I’ll admit I bogged down early when reading Mary Kay Andrews’ current beach read, Road Trip. Initially, I wasn’t fond of Maeve and Therese Dunagin, sisters from Savannah, Georgia. Once they moved past their squabbling after their mother’s death and headed for Ireland, my heart found the land I love and historic letters, a librarian’s dream. If you get past the slow opening, I hope you enjoy the story as much as I did.

When Mary Helen Dunagin died, her daughters thought they would at least inherit the family home. They were stunned to learn their economical mother had mortgaged the house and given the money to a TV evangelist. Maeve had temporarily left her job as a professor to care for her mother, but didn’t realize her dementia had progressed to that point. Therese, an out-of-work actress was seldom home, so she had no idea that her mother had deteriorated. When Maeve is let go due to cutbacks, she realizes they’re both in the same boat, “A couple of unemployed old maids.” But, Mary Helen did leave them two things. She saved money to send the sisters to Ireland, hoping they would patch up their relationship. And, she left them with a family painting brought over by their great-grandmother Kathleen Connor when she fled Ireland in 1926. The sisters thought it was one of Mary Helen’s stories, that it was a valuable painting. Then, Therese read a newspaper article about a similar painting that sold at auction for over a million dollars. How did Kathleen Connor bring that painting to Savannah?

Maeve and Therese can only afford to stay in County Wicklow for about a week. They have research to do, including a visit to Tarrymore House, where Kathleen supposedly was raised before her benefactor handed her the painting and jewelry and told her to head to America. But, the sisters find all kinds of surprises in Ireland, beginning with Lady Esme Rossington who grew up in the house, and is now a disreputable bitter woman. They discover Kathleen’s letters home, and a handsome head whisky distiller. And, there just might be some sisterly feelings there, as well as family history.

Andrews’ Road Trip is a little slow at the beginning. However, it’s blown wide open when Maeve and Therese arrive in Ireland. If you enjoy Irish pubs, family history and scandal, and a little romance with a happy ending, pick up Road Trip.

Mary Kay Andrews’ website is https://marykayandrews.com/

Road Trip by Mary Kay Andrews. St. Martin’s Press, 2026. 448p.

FTC Full disclosure – I bought a copy of the book.