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| Mary Beth Keane (photo: Jesse Ditmar) |
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Mary Beth Keane is the author of five acclaimed novels, including Ask Again, Yes and the brilliantly original Fever, based on the historical figure known as Typhoid Mary. Inspired by her father's family and their migration to the U.S. from Ireland in the 1960s, Whale Harbor (Scribner, November 3, 2026) is the story of Macdara Joyce, one of 11 brothers who grew up in Connemara, Ireland. Keane was awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship for fiction writing and has received citations from the National Book Foundation, PEN America, and the Hemingway Society. Born in the Bronx to parents from the west of Ireland, she lives in New York with her husband and two sons.
Where did the name Whale Harbor originate? Is there a symbolic value to whales in your novel?
Many Irish place names reflect something about the landscape or physical features of the area and come from the Irish language (though some come from English or Viking languages).The name of the town was a blank for me through the first draft--all I knew was that I wanted it to be completely fictional and did not want to use a real village name where readers might draw comparisons. Once the whale entered the story--something that didn't happen until the second draft--I knew I wanted to reference whales in the name of the place. My uncle Gerry helped me come up with the name in Irish, and told me what locals would refer to it as: The Cuan.
You have a soft spot for Cathal, the local postman and Joyce family patriarch.
I have a soft spot for all characters (and people) who are essentially good, but somehow keep messing up or getting in their own way. I love a redemption arc. I knew that Cathal was full of love, but he was from a time and place where love got so often squashed by practical worries--his being how to feed and clothe all these children. And his worry turned into paralysis turned into severity of a kind and on and on. But Cathal is a curious person, a very smart person, and I knew all along that it would never be too late for Cathal to wise up to what's most important.
In a family of 11 brothers, it's remarkably easy for readers to follow each character. How did you accomplish this narrative feat?
I honestly don't know and it was something I worried about quite a bit. I tried to make it clear early on that the reader doesn't really have to keep track of them--no need to pick up a pen and jot down "okay Noel has black hair, Thomas has red," how boring. I wanted a reader to just relax and take the story in. Instead of describing each boy, I tried to put each of them in action where I could and then I hoped they'd sort of rise up and distinguish themselves in small, surprising ways. And from what I'm hearing, they do.
The invisible thread connecting the Joyce brothers to Rian, their missing sibling, is a powerful force. Without this tragedy would they have remained as close?
Yes, I believe they would have remained close simply because immigration keeps families close, in my experience. If they'd all stayed in Ireland maybe not, but they left and in leaving they made a choice to stick together in this new place they called home.
The women in your story shine with a particular brilliance, from the boys' mother, Mary, all the way through to her namesake granddaughter. Do you see yourself in any of them?
I certainly see myself in the younger Mary Joyce--I too went to an all-girls Catholic high school and was often called to Guidance for emergency meetings about my position on birth control and a woman's right to choose, mortifying my poor mother--but I also see myself in some of her uncles and her grandparents, particularly Cathal (for all his flaws). There is a sort of pathological stubbornness that runs through the Joyces and I definitely mined a well very close to home to find that.
Yours is a large Irish American clan. Are any of them writers?
They are not writers as far as I'm aware, but my family is full of good storytellers. Many of them can hold a crowded room with a story, even one we've all heard many times, and make it feel like we were hearing it for the first time. I think that's where this started for me, being one of the kids listening to the adults tell stories, and noticing that some of them were very good at it, and some weren't. What made the same story come alive when one person told it, and sort of fall flat when another tried? I didn't know it yet, but I was studying the differences when I was very, very young.
Your eldest son has read Whale Harbor. Did he see himself in any of the brothers?
I asked him this question because I didn't want to speak for him, and he says as an older brother he saw himself in how much Macdara thinks about Rian, and how much he loves him. He says if Emmett (his brother) disappeared he'd 100% think about it all his life just like Mac does.
Which authors have most inspired your work?
Oh gosh, there are far too many to name. In my youth, certainly Roddy Doyle and William Trevor were huge influences. As I got older a lot of female writers: Willa Cather, Katherine Anne Porter, Eudora Welty, Edna O'Brien, Claire Keegan. There are so many contemporary writers and novels I find inspiring, and my favorite thing is discovering authors that are new to me, only to find entire backlists that I can then read. The new literature coming out of Ireland right now is astounding in how good it is. --Shahina Piyarali