For all the buzz this book is getting, I was never really invested in the story. It's a surprisingly conventional tale of three generations of women dealing with love, sex, pregnancy, childbirth, sibling rivalry and family secrets. There's more than a touch of melodrama, and while Airey's prose is smooth and competent, it's not distinctive or stylish.

With fractured timelines, switching from the 1970s to 2020s, changing focalisations of the various women, and movements from Ireland to New York, it all feels a bit busy and sacrifices depth of characterisation to plot.

There are interesting gestures towards women as artists but the motif of the computer game feels clumsy and the theme of family secrets is overblown and overused in so-called 'women's fiction'. It's as if the connections between the various stories are missing even though some of the early scenes, especially, are vivid.

It feels to me like this loses its way and the emotional authenticity of the start dissipates so that it becomes a bit mechanical and formulaic in getting to the end - plot trumps organic development.

A promising debut but this kind of family saga built on secrets would need some kind of additional energy to hold my attention: I felt I'd read this story many times before.

Confessions by Catherine Airey

I think I may have found a favourite of 2025 already and it’s a Debut!!

A Debut… I can’t quite believe that this is Airey’s debut Novel. Her writing, and what she has accomplished with these characters is exceptional.

“We are only as sick as our secrets”

I had the most amazing weekend with these characters and I don’t think I will be forgetting them for a long long time. I’ve released recently that there is something about intergenerational novels that hit for me and this one did not disappoint.

We first meet 16 year old Cora in 2001, her father has just died in 9/11 and her mother died a few years prior. She is now orphaned and alone. We follow her while she try’s to navigate her life on her own, when she receives a letter from her estranged Aunt Roisin in Ireland.

We then learn the stories and perspectives of Aunt Roisin, Cora’s mother Marie and finally Luca Cora’s daughter.
This is a deep, dark, messy book with complex characters and subjects but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I could start this book again tomorrow and enjoy it just as much as I did yesterday.

I am very interested to see whether this book flys off the shelves as quick as I am predicting it will.
Well done Catherine this is such a remarkable novel I can’t wait to see what you write next.
Thank you to @netgalley and @vikingbooks for my free Digital ARC

I have pre ordered my Hardback copy, make sure you do too, you won’t regret it. Release date 23/01

I felt so transported to a nostalgic time with this book, whilst my life growing up differed in many ways to the young women in this book, the periods set and the small details given evoked so many memories and emotions. Set between the vastness of city life in New York and the quiet rural landscape of County Donegal, Ireland, the stories unfold in the most amazing and captivating voices, Cora's memories, Roisins diaries and Lyca's curiosity that brings all of the secrets of the past to the present. The generational links in this story, how trauma and patterns are repeated, and the raw experiences of women in particular that trickle down and stain each recipient , different eras but the same underlying issues and oppressions.
It is a fascinating and beautiful book that is a stunning debut for this author.

A wonderful saga following the lives of 3 generations of women all affected by their elder’s illness. Heart breaking, wonderfully engrossing, captivating. It will sit with me for a while.

I really loved this book. It has some of the most authentic feeling characters and relationships of any book I’ve ever read. Granted, there are some very coincidental plot points towards the end that took me out of it just a little bit, but they were necessary to show the complexities of the lies and manipulation that were uncovered.


I loved all of the women and their points of view, the interconnected narratives worked so well and I absolutely tore through the book as it was such an engaging book that flowed so well. I think this book will be so popular when released and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to read this.

Confessions follows three generations of women following them from New York to rural Donegal and back again. We move back and forth in time, picking up with different characters’ narratives. Opening with 9/11 and Cora losing her father in the attack, she is invited to stay with her aunt in Donegal, opening her up to a side of her family she has never known.

I thought this was an absorbing and ambitious debut novel. I didn’t know much about the story before starting it and I think that was quite a fun way of approaching it as I had no idea where the story would go. I liked the characters and really felt for Róisín in particular. I enjoyed Airey’s writing style and flew through it (I read half of it on a delayed flight back to London).

Airey incorporates real events into the story and I’m not entirely sure how I felt about the choice. The Screamers really did live in a house in Burtonport and they were followed by another strange group that is kind of portrayed in the book or also not? I think it’s tricky to incorporate real events into fiction when they are so specific already. I don’t want to go into specifics but there was one particular thing that kept happening to characters that I found a bit epetitive and annoying. I imagine it was a conscious choice to show how history can repeat/the interconnectedness of storylines but it didn’t work for me.

Overall, I enjoyed Confessions and thought it was an accomplished debut novel. I’m keen to see what Airey writes next and what type of stories she decides to tell. If you enjoy family sagas, then I would definitely recommend you pick it up.

A well written debut novel that touches on some very emotive subjects such as 9/11 and dementia. At times a bit slow and definitely not an uplifting novel. Set in Ireland and America thus gaining a varied potential audience. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to ARC this book.

I love it when a book from a debut author grabs me in, forcing me to read.

This book is too good to be able towrite a suitable review. It has to be read.

This melancholy novel moves back and forth in time to tell the story of three generations of Irish women, each of whom has a voice and all of whom are affected in some way by mental illness. Cora is 16 in 2001 when her father Michael is killed on 11 September. Her mother Maire died when she was 8 so now she's back in Ireland to live with her aunt Roisin. And then her daughter Lyra picks things up in 2018 but it all loops back again to when Maire went to New York to study art. The trauma here is immense, the issues this family struggles with oppressive. It's a lot. That said it's also atmospheric and immersive and if the ending is a little.....no spoilers. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. This is a big book that reads quickly and you will be rooting for all of these women.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for an early read of this debut novel from Catherine Airey. 'Confessions' spans three generations of women,two countries-USA and Ireland and multiple points of view. It's at times an emotional read as we uncover the secrets that families hide - from outsiders and each other. I'm happy to recommend this well written novel.

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

This is a brilliant and ambitious family saga. The novel starts in New York in September 2001. Cora Brady’s father worked as an accountant in the World Trade Centre and has not returned from work after the 9/11 atrocity. Cora’s mother, Maire, died seven years previously. This now leaves our young protagonist facing an uncertain future. However, as the weeks pass, Cora’s aunt Roisin contacts her and offers her a home and new life in the small town of Burtonport in County Donegal - the place that her parents met as children.

This book tells the stories of Cora, Maire, Roisin and Lyca (Cora’s daughter) over the course of five decades (from the 1970s to the later 2010s). Each narrative perspective is absorbing and Airey explores the themes of love, identity, loss and motherhood through the intricate lives and experiences of our female characters. I found this book utterly absorbing and a joy to read. An outstanding debut from a writer to watch out for in the future.

I believe this is a debut novel which is extraordinary! So well written, the characters are so well developed that I found myself thinking of them when I had put down the book. I loved the dual timeline, opening with the horrific events of 9/11 before going back to the 70s. The mother and daughter thread was so believable , heart breaking and beautiful. I really enjoyed this and it will stay with me for a long time.

This is a story about three generations of women and the secrets in their family, unearthed only decades later in the post-Covid world that we now know and inhabit. In 1970s Burtonport, Ireland, Maire and Ro are two sisters who have an intense love-hate relationship. Their mother has depression, their father's struggling financially, and they have half-African friend, Michael, who is in love with Maire but who Ro is in love with. Ro and Michael submit Maire's art to a school, hoping that she will get accepted there and someday become a real artist. It works, and in 1979, Maire goes to NYU on scholarship. It does not end well for her, and she leaves behind her daughter Cora.

On 11/9/2001, Cora's finds out that her father, Michael, died because his office was in one of the Twin Towers. Ro becomes her legal guardian, and as it turns out, Cora's pregnant at sixteen, so she gives birth to Lyca and raises her while working as an activist for women's reproductive rights. After Ro dies, Lyca pieces together the secrets in Maire and Ro's lives and learns that there is more to her ancestors and that she inherited from them than she ever imagined. This is a story about mental illness, art, and a lineage of both.

When reading Plath's 'The Bell Jar,' Ro says, "Right away it made me full of longing, hungry for the lives I'll never lead. Maybe it's just the fact that it's set in New York. There's a shininess to the narrator's life, the experiences she exposes herself to. Still the same feeling, though, of being trapped, not knowing how to act. It doesn't matter how many people you know, or where you go. You're left with yourself." I find that this passage encapsulates the three women's lives as they yearn for what/who they don't have, comparing themselves to others and letting their desires make them reckless. The videogame is an apt metaphor for the sisters and the bitter regrets they carried till the end of their lives; in the end they did not manage to choose each other, to reconcile and confess and seek forgiveness, until it was too late.

I received an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin General UK, and the author Catherine Airey.
I really enjoyed this story and the multiple narratives and timelines that linked up succinctly at the end. Although you had to suspend disbelief for the resolution a little bit, it didn't make it any less satisfying. An engaging read, 4 stars.

This beautifully written, panoramic novel was an absolute joy to read. I was engrossed by the characters and loved the breadth of storytelling. I liked the different PoV of the narrative and the setting.

The themes of family relationships, mental health, reproductive choice and sexual violence were well addressed within the story. The characters were strongly drawn and distinctive as well as being memorable. It''s a haunting story.

The only negative thing for me was that just occasionally the storyline felt a bit too on the nose and convenient. The section with Scarlett felt slightly shoehorned in and bizarre.

Otherwise I was completely taken with this. I'd recommend this to everyone.

The debut novel stands out as truly exceptional, offering a powerful portrayal of three generations of women within an Irish family living in New York. The writing style is impressive, showcasing unique and engaging characters, each with their own compelling stories. These narratives are skillfully interwoven, resulting in beautiful storytelling that captivates the reader. The contrasting settings of New York and Ireland enhance the exploration of social differences, and the author brilliantly describes and creates an atmosphere that transports you to these places. I was shocked to learn it was a debut. Thanks to Viking books and penguin random for the access to this book

Ok I’ve already found a top read of the year ! I can’t even express how much I loved this book . The NY setting is so vivid , I would have loved to have Ben reading this whilst in Manhattan .. The characters are so real , the story just had me , just read the book!! An amazing debut and I cannot wait to see what Catherine writes next !

An incredible novel and even more incredible that it is a debut novel. It is so well crafted with interesting, unique characters and their individual stories. Lightly interwoven which adds intrigue and tension. The settings of New York and Ireland allow the prevailing social attitudes to add to the stories of these strong but vulnerable individuals. Difficult to put down at times.

'Confessions' is a superb debut novel which powerfully depicts the lives of three generations of women in an Irish family living in Donegal and New York.

In the 1970s, teenage sisters Máire and Róisín both drawn to their neighbour Michael who has come to their small Irish town from across the Northern Irish border with his unmarried border. They are also fascinated by a mysterious house known as the 'Scream School', home to the Atlantis Primal Therapy Commune.

In 2001, Cora travels from New York to Donegal to live with her aunt Róisín, whom she has never previously met, after her father is killed in 9/11, having lost her mother to suicide nearly a decade before.

In 2018, Lyca starts asking questions about her mother and her great-aunt's past, and the strange house in which she has grown up.

Airey deftly combines different perspectives and time periods in a non-linear narrative structure, linked by what initially appears to be a 'decide-your-destiny' adventure story set in the Scream School (later revealed to be the text for an early video game), adding an almost Gothic sense of mystery and fear to the novel. Some connections between different narrative strands only become apparent as the story develops, including one particularly coincidental twist towards the end - but these add to the satisfaction of reading the novel.

Through the lives of Máire, Róisín, Cora, Lyca and others, we learn much about the experiences of women in Ireland and the US over several decades. The novel doesn't shy away from weighty and often harrowing topics including rape, abortion, mental illness and suicide, but the novel does also offer some hope for the future in its final section.

This is sure to be one of the most interesting literary debuts of 2025, Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC to review.

I enjoyed reading this story about family and secrets, told over three generations between New York and Donegal. But I'd heard a LOT of hype and I have to say it didn't really deliver: it felt like a good story, an entertaining read, but nothing particularly special. I'd give it 3.75 🌟