Whale Harbour
On sale
5th November 2026
Price: £20
‘TENDER, IMMERSIVE AND EXQUISITELY WRITTEN’ FLORENCE KNAPP
‘I COULDN’T STOP READING’ RODDY DOYLE
‘AN EXQUISITE FAMILY EPIC’ CLAIRE LYNCH
An immersive multi-generational family story from the beloved and bestselling author of Ask Again, Yes.
Inspired by the author’s own family history, Whale Harbour follows the fortunes of eleven brothers, whose lives are set on different paths in the wake of a sudden tragedy. Whilst the younger brothers remain in Ireland, the older ones head overseas to Montana and New York, where they find work and build lives and families of their own. When one brother mysteriously disappears and becomes estranged from the family, it sparks a lifelong quest to find him.
‘I COULDN’T STOP READING’ RODDY DOYLE
‘AN EXQUISITE FAMILY EPIC’ CLAIRE LYNCH
An immersive multi-generational family story from the beloved and bestselling author of Ask Again, Yes.
Inspired by the author’s own family history, Whale Harbour follows the fortunes of eleven brothers, whose lives are set on different paths in the wake of a sudden tragedy. Whilst the younger brothers remain in Ireland, the older ones head overseas to Montana and New York, where they find work and build lives and families of their own. When one brother mysteriously disappears and becomes estranged from the family, it sparks a lifelong quest to find him.
Reviews
Tender, immersive and exquisitely written, Whale Harbour is the story of a family that seems borne out of both the land and the sea - one that aches with regret and thrums with longing. Mary Beth Keane finds the quiet in amongst the bustle of eleven brothers, to pore over their shared mythology and explore the loss, remorse, and fraternal bonds that follow each far into adulthood. I felt I knew the whole cast of characters intimately, as well as the landscapes they existed in - the Joyce's Connemara, Montana, and New York will remain etched in my mind. I missed this book whenever I wasn't reading it. Mary Beth Keane is one of my favourite storytellers and here, she's at her finest. I adored it
Whale Harbour is a very special book, the kind that comes along rarely. It is epic in scope yet, at the same time, so intimate and immersive I could scarcely catch my breath as I read. A meditation on what it means to be a family with all the secret heartaches and disappointments, the losses, and above all, the love that binds them together. Truly magnificent
Whale Harbour is an exquisite family epic. I was completely invested in the fates of all the Joyce brothers. The places and people were so expertly drawn, I felt like I walked beside them the whole way
No one writes about the long arc of family - its loyalties, betrayals and returns - like Mary Beth Keane. Whale Harbour is an expansive, beautiful novel about how time can reshape love and kinship in ways we'd never anticipate, and a reminder that every family contains a world
I picked up Whale Harbour and couldn't stop reading. The gang of brothers, the missing brother, the father, the daughter, the whole family, Ireland, everything - it's a great story, and beautifully written
Whale Harbour is an epic, almost mythic, novel. Keane is a master storyteller
Whale Harbour is a sweeping family saga which gets to the heart of the Irish immigrant experience, from Connemara to Montana. Epic in scope and rich in detail, Whale Harbor understands the complex nature of family bonds, and the way that certain places never relinquish their hold on our imaginations