Heather Aimee O'Neill is a poet, a teacher, and the assistant director of the Sackett Street Writers' Workshop. She lives in Brooklyn with her wife and two sons. The Irish Goodbye is her first novel.

National Bestseller
A Today Show #ReadwithJenna Book Club Pick

"An extraordinary book about the power of family and sisterhood . . . shows how the ripples of loss and grief can shape even our closest relationships."
--Jenna Bush Hager, The Today Show's #ReadwithJenna

"A sparkling debut, The Irish Goodbye is a rich, compassionate novel about sisterhood, marriage, grief, and forgiveness."
--Jenny Jackson, New York Times bestselling author of Pineapple Street

"The family saga we all need--utterly un-put downable, beautifully drawn, thrilling and heartfelt at once and totally not to be missed. Heather Aimee O'Neill has arrived with gorgeous skills and a keen eye for what drives families apart, and brings them together, too."
--Jessica Soffer, New York Times bestselling author of This Is a Love Story

"I picked up The Irish Goodbye one morning and finished it later that night, unable to do anything else until I got to the end. These characters captured my heart, and I got lost in this family weekend full of secrets, resentment, and emotional landmines. Heather Aimee O'Neill has written a beautiful debut about family, grief, love, and loss."
--Jennifer Close, bestselling author of Marrying the Ketchups

"Lovingly rendered and acutely felt, The Irish Goodbye takes the reader into the aching, complicated nooks and crannies of a single family trying to find their way back to one another, even as none is sure they have hold of themselves. A beautiful and moving debut."
--Lynn Steger Strong, author of The Float Test

"Emotionally gripping and achingly poignant, The Irish Goodbye is about the secrets we keep from our families and from ourselves. In the Ryans, Heather Aimee O'Neill has created a family that, despite its glimmering specificity, could very well be our own. Mesmerizing."
--Daisy Alpert Florin, author of My Last Innocent Year

"The Irish Goodbye has it all: a lovable cast of complex characters; forbidden affairs; a stately, crumbling beach house; a doomed sailboat; long-suppressed family secrets; and one pressure-cooker of a holiday weekend. Above all, this finely-crafted novel explores what it means to be a family, and what we owe each other and ourselves."
--Amy Shearn, award-winning author of Animal Instinct and Unseen City

"An affecting, incisive portrait of the complexities of families and how loving bonds evolve with time."
--People

"Fans of writers from Maeve Binchy to Alice McDermott to J. Courtney Sullivan will relish this big-hearted novel."
--Kirkus

"O'Neill, a poet and writing coach, brings her skills to her compelling debut....This melancholy yet loving novel is perfect for fans of Jennifer E. Smith's Fun for the Whole Family."
--Booklist

"Readers of The Irish Goodbye by Heather Aimee O'Neill will be hooked from the first page of this multifaceted, charming story that manages to remain a light-hearted joy to read despite some of its heavy content."
--The Clarion Ledger

Publisher: Holt Paperbacks

Pub date: 2026-09-29

Length: 288 pages