We Are the Brennans is a fresh take on the family drama genre that will definitely keep its readers on their toes as they follow the twists and turns of each sibling and the parents in this Irish Catholic family living in New York.

Sunday Brennan has been hiding away in Los Angeles, leaving behind a confused fiancé and a stunned family in her wake. Five years after she leaves her family in small town New York state, she makes a poor decision to drive herself home after several drinks and crashes her car. At her lowest low, her emergency contact and older brother Denny convinces her to return home to her family in New York, where she is one of four children of Irish immigrants who left the country during the political and religious conflicts plaguing it in the 1970s and 80s. She returns and begins the arduous task of healing physically, and soon finds that there is much emotional damage that needs healing as well.

Denny has problems of his own. He's in over his head in debt trying to manage the pub he owns with lifelong friend Kale and has inadvertently pushed his wife Theresa and their young daughter Molly away amid the stress. Not to mention as the oldest son he feels a particular responsibility towards his aging father Mickey, whose memory is beginning to falter, and younger brothers Jackie and Shane.

Jackie's run into a few issues with the law despite best intentions. He just wants time to focus on his art and support the other members of his family. Shane has a developmental disability that has kept him limited to a life of needing to be cared for and looked after by others, which the siblings happily do. Both, similarly to Sunday, were overlooked by their anxious and depressed mother, who favored oldest son Denny almost as much as she seems to have favored complaining and nagging. She passed away in the time Sunday spent in California.

Kale himself has his own set of problems. He's living his life, working hard and raising his young son Luke with his wife Vivienne, but when Sunday returns home 5 years after leaving him behind with little explanation, the steadiness of his world is interrupted. As things unfold, he also discovers that things with his business are not what they seem and the financial implications could cost him everything, including the special relationship he has with his friend-for-life Denny and the Brennan family as a whole.

This is the story of a family on the edge of calamity that comes together to get through tough times and tougher realities. I appreciate the time that went into creating distinct lives and personalities for every character and also the perspective of an Irish Catholic family on the East Coast, which is not something I've read about much and not a setting I've spent a ton of time reading about either.

I enjoyed this story and appreciated the characterizations within for the most part. I felt really awful for Vivienne. She honestly is not a bad person at all, and it is a trope I somewhat dislike to have the new partner or spouse come between former lovers or partners and be portrayed as the enemy. She may be different than the Brennans, but this doesn't and shouldn't make her a villain. I hope in the fictional aftermath of this story, she ended up getting her happy ending and happy home.

I also found parts of the story to be plodding, and couldn't help the feeling that something was missing the whole time although I could never quite put my finger on what it was, but overall, it came together in the end. It wasn't all that deep or life-changing and I wasn't as blown away as I expected to be by this story—especially in the beginning when I was immediately gripped by it—but it was still enjoyable and well-thought out by the author. Tracey Lange is a bright new talent and I certainly look forward to reading more of her work in the future!