The Irish Goodbye
By Heather Aimee O’Neill
Three sisters Cait, Alice and Maggie Ryan haven’t been home together in a long time. While the martyr, Alice, lives locally and is caregiver for their aging parents, she quietly dreams of the day her children are grown so she can pursue her own interests. Perfect Cait lives in London, practicing law, enduring a bad marriage and watching her nanny raise her twins. The youngest, Maggie, teaches English at a fancy boarding school and struggles with one foot still in the closet, doubtful her Irish Catholic mother raised by nuns will ever accept her life choices. As they converge for Thanksgiving, the years of buried secrets and past tragedies rise to the surface, adding layer upon layer of chaos to the already high-strung holiday. The lingering sadness of losing their brother, decline of their parents’ health and an old love affair weigh heavily as an uncertain future forces each sister to bravely face their truth. Navigating complicated sibling bonds and obligations, the women find that expectations are best understood after a moment in another’s shoes. A fabulous, well-written, heartfelt debut that is perfect for the holiday season.
An Old-fashioned Thanksgiving
By Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott’s Thanksgiving short story opens in rural New Hampshire, where the seven young Bassett children are left to pull off the holiday feast alone when their parents are forced to rush off (with the baby) and visit an ill Gran’ma. Not surprisingly, a variety of kitchen mishaps, recipe disasters and lessons of self-reliance ensue. The story is set in the early 1820s, back when Thanksgiving was a patchwork holiday that only a few states observed. Alcott, who never married, held an array of odd jobs while also trying to earn money with her writing to help support her family – unheard of for a woman of that time. This story was originally published in a magazine in 1881, and can now be read free online via Project Gutenberg (in Aunt Jo’s Scrap-Bag, Vol. 6) or the University of Pennsylvania’s Celebration of Women Writers. An absolute treat if you can spare an hour to go back in time amid the holiday dash and cooking chaos.
A Deadly Feast
By Lucy Burdette
Thanksgiving is almost here, and so is Hayley’s wedding to hot detective Nathan Bransford. Still writing for Key Zest magazine, Hayley attends an intimate food tour for her next article. Everything is going deliciously until a woman on the tour drops dead. Was it something she ate, or was someone out to get her? Once again Hayley, a cook and writer who has no business sticking her nose into a murder case, finds herself in the middle of another Key Zest mystery filled with some very unsavory characters. Even though she promised Nathan she would stay away from trouble, Hayley cannot resist and begins to put the list of ingredients together. We follow Hayley from her houseboat through the streets of this picture postcard town with pastel houses and leafy palms, roosters strutting around like they own Duval and more scooters than cars. A food haven with personality including fresh seafood, Cuban cafecito, conch fritters and Key lime pie. Key West author Lucy Burdette does it again with this cozy mystery that describes mouthwatering local eateries and is the perfect holiday treat while keeping an eye on the oven timer.
#WorthWatching: “The Great Turkey Town Miracle” is an uplifting family drama about a widowed, out-of-work DJ who must round up 4,000 frozen turkeys for a homeless shelter’s Thanksgiving giveaway. Based on true events, this heartwarming dramedy is filled with community, perseverance and second chances. Check it out on Prime Video.
