A multi generation story of a South Boston Irish family and to a lesser extent a Beacon Hill Brahmin household, loosely connected by the eponymous coat. The local color (even if it was before my time) made it interesting enough but I'd be surprised if anyone who doesn't know Boston would sit through the details that pad almost every chapter. Not to mention the Catholic catechism and nostalgia for parochial schools.

The audiobook narration, though, was something special. She beautifully handles the various Irish accents, the mannerisms of men and women raised in Boston by Irish parents, and finally the midcentury Boston accents (there were many, strongly shaped by social class and occupation). Really well done.