We Are the Brennans

Product Information

I was desperate to find out how it all would end! (Reminded me a bit of the Ryan's Hope soap that I used to watch as a teen - yup, I know, that really dates me!)

In Lange’s accomplished debut… she keeps all of the Brennans sizzling with humanity while they grapple with familial loyalty. Fans of intense family dramas are in for a treat.” Lange’s richly layered debut . . . deftly examines the long shadow of family history and the bonds that cannot be brokenWho was he trying to kid, he was going to LA. He would get out there, make sure she was okay, maybe learn a little about her life. He was curious, particularly after this call. Perhaps things hadn’t worked out for her quite as well as he’d assumed. Or maybe it was just too much partying. Either way, it seemed Sunday had received some of that comeuppance their mother used to warn them about. I don't want to say more because I think this story is best experienced through the thoughts and words of the characters. I would love another book about them because I hated to leave the Brennans behind, when I finished this book. This story is about secrets and how secrets can destroy a family. The truth is always going to be better than anything else we can imagine. In the 5 years that she has been gone Kale has married Viv and they have a son, Luke. On seeing Sunday, all of Kale’s feelings for her begin to resurface, jeopardizing the family life that he has created. He never knew the reason why Sunny left, no one did!! Sunday Brennan has been living in Los Angeles for the last five years after running away from her family and her high school sweetheart. She's keeping secrets that will surely tear them apart, but she's not the only one with skeletons in the closet. When an accident forces her home, and the family comes together after so many years, she and everyone will have no choice but to finally confront all that has been unsaid. Sunday fled NY, her fiancé, and her big Irish family five years ago with a secret, and she outran that secret every day…until she hit a concrete barrier. Waking up in a hospital room with her big brother looming over her bed, Sunday realizes that she can’t outrun shame and secrets never really stay buried. The story revolves around Sunday’s secret. But it was never hers alone. Each member of the family suffers the ramifications of her decision.

Throughout the course of the novel we will learn many of the things that the siblings and parents have kept from each other. This only seems to strengthen them as they fight to keep the pubs and their family intact!! In the vein of Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney’s The Nest, We Are the Brennans explores the redemptive power of love in an Irish Catholic family torn apart by secrets My thanks to the author and Macmillan Audio for the gifted advance listeners copy to review via NetGalley. We Are The Brennans is now available!Now everyone has questions for Sunny but she's not the only Brennan family member with something to hide. This family is brimming with secrets!

Lange’s writing drew me in and kept me hanging on. But those chapter transitions…they deserve a spotlight all their own! Lange is teaching a masterclass on how to seamlessly and creatively transition chapters. Changing the POV in the midst of a scene kept me entranced. It could’ve been messy. It could’ve been convoluted. But NO. This worked. And it kept me spellbound. There was a necessity with which I had to follow the new perspective into the new chapter. Utterly brilliant. (I’ll also note that this brilliance destined me to finish the book in one sitting.) Happy pub day to one of my favorite fictions and the story of most adorable crazy/ dysfunctional family of the year !🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀 The plot, although intriguing, pushed a few of my limits. I had a hard time suspending my disbelief regarding the reasons that Sunday left for Los Angeles, especially in this day and age. When a dangerous man from her past brings her family’s pub business to the brink of financial ruin, Sunday knows that the only way to protect her family is to reveal deeply buried secrets – secrets that will threaten everything they know about their lives. In the aftermath, the Brennan family is forced to confront painful mistakes - and find a way forward, together. While she works to build a new career and hold her family together, Tara finds a chance at love in a most unlikely place. But when the Connellys’ secrets start to unravel and threaten her future, they all must face their worst fears and come clean, or risk losing each other forever.

Featured Reviews

The novel is told in the voices of the family members. This is a great way for the reader to know what they are thinking and feeling and not just what they are doing. Denny pictured her waking up. Alone. “Do you have any idea how long she’s going to be in the hospital?” he asked.

Lange’s richly layered debut…deftly examines the long shadow of family history and the bonds that cannot be broken”

Tracey Lange

When we leave the Brennans, they are perhaps more flawed than they were at the start. But that, to my mind, is what makes them feel human, and what makes the book feel real......[A] confident, polished debut novel...” When twenty-nine-year-old Sunday Brennan wakes up in a Los Angeles hospital, bruised and battered after a drunk-driving accident she caused, she swallows her pride and goes home to her family in New York. But it’s not easy. She deserted them all – and her high school sweetheart – five years before, with little explanation, and they’ve got questions. Tracey Lange, who comes from a large Irish family, wrote a standout - inimitable and prolific contemporary family novel. She captures the essence of love, loss, shame, …both past, present, and everlasting. When a concrete barrier materialized before her out of thin air she slammed on the brake with both feet. She heard the roaring squeal of tires, felt the violent resistance of her old Toyota as the seat belt dug into her chest and shoulder. But she knew it was too late. At least a couple days. And I’m guessing she’ll need some help after that, getting home and whatnot…”