The Nest - Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

The Nest

By Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

  • Release Date: 2016-03-22
  • Genre: Literary Fiction
Score: 4
4
From 2,217 Ratings

Description

A warm, funny and acutely perceptive debut novel about four adult siblings and the fate of the shared inheritance that has shaped their choices and their lives.

Every family has its problems. But even among the most troubled, the Plumb family stands out as spectacularly dysfunctional. Years of simmering tensions finally reach a breaking point on an unseasonably cold afternoon in New York City as Melody, Beatrice, and Jack Plumb gather to confront their charismatic and reckless older brother, Leo, freshly released from rehab. Months earlier, an inebriated Leo got behind the wheel of a car with a nineteen-year-old waitress as his passenger. The ensuing accident has endangered the Plumbs' joint trust fund, “The Nest,” which they are months away from finally receiving. Meant by their deceased father to be a modest mid-life supplement, the Plumb siblings have watched The Nest’s value soar along with the stock market and have been counting on the money to solve a number of self-inflicted problems.

Melody, a wife and mother in an upscale suburb, has an unwieldy mortgage and looming college tuition for her twin teenage daughters. Jack, an antiques dealer, has secretly borrowed against the beach cottage he shares with his husband, Walker, to keep his store open. And Bea, a once-promising short-story writer, just can’t seem to finish her overdue novel. Can Leo rescue his siblings and, by extension, the people they love? Or will everyone need to reimagine the futures they’ve envisioned? Brought together as never before, Leo, Melody, Jack, and Beatrice must grapple with old resentments, present-day truths, and the significant emotional and financial toll of the accident, as well as finally acknowledge the choices they have made in their own lives.

This is a story about the power of family, the possibilities of friendship, the ways we depend upon one another and the ways we let one another down. In this tender, entertaining, and deftly written debut, Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney brings a remarkable cast of characters to life to illuminate what money does to relationships, what happens to our ambitions over the course of time, and the fraught yet unbreakable ties we share with those we love.

Reviews

  • The Nest

    5
    By Mama Sigs
    This book kept me chucking through the whole thing. I rarely read a book twice but I’ve read this one twice!
  • The Nest

    5
    By LaraReader
    Couldn’t put it down. Characters have depth - albeit white-people-with-money-in-new-York kind of depth but nonetheless, this author is mindful of that and builds real challenges into real lives.... Life is hard, marriage is hard, parenting too is hard. This author has a great sense of humor, along with a consistent and beautifully detached respect for even her most dislikable characters. Wonderful
  • The Nest

    4
    By Snooks46
    A complex and compelling story about the complicated relationship of family.
  • Good book

    5
    By lady bird 10
    Good book
  • Great read!

    5
    By Teemetwo
    I throughly enjoyed this book. Great story, good character development, and it wrapped up nicely in the end.
  • The nest

    4
    By Jennifer518
    I'm a fairly particular reader. This was a good read. It held my attention, gave great insight into its characters, and ended well.
  • Refreshes

    2
    By Nelly's99
    Happy Juan inland guyhl Happy ones and i
  • A waste of time

    1
    By Hoda A.M.
    Whiney characters, unrealistic reactions to bad situations, typical druggie-brother-causes-tensions-in-the-family BS storyline. I can just see this being turned into a really bad movie with an all-star cast. Watch some episodes of Beverly Hills 90210 on mute and imagine they're in NY, now you've read this book.
  • The Nest

    1
    By CRReader
    I didn't like the book. It was a flatline. I wouldn't recommend it.
  • Decent read

    3
    By Pickles 7
    First book I have ever read from this author. The book was an okay read. I think I finished more out of necessity then true drive. It's a decent read.