• in 2001 nyc, cora brady tapes a poster for her missing father after the towers fall, and receives a letter from her irish aunt, offering a new life. in 1974 ireland, roisin & her sister moira become involved with the theatre troupe that arrives down the street, enlisting the help of their neighbour to get moira a job. in 2018 ireland, lyca lives with her mum & aunt when a mysterious message from a childhood friend sets a series of events in motion.

• i’m not normally a historical fiction girly, but i really enjoyed this one! the way the stories & timelines blended together was really well done. i was especially interested in roisin’s story in 70s & 80s ireland, and the role she played in all three generations of women in the brady family.

• i listened to this one on audio, which at times was a bit confusing with the time jumps, as the voice of all the women felt very similar (which makes sense, since they’re related), but would have loved some more distinction.

Catherine Airey’s “Confessions” is an ambitious multi-generational novel following three women from the same family, spanning from the 1970s to the present. The novel tackles weighty themes such as family trauma, abortion, sexual assault, mental illness, addiction, and grief, weaving them into a character-driven narrative that also touches on significant historical moments, including 9/11.

The first half of the book had me completely immersed. Cora’s story, especially her experience of losing her father, felt raw, compelling, and deeply authentic. Airey’s prose is evocative, and the emotional weight of the characters’ struggles is handled with care.

However, as the novel progresses, it begins to feel overstuffed. The second half introduces a subplot involving video games (which immediately reminded me of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, a book I didn’t particularly enjoy), along with abrupt POV shifts and a sudden change in narrative style. While I appreciate the ambition of a debut novel that dares to tackle so much, the execution felt a bit scattered by the end.

Despite that, “Confessions” is a strong debut. Airey’s talent is undeniable, and I’ll be interested to see how her storytelling evolves in future works.

Thank you to @marinerbooks, @harperaudio , and @netgalley for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

I liked the character viewpoints and the Irish background - overall a good book! Good narration - would recommend

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced reader copy!

The plot and storyline are great, pacing was a bit off for me but overall I did enjoy the book. I think I would’ve enjoyed to hear more of Michael’s POV.

I wanted to sit a bit with how I felt about this book before writing the actual review.

First and foremost, this is an impressive debut! The author does a fabulous job with a generational family story with multiple time periods, perspectives and many intertwines and woven layers, not to mention all of the secrets!

The story begins on September 11, 2001 in NYC and it immediately brought me back to the events and unbelievable rawness of that day and those that followed. Cora’s story hooked me from the start, and I will admit that I was a bit disappointed when the story veered off into the story of sisters Roisin and Moira (Cora’s mom, who had died earlier) and their childhood in western Ireland. What I considered to be a detour from the (initially) more interesting storyline began to lay the groundwork for the many choices and decisions that determined all of the characters’ fates.

I sometimes find listening to (vs. reading) a story like this can leave me unfocused and lost, but I was so invested in these female characters and how it would all circle back around, that I was quite captivated. It didn’t hurt that the narrators are all excellent. Love those Irish accents!

There were a few sections of the book that I might have shortened and some situations and characters where I would have liked to spend more time, but overall, I found this novel to be extremely enjoyable.

Fair warning: There are lots of tough subjects here - grief, mental health, sexual assault, drug use, abortion, and more - but, it does not feel gratuitous, but instead necessary to the story.

The plot of this book hooked me right away, but I struggled to keep up with it in parts. I am so glad I stuck with it - the ending was incredible.

I loved the story, the multiple POV's and timelines, and the way all the pieces fit together in such a messy, complicated, sad, beautiful way.

confessions opens in new york city on september of 2001, so you can probably guess what that means. cora is postering her father's face all over the city, acutely aware that he was likely lost to the towers falling. still too young to survive on her own, cora is contacted by an aunt in ireland offering her a new home. i found this part of the story super compelling and was disappointed when we swapped to another perspective.

i really enjoy multi-generational stories if done well. i'm not sure that this one was as i found it to be a mostly murky story with voices that lacked distinction. i'm still not sure i could parse which character was which without a reread and some excessive note-taking.

we visit the 70's, we visit the 2020's. mostly, we focus on cora's mother maire and her sister roisin and their complicated relationship as sisters, both heavily impacted by the death of a parent. maire's an artist and leaves her love michael behind in ireland to go to new york for college. she meets a professor and his wife that manipulate her to take possession of her unborn baby. back home in ireland, roisin begins a relationship with michael who is still in love with maire.

there's also an arc with cora's daughter lyca, but it truly wasn't that memorable to me. i think this story was ambitious and multi-layered a la donna tartt and i think that will work for most people. i think for me the problem was that the story was more about what happened to each character versus who the development and growth of each. this coupled with frequent flashbacks and strange narrative choices made this a bit convoluted.

this book also features a half african man and there was a racial element i'm not super comfortable with a white author exploring, particularly since it didn't feel like it had much nuance or meaning. in fact, a lot of the traumatic/dramatic points of this book didn't feel well-explored.

finally, there was a bit with a computer game. i don't really think this was prominent enough throughout the narrative for me to make me feel as though it was something that linked the generations; it mostly felt like it didn't belong here and i didn't understand the culmination of it.

i think overall this book will be pretty divisive. it just didn't particularly work for me.

Catherine Airey’s, Confessions, is a superb debit. The audio version of this is read by several actors and really enhances the alternating storylines.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperAudio Adult for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Confessions is a beautifully written and immersive debut that spans three generations of women, weaving together their stories from New York City to rural Ireland. The novel moves between different timelines—2001, 1974, and 2018—each revealing secrets and connections that shape the characters’ lives. From Cora Brady in post-9/11 New York to Roisin and Moira’s artistic entanglements in 1970s Donegal, to Lyca Brady’s search for identity and truth in the present day, each storyline is rich with emotion, mystery, and beautifully crafted characters.

The story was incredibly engaging, and every character felt unique, with their own intricately developed arcs. Catherine Airey’s writing was haunting and lyrical, pulling me in from the first page. The themes of family, fate, and the lingering weight of the past were masterfully explored.

I also had the pleasure of experiencing the audiobook, and I absolutely loved it. The narrator brought the story to life, capturing the depth and complexity of each character with nuance.

A huge thank you to NetGalley for the ARC—this was an unforgettable read, and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves multigenerational stories filled with secrets, art, and the unbreakable ties of family.

This was a moving debut about family secrets, grief, loss, woman's bodily autonomy and the lengths people will go to in order to reunite with loved ones. Alternating timelines and POVs, this story follows three generations of women from post 9/11 NYC to 1980s Ireland to Ireland in 2018 where abortion has been legalized in a sweeping story that is equally heartfelt and heartbreaking. Great on audio and highly recommended! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

CW: abortion

I really enjoyed this audiobook experience, but unfortunately the book fell a little short of expectations. I was getting 5 star feeling at the beginning, but once we got to the historical timeline, I felt like things dragged a big and never really fully came together like I wanted them to. I did think that the audiobook narrator did a great job setting the tone of the book, and there's something so comforting about listening to a narrator with an Irish accent. I think for a debut this was good, and I look forward to seeing what this author does in the future. This one wasn't totally for me, but I would 100% read from the author again.

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for allowing me to read and review this book.

Enjoyable and engaging family saga with good narration. I'm impressed with this debut.

I listened to the audiobook and thoroughly enjoyed the narration. The book drops you right in and I found that it piqued my interest, it took me a little while to get timelines and people straight but once I did, I was able to follow pretty well. The book follows three women across three generations and goes between NYC and Ireland. There are quite some unexpected shocks and twists. There are also 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. It was also nice to see the variety of perspectives on the same things that were happening.It is a complex but highly engaging family saga, masterfully delivered. I could not put this book down once I got into it. I would definitely recommend it.

This was a debut?!?! If this book doesn't get nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award, I will be shocked.

I read the blurb where it says "for fans of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" and I though 'okay, but those are some big shoes to fill'. I was skeptical, and I was wrong. This book absolutely was a cross between Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (with the style of writing and relating the story to a video game), Little Women (with the drama between the two sisters and Michael), and it almost reminded me briefly of Real Americans(with the generational trauma and its resolution).

I should really make a list for books that I could teach a college course on, or books I could write a ten page paper about, or books that live in my head rent free. This book would be on all of those lists. I only wish we had a bit more detail at the end. I'm nosey and I need to know all of the tea.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperAudio Adult for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

New York City, 2001. Cora Brady's father was at work in the North Trade Center when the building collapsed. She knows he is gone and her mother has been gone for years. She receives a letter from an aunt in Ireland that she never knew existed, inviting her to come live with her and start a new life.

County Donegal, 1974. Sisters Roisin and Moira live with their mother in a small neighborhood. When a group of artists known as the Screamers move into an old schoolhouse down the road, Moira connects with the artist she truly is. Roisin has never understood her sister well and understands Moira's relationship with the neighbor boy Michael even less. The Screamers are looking for a new artist in residence and Roisin enlists Michael to help get Moira the job, which leads her away from the home she knew.

Burtonport, 2018. Lyca Brady lives in a large old home with her mother, Cora and great aunt Ro. When Lyca gets an unexpected message from a childhood friend, it sets her on a quest into the home's mysterious attic and the family secrets it holds.

Confessions was the tangled history of a family over decades and oceans apart. The story is told thru multiple POVs and beautifully unravels the mysterious past of two sisters and the different paths they found through life. This book is a slower burn but keeps you hooked with the different timelines and narrators. It was emotional, heartbreaking, and hopeful as you follow the different generations of the sisters family. The audiobook was well done and had wonderful narrators for many different characters. A wonderful debut novel for author Catherine Airey!

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperAudio, and the author for the audiobook for review.

Video games are making an appearance in this book and I like it. When people said this book had Tomorrow x3 vibes, they were not lying. Game part aside, this book was loaded with so many heavy hitters: 9/11, abortion. family struggles, and generational trauma.

After her father's passing, Cora would learn that she had an aunt (in Ireland and telling her that she could live with her). Cora's mother was an artist and she was obviously fighting something that was greater than herself before she left Cora behind. Cora's aunt knew that Cora's mom needed to be out there and she made sure her sister's talents would not go wasted. Her sister getting recognized meant she had to cross Atlantic and live a life that would give them Cora at the end. When Cora became a mother herself, all remaining women in her family were living together with that new addition, Lyca. Lyca would be the one putting whole story together.

While I really enjoy books like that, I felt lost in this one at times. I hope it was just me being distracted because storytelling was on point. We cannot change historical events, but I wondered if abundance of them in this story stole from the characters.

Confessions by Cathrine Airey is a deeply evocative and thought-provoking novel that delves into the complexities of human emotions, secrets, and the tangled web of relationships. Through a blend of suspense, introspection, and raw emotion, Airey crafts a narrative that captures the essence of what it means to confront the truth, both about oneself and others. I enjoyed the complexity of the book and the characters. Such a great read!

I will be thinking about this gorgeous book for a long time. An ideal read for fans of Like Mother, Like Mother and Tomorrow x3. A beautiful, generational story about a family of women, lost and found. Parts of this story felt like a punch in the gut. It's one of those books that once finished leaves you feeling both exhausted emotionally and energized, like you need to tell 10 people to read it immediately. Thank you so much Harper Audio for my copy. Listening to the narration absolutely enhanced the experience of this book.

Wow! What a ride through time!! Starting nearly in present day and then falling back through time and back again. You will follow 2 sisters & all of the family & friends that are woven into their lives.
There are some very heavy topics so be warned. But please stick it out! Near the end of the book I was shaking my head, mouth hanging open! Shocked, again and again! You think you understand where it’s going…. But I promise you don’t! Great Read!!