Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, the publisher of Alice McDermott's Absolution (2023), describes the novel as a "dark romance." The novel has three separate but inextricably linked stories (all of which take place largely during the Vietnam War): the first is a shy but incredibly intelligent young woman named Tricia, who recently married a promising young attorney who works at the U.S. Navy Intelligence. The second thread follows an older woman named Charlene, who is married with three kids to a husband whom she likes enough but nevertheless bullies. Finally, the third thread follows two women in Saigon, Vietnam, as they work to help their husbands do good and "do good for Vietnam." At the time, the women had no idea who each other was; however, many years in the future, their paths cross in an unexpected way after they reach out to each other to talk about what happened during the Vietnam War.
Absolution is set to be released at the end of October 2023. However, a number of esteemed publications had a chance to review the novel. And those reviews were largely positive, something which McDermott is accustomed to. Her previous novels all, without fail, were received well by critics and audiences alike. In their review of Absolution, McDermott's ninth novel, Kirkus Reviews, called the novel "McDermott's masterpiece" and said that it is "transporting, piercing, [and] profound."
