For fans of Tracey Lange and Ann Napolitano, Confessions by Catherine Airey is a multi generational tale of loss, family, and self actualization. Confessions spans decades and continents from the 1970s to the 2020s, from Ireland to the United States and back again. It features a family of women, the men who define their lives, and the secrets that bind them all together.

I appreciated what the author was trying to do. but each character's story was so big that by including them all, I felt like none received their due diligence. Perhaps one less generation of the family may have left enough time to dive deeper into Máire and Róisín's relationship as children, Máire's time with the Screamers, and Cora moving to Ireland with Róisín. I enjoyed the characters and their stories, I just wanted more of them!

Amazing! I am impressed that this is a debut! An emotive read exploring love and loss from different perspectives, places, and points in time. Definitely check it out!!

Loved this unique story and the way in which it was told. Would definitely recommend this read to other people looking to get into this interesting genre.

The description of #Confessions is well placed: "For fans of The Goldfinch and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow." The story follows three generations of women in New York City and in rural Ireland. The grandmother, mother, daughter, and all the people who come in and out of their lives over the decades weave together a complex and interrelated story. The book is written out of order, with each character having their own chapters. While this style helps the reader to layer pieces of the story through each other, it at times also leave a lot to the imagination, which is both good and bad. I appreciate the complexity and the discussion of how no one is truly good or bad over this whole timeline. This book is not for high school libraries necessarily, but it would be a good recommendation to mature teen readers as well as adults. Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for this ARC.

"We are only as sick as our secrets." -Roisin Dooley

This book is full of secrets...we start with Cora Brady in 2001 in New York City.  She has already lost her mother and then loses her father in the 9/11 attacks. It's hard to believe that Confessions is a debut novel, because it is SO GOOD. I am always drawn to multi-generational family sagas and this one is rich with drama, history and love. The characters and stories are woven together so well that it is really easy to get lost in this book.  It will certainly be one of my top 5 books of the year.

*Thanks to NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for honest review. All opinions are my own.*

Catherine Airey’s debut novel, Confessions, delivers an evocative, multi-generational tale of family, loss, and secrets, spanning from New York City in the aftermath of 9/11 to the misty hills of Ireland. This is no simple family drama; it’s a journey through trauma, fractured relationships, and the ways in which past choices echo through generations.

The story opens with Cora, a young girl navigating the chaos of New York City in September 2001. Cora’s father is missing, one of the countless names on the haunting missing persons posters that blanketed the city after 9/11. Cora’s mother has long since vanished from her life, leaving Cora to fend for herself until she’s offered refuge by an aunt in Ireland. Here begins Cora’s own journey of rediscovery amid a family history she barely knows.

The novel also dives deep into the lives of two sisters, Maire and Roisin, living on a dairy farm in Ireland years earlier. The sisters’ bond is complex, defined by rivalry, betrayal, and love, especially after Michael—a man who brings both passion and tragedy—enters their lives. The narrative weaves through the present and the past, tracing how choices made on that farm continue to ripple into Cora’s life decades later.

While Airey’s prose beautifully captures the emotional weight of generational trauma and the sacrifices women make, the structure might throw some readers off. The novel frequently jumps timelines, a format that divides opinion. For some, the back-and-forth adds layers to the narrative, connecting characters across time and space. For others, the narrative switches—some spanning 70-page chunks—may disrupt the flow. There’s also a unique second-person point-of-view segment, an ambitious stylistic choice that might feel disorienting but serves a specific narrative purpose.

Overall, Confessions is an impressive debut that will resonate with readers who love nuanced, character-driven stories about flawed women and family secrets. Airey’s writing is thoughtful and immersive, although the fragmented structure may feel challenging to some. Despite these shifts, Confessions remains a haunting, beautifully written exploration of the cost of family loyalty and the resilience required to face one’s past.

What a stunner of a debut novel! I would describe this as something of a coming of age novel, literary fiction and generational trauma. The writing was excellent, I felt very connected with every characters. This was told from many timelines, and multiple POV's, all interconnected to build the story. We travel from New York to Ireland and back, beginning in the September 2001 with Cora in New York City; a New York City currently papered in missing persons posters. Cora's father is one of the missing, her mother long gone. Cora is a minor and makes do for a month after, when she hears from an aunt in Ireland, offering her a new life. This story is also about two sisters in Ireland, torn apart by circumstances, by love, and by death. Roisin, pronounced Ro-sheen; and Maire, pronounced Moira, live on a dairy farm in Ireland, when Michael enters their orbit. Maire is an incredible artist, but Michael and Maire's younger sister Roisin, conspire to get Maire admitted to a program called "The Screamers" in Ireland that ultimately leads Maire to the Big Apple. There are injustices in this book that were so common to the settings/years for some of the characters, and they bring sadness and rage at the same time.

Interesting premise, just jumps around too much for me to focus. I was invested in the first part, but then when we went back to 1979 it was hard to stay engaged. I love a multi-generational story but I wish this was more focused somehow.

I love to read about flawed women, especially reading about sisters and mothers/daughters, generational trauma, and motherhood/the lives women give up to be mothers. I enjoyed reading this, and I loved the message and the writing style, but I felt like the 70 page chunks of each perspective took me time to get into and out of and made the book feel a little disjointed. Despite that, I was still fully invested in the characters and their stories. I almost wish I got more time with all of them or that I got to see more of the tail ends of all their stories. I felt like I got to know them so well during their sections and was left guessing as to their experiences towards the end when I would have wanted to see more. There was also a character whose perspective was written from a second person point of view, and that really took me out of the book, although I did understand the narrative purpose of it. Overall, I liked reading this and would recommend it, but it was not an absolute favorite for me.