Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Book Review | GOOD EGGS by Rebecca Hardiman

GOOD EGGS Rebecca Hardiman
Publication: March 9, 2021
Publisher: Atria,
Simon & Schuster CA
Genre: Literary Fiction
Rating: ★★★★★
A hilarious and heartfelt debut novel following three generations of a boisterous Irish family whose simmering tensions boil over when an American home aide enters the picture, becoming the calamitous force that will either undo or remake this family—perfect for fans of Where’d You Go, Bernadette and Evvie Drake Starts Over.

When Kevin Gogarty’s irrepressible eighty-three-year-old mother, Millie, is caught shoplifting yet again, he has no choice but to hire a caretaker to keep an eye on her. Kevin, recently unemployed, is already at his wits’ end tending to a full house while his wife travels to exotic locales for work, leaving him solo with his sulky, misbehaved teenaged daughter, Aideen, whose troubles escalate when she befriends the campus rebel at her new boarding school.

Into the Gogarty fray steps Sylvia, Millie’s upbeat American home aide, who appears at first to be their saving grace—until she catapults the Gogarty clan into their greatest crisis yet.

With charm, humor, and pathos to spare, Good Eggs is a delightful study in self-determination; the notion that it’s never too late to start living; and the unique redemption that family, despite its maddening flaws, can offer. -Publisher



In Rebecca Hardiman’s debut novel, readers will meet the three generations of the Gogarty family from Dublin, Ireland. You’ve met them before. We’ve been them at some point. This funny and endearing story is something all families can relate to.

The book opened while Millie, the octogenarian in the Gogarty family, is shoplifting from a local store. She’s a total riot and widowed mother to Kevin. She can also be a pain in the arse if she wants to. Millie desperately wants to keep her independence amidst growing concerns regarding her safety. I love her free spirit, bravery, and kind nature.

Meanwhile, one of Kevin’s daughters is a confessed Clean-Cut fanatic and introvert. Aideen barely makes friends, extremely sensitive, and a rebel in the making, but she’s got a good head and her heart is in the right place. Kevin went through all the hoops to get Aideen accepted at Millburn, an all-girl boarding school.

Kevin, on the other hand, is the supposed parent. Currently unemployed with low self-esteem, and on the low end of digital publishing, he is doing his best to play houseband, while his wife often travels for her work. He has everyone’s best interest at heart, but a very bad judge of character.

Hardiman put together an inspiring plot explored with humor and vibrant Irish culture. Each character’s inner selves are fleshed out engagingly, definitely flawed, but a basket of GOOD EGGS just the same. It’s lovely following the Gogarty family’s misadventures, and how everyone gets a chance to redeem their selves and be closer together in the process.


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About the Author:


Rebecca Hardiman is a former magazine editor who lives in New Jersey with her husband and three children. Good Eggs is her first novel. Photograph by Ron Holtz Studio.








Thanks to Atria and Simon & Schuster CA for the printed galley in exchange for this unbiased review.
This post is a part of the monthly linkups organized by Lovely Audiobooks! You can click here to check it out and be a part of it.

2 comments:

  1. This sounds like a really sweet book! Thank you for sharing your thoughts. :)

    ReplyDelete