is a very unusual read.
On one hand, it's the story of three generations of women. It's also a history of the decades that it covers and the two are so closely entwined. From 9/11 to the Irish abortion referendum and Celtic Tiger, from New York to a small village in Donegal. While not an easy read it's definitely a worthwhile one and I'm stunned that is a debut, the author is certainly one to watch.

I thoroughly enjoyed this multi-generational story set in Ireland and New York and featuring an extraordinarily fertile family of women.

There are secrets, hidden identities, interactions with big historical events like 9-11 and explorations of family rivalry. I had heard that it was being compared to The Goldfinch, but I must say that I enjoyed this book much more than that one.

I'm definitely going to be looking out for this book on the 2025 prize longlists.

Cora lost her mother years ago, she began to spiral a bit in her life, and at the age of 16 she loses her father in the devastation of 9/11. Now orphaned she is trying to survive and not get found out. Then she gets a letter from an aunt, her mother's sister that she had no idea existed. She packs up for Ireland, and the only thing she leaves is missing posters of her father in all their favourite places.

We explore a multi-generational story of 3 woman through their stories, the choices they make, and the trumas they carry.

The writing in this book was exactly what I wanted. For this to be a debut is wild, the author took on such a challenge writing a coherent story in many timelines, and give every characters' story justice. The journey the reader takes through love, loss, grief, and family secrets keeps the reader engaged from the first page. My one gripe is that the story and the relationship between some characters tied up to well up into a bow, and connected in a very convenient way that felt unnecessary. Over all an absolute stunning, powerful, and emotional read I will think about for a while.

Such a great exploration of different generations and families. This book was incredibly well written, and the story had me so engaged – each of the characters were well rounded and real that I didn’t want each of the different written eras to end.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

Cora Brady’s is missing. It is September 2001 and its the day of the Twin Towers disaster. She puts up posters asking if anyone has seen him but nothing. She is now all alone as her mother died years before. A letter arrives from an aunt offering her a new start.
She accepts but starts to find out a lot about her family.

I was a bit unsure going into this book, mainly due to it not really being my genre and also as it is considerably longer than most books I read. But, and this is important, I trusted the person who recommended it to me and, I guess, I am now hoping that you trust me too...
We start in New York City in 2001 and we all know the big thing that happened there that year. One of the missing is 16 year old Cora Brady's father. Her only remaining parent as we learn that her mother died when she was a young child. Soon after this event which rocked her life, she receives a letter from an Aunt back in Ireland...
Then we switch to County Donegal in 1974 and follow sisters Moira and Roisin as they grow up next door to Michael. We watch as Moira blooms as an artist and how she eventually joins the Screamers...
Finally we switch to Burtonport in 2018 and follow Lyca Brady as she lives with mother Cora and great aunt Ro(isin)...
And that's more than enough for you to go in with. How the lives of these, obviously related, women affect each other, and intertwine, is for you to discover exactly as the author intends. Suffice to say, and I am not usually a fan of family sagas, it held me rapt all the way through and, by the end, I was actually rather sad to have to leave the people who I had got close to during my time with them. Who I had laughed with, and at! Who I cried with, shouted at. Who I actually got a bit over-involved with. Who I had started to call friends. But then that's what you need from a character driven book!
And boy did they put me through some emotions all the way through, spitting me out at the end exhausted, spent, but wholly satisfied.
And then, when I finished, I found out that this is a debut. No Blooming Way. Absolutely not. It reads as a completely established author. It's bold and confident and, well, brilliant. And I am so glad I had someone point me to it and, I hope, maybe I have pointed, even just one person, to it with this review.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

A really interesting and engaging debut, brimming with potential. There were so many interesting themes of family, intergenerational trauma and women's rights. The sisters were fascinating, complex characters that I would liked to stay with for even longer. However, I did feel that the plot of the book was prioritised over the characterisation. I wish there weren't so many different plotlines crammed in and we could have had more in-depth studies on a select few as it became hard to feel invested in the final outcome when the timelines and plot flitted around so much.

Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it. Enjoyed the beginning and particularly like the letter section towards the end but the rest didn’t hold my attention. Didn’t really warm to any of the characters and not able to work out the significance of Sanjeet.