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Mary Beth Keane

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Born
in Bronx, New York, The United States
July 03

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September 2008

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Mary Beth Keane attended Barnard College and the University of Virginia, where she received an MFA. She was awarded a John S. Guggenheim fellowship for fiction writing, and has received citations from the National Book Foundation, PEN America, and the Hemingway Society. She is the author of five novels, including ASK AGAIN, YES, which was a New York Times Best Seller and was translated into twenty-two languages. Her new novel, WHALE HARBOR, is forthcoming November 3, 2026.

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Mary Beth Keane THANK YOU! This comment means a lot to me because being preached at is the thing that most annoys me when reading fiction. I don't think readers ever …moreTHANK YOU! This comment means a lot to me because being preached at is the thing that most annoys me when reading fiction. I don't think readers ever want to be told how to feel, or what to think. I try to avoid describing emotions whenever I can, or directing reader responses in any way. I'd rather all the revelatory emotional stuff to happen inside YOU, and I figure if I pick the right details to report, you'll get there.(less)
Mary Beth Keane Read! Read the caliber of work you hope to write. Read all the time.
Average rating: 3.85 · 257,988 ratings · 24,458 reviews · 6 distinct works • Similar authors
Ask Again, Yes

3.93 avg rating — 209,136 ratings — published 2019 — 3 editions
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The Half Moon

3.39 avg rating — 29,475 ratings — published 2023 — 17 editions
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Fever

3.73 avg rating — 16,823 ratings — published 2013 — 42 editions
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The Walking People

3.90 avg rating — 2,313 ratings — published 2009 — 20 editions
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Whale Harbor

4.54 avg rating — 241 ratings — expected publication 2026 — 6 editions
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Whale Harbour: An immersive...

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Dèy by Edwidge Danticat
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Laws of Love and Logic by Debra Curtis
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Smog by Stephanie Danler
Smog
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Whale Harbor by Mary Beth Keane
"This book will break your heart. There are small moments of joy, but also heartbreak. It's a sprawling family saga running from the 1960s to the 2000s. The Joyce brothers - all 11 of them - live in a small Irish village where it might as well be 1863" Read more of this review »
Mary Keane and 1 other person liked Jennifer Fullmer's review of Whale Harbor:
Whale Harbor by Mary Beth Keane
"ARC review of a copy received through a Goodreads giveaway.

17 year old Macdara “Mac” Joyce is the second of 11 brothers, living in a remote area of Ireland in the 1960s. Their mother has just given birth to the newest boy, Vincent, and their father i" Read more of this review »
Mary Keane and 6 other people liked Chrissie Whitley's review of Whale Harbor:
Whale Harbor by Mary Beth Keane
"Early copy courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher.

4.5 stars

Review to follow."
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The Fix by Marianne Levy
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Lake Effect by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
Lake Effect
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Partita by Barbara Kingsolver
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Quotes by Mary Beth Keane  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“We repeat what we don’t repair,”
― Mary Beth Keane, Ask Again, Yes

“The thing is, Peter, grown-ups don't know what they're doing any better than kids do. That's the truth.”
― Mary Beth Keane, Ask Again, Yes

“They'd both learned that a memory is a fact that has been dyed and trimmed and rinsed so many times that it comes out looking almost unrecognizable to anyone else who was in that room or anyone who was standing on the grass beneath that telephone pole.”
― Mary Beth Keane, Ask Again, Yes

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“In the end, everything will be okay. If it's not okay, it's not yet the end. ~Fernando Sabino, translated from Portuguese”
― Fernando Sabino

“I think that before he turned and walked away from me I said that I was sorry. In this life there are those that apologise and those that do not. I am a person who says sorry if a passer-by stands on my foot.”
― Barbara Trapido, Brother of the More Famous Jack

56898 Shut Up & Read — 9929 members — last activity 3 hours, 22 min ago
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Kristine Mary~Thank you so much for taking me on as a friend. Love your writing and also the books you are reading. Excited for The Half Moon. Looking forward to just seeing the cover. Congratulations 🎉


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