'This Is How It Ends’ is just the beginning

Sometimes we hunger for a mystery. Other times we crave the fantasy world of vampires. And for the days you want a novel about family ties and romance, summer serves up This Is How It Ends.

There are many reasons to take a look at Irish writer Kathleen MacMahon's debut novel — curiosity about why the broadcast journalist received a high six-figure advance for this book and a second one. And why dozens of countries scooped up the rights to This Is How It Ends, which takes place in Ireland in 2008 in the run-up to the U.S. presidential election.

More than anything, readers should begin MacMahon's book for the story. It centers around Bruno Boylan, a middle-aged American who, on his first trip to his father's homeland, falls instantly and irrevocably in love with Ireland and Addie Murphy. She's a bit of a loner, caring for her dad, doting on her sister's young children and spending every odd moment she has swimming in the chilly waters off the Dublin coast with her darling dog Lola.

Addie seems resigned to the single life after a recent, particularly difficult loss. Bruno's been married twice and made a mess of it both times. They give each other a go and though a future together seems tenuous — Bruno is waiting to go back to the U.S. if and only if Obama is elected — their love seems life-changing and then is tested by tragedy.

MacMahon's journalist eye enhances the political and historical backdrop of her novel. She captures the Irish excitement over the possibility of Obama's election, the financial crisis that will lower its boom in the U.S. and Ireland, and the sometimes silly but just as meaningful fascination Americans have with their ancestral roots.

Readers mourning the loss of Irish author Maeve Binchy may find a new friend in MacMahon, who delivers a similar sort of family drama well suited to drowsy afternoons and a cup of tea with a packet of tissues nearby.