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The Nest
Scritto da Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
Narrato da Mia Barron
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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.
Azioni libro
Inizia ad ascoltareInformazioni sul libro
The Nest
Scritto da Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
Narrato da Mia Barron
Descrizione
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.
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Recensioni
Not my kind of story. Only one minor character likable and the story felt episodic.
I am glad I read this after the hype had quieted, it was a good read, excellent character development (with a few exceptions), but nothing earth shattering in terms of a memorable read.
Cannot connect with characters
Four odd siblings squabble over their inheritance that their mother spent to buy off the victim of a car accident that was caused by her second oldest, ne-er-do-well son.
The perfect book to read on summer vacation. I connected with the dysfunctional family and found some parts so witty, I laughed aloud. I generally don't like quick, predictable books, but this had more which appealed to me. The many POVs made the writing interesting and catching small things the author was able to weave into the storyline (The Gift of the Magi nod) made me smile. Although it didn't move quickly, I couldn't put it down. I'll be recommending this book all summer.
An interesting premise of how familial relationships change because of money, how expectations change people's choices, how people adjust when expectations are completely blown up.
To these siblings, losing "The Nest" egg was very similar to the stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.
To these siblings, losing "The Nest" egg was very similar to the stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.
Lots of first-world problems amongst this dysfunctional family, but I liked this novel! Good writing. More characters than I expected, but the author didn‘t allow this to sprawl. I kind of hope there will be a sequel to this novel.
I've been excited to read this book for a while now, based solely on the cover design. I had no idea what it was about. In the end, I gave it two stars, which based on my rating scale, means it was not for me, but you might like it. It was a quick read.
I think the main reason I didn't give the book a higher rating is because I really didn't enjoy any of the characters. They were all, with maybe the exception of Bea, selfish and self-centered. That's not to say that selfish, terrible people can't be well-written and enjoyable, but these just weren't. None of them had anything special going on, or any really defining characteristics. (And this is just a personal pet peeve of mine, but OMG, the bland, boring character names made it impossible to remember who was who. Jack, Paul, Walker, Walter [yes, really], Nora, Louisa, Maggie, Melody... even when I was three-quarters of the way through the book, I had to keep reminding myself who each person was.
The plot itself was fine, but it felt like a lot of fuss over nothing. So Leo blew the money. Oh no! Now Melody's kids might have to go to a state school. Jack was irresponsible with the money he does have, and now he and Walter (Walker? I don't remember which one he was married to) might lose their summer house.
Seriously, these were the MAJOR PROBLEMS that the family faced. And then those problems were solved in about two sentences when Bea offered to share her money with her siblings, and they both immediately accepted. Problems solved!
Jack is an addict, which is an actual problem and could have really been explored more, but it wasn't. He got Stephanie pregnant then disappeared, but it was cool because she makes tons of money and really prefers to be a single mom anyway, so NBD. Like, that would be an actual major problem for the majority of people in the US, but nah, it's played out and wrapped up in a couple of pages, and life goes on!
There was nothing wrong with the writing. It was a quick read and I only considered abandoning it once or twice, but decided to stick it out because overall it had good reviews.
I think the main reason I didn't give the book a higher rating is because I really didn't enjoy any of the characters. They were all, with maybe the exception of Bea, selfish and self-centered. That's not to say that selfish, terrible people can't be well-written and enjoyable, but these just weren't. None of them had anything special going on, or any really defining characteristics. (And this is just a personal pet peeve of mine, but OMG, the bland, boring character names made it impossible to remember who was who. Jack, Paul, Walker, Walter [yes, really], Nora, Louisa, Maggie, Melody... even when I was three-quarters of the way through the book, I had to keep reminding myself who each person was.
The plot itself was fine, but it felt like a lot of fuss over nothing. So Leo blew the money. Oh no! Now Melody's kids might have to go to a state school. Jack was irresponsible with the money he does have, and now he and Walter (Walker? I don't remember which one he was married to) might lose their summer house.
Seriously, these were the MAJOR PROBLEMS that the family faced. And then those problems were solved in about two sentences when Bea offered to share her money with her siblings, and they both immediately accepted. Problems solved!
Jack is an addict, which is an actual problem and could have really been explored more, but it wasn't. He got Stephanie pregnant then disappeared, but it was cool because she makes tons of money and really prefers to be a single mom anyway, so NBD. Like, that would be an actual major problem for the majority of people in the US, but nah, it's played out and wrapped up in a couple of pages, and life goes on!
There was nothing wrong with the writing. It was a quick read and I only considered abandoning it once or twice, but decided to stick it out because overall it had good reviews.
Not the typical book that I would choose for myself, but since it's the book club on-the-go selection for this month at our branch, I figured at least one person at our branch should have read it.
I can see why it's a good book club selection, but there was really nothing about it that drew me in to the story. None of the characters themselves are really interesting enough to warrant their own books, but together it makes a charming tale about the follies of those perceived as wealthy in NYC.
I can see why it's a good book club selection, but there was really nothing about it that drew me in to the story. None of the characters themselves are really interesting enough to warrant their own books, but together it makes a charming tale about the follies of those perceived as wealthy in NYC.
The Plumb siblings, all middle-aged, become increasingly fixated on an inheritance that is being held for them in trust by their unreliable and re-married mother, and the sum that has already been disbursed to their dissipated brother for paying off an accident victim.In recent years I've taken an immense dislike to Thanksgiving and so this year I spent the holiday weekend reading a novel about a family's squabble over money. I do wish it had been a tragedy, but the characters managed to sort themselves out in the third and final section.
For some reason i heard the hype about this book and it was all positive....and i do love family sagas so....yeah, i bought it. Wish i 'd borrowed it truth be told. The four Plumb siblings have a trust fund, or 'nest' that they each are eagerly anticipating, despite the fact that they are all middle-aged! Each has a financial story of woe. The oldest is Leo and the idiot commits a huge faux pas, that wound up in anothers personal injury, and its his off the wall mother that bails him out. USING the nest. So begins the story of the narcissism and dysfunction of the Plumb family.
The Plumb siblings have been waiting for a modest trust fund to be released to them when the youngest of the four turns 40. Over the years, the fund (known to the siblings as 'The Nest') has grown to about 2 million$ - a nice chunk of change for each of them. The siblings have been living their lives as though that money was already in their pockets. What no one counted on was that the oldest would require rehab or that he would be involved in a drunken car accident that caused serious injury to his passenger - a woman other than his wife. The siblings' mum, who has control over the fund, uses a large portion of it to bail out her boy - leaving the others in serious financial trouble with not much light at the end of the tunnel.This story just annoyed me. That four siblings couldn't get their act together and live productive, financially responsible lives by the time they hit 40 bothered me. It's a classic case of 'count your chickens'. The book was okay - there was so much missed opportunity by the author. The characters were not especially well fleshed out and the story - for me - fell kind of flat. The siblings were spoiled, self-centred, dysfunctional adults who behaved like badly brought up children. Don't get me wrong - I like a story about dysfunction as much as the next person but this one mostly missed the mark for me.
3.5 stars
Original idea, great reader, rushed ending, uneven writing.
Original idea, great reader, rushed ending, uneven writing.
This work of delicate literary sociology reads with the urgency of a fast-paced thriller. I could hardly turn the pages quickly enough, but it wasn't to see whodunnit--it was to see how these characters' emotional lives would unfold in relation to each other. In some ways this is everything I loved about The Turner House: a fascinating range of bent-but-not-broken family members, plus an inheritance that looms heavy with sentiment and somehow both represents and threatens financial security, set in a city decimated by crisis. But The Nest has a few lagniappes, especially a cast of secondary, non-family characters who add both glossy and gritty dimensions to the story. A love of architectural detail and small-press publishing suffuses the whole thing and in the end, I can think of very little that I would have changed.
So Bennington!
Enjoyable but easy to part with
I've been excited to read this book for a while now, based solely on the cover design. I had no idea what it was about. In the end, I gave it two stars, which based on my rating scale, means it was not for me, but you might like it. It was a quick read.
I think the main reason I didn't give the book a higher rating is because I really didn't enjoy any of the characters. They were all, with maybe the exception of Bea, selfish and self-centered. That's not to say that selfish, terrible people can't be well-written and enjoyable, but these just weren't. None of them had anything special going on, or any really defining characteristics. (And this is just a personal pet peeve of mine, but OMG, the bland, boring character names made it impossible to remember who was who. Jack, Paul, Walker, Walter [yes, really], Nora, Louisa, Maggie, Melody... even when I was three-quarters of the way through the book, I had to keep reminding myself who each person was.
The plot itself was fine, but it felt like a lot of fuss over nothing. So Leo blew the money. Oh no! Now Melody's kids might have to go to a state school. Jack was irresponsible with the money he does have, and now he and Walter (Walker? I don't remember which one he was married to) might lose their summer house.
Seriously, these were the MAJOR PROBLEMS that the family faced. And then those problems were solved in about two sentences when Bea offered to share her money with her siblings, and they both immediately accepted. Problems solved!
Jack is an addict, which is an actual problem and could have really been explored more, but it wasn't. He got Stephanie pregnant then disappeared, but it was cool because she makes tons of money and really prefers to be a single mom anyway, so NBD. Like, that would be an actual major problem for the majority of people in the US, but nah, it's played out and wrapped up in a couple of pages, and life goes on!
There was nothing wrong with the writing. It was a quick read and I only considered abandoning it once or twice, but decided to stick it out because overall it had good reviews.
I think the main reason I didn't give the book a higher rating is because I really didn't enjoy any of the characters. They were all, with maybe the exception of Bea, selfish and self-centered. That's not to say that selfish, terrible people can't be well-written and enjoyable, but these just weren't. None of them had anything special going on, or any really defining characteristics. (And this is just a personal pet peeve of mine, but OMG, the bland, boring character names made it impossible to remember who was who. Jack, Paul, Walker, Walter [yes, really], Nora, Louisa, Maggie, Melody... even when I was three-quarters of the way through the book, I had to keep reminding myself who each person was.
The plot itself was fine, but it felt like a lot of fuss over nothing. So Leo blew the money. Oh no! Now Melody's kids might have to go to a state school. Jack was irresponsible with the money he does have, and now he and Walter (Walker? I don't remember which one he was married to) might lose their summer house.
Seriously, these were the MAJOR PROBLEMS that the family faced. And then those problems were solved in about two sentences when Bea offered to share her money with her siblings, and they both immediately accepted. Problems solved!
Jack is an addict, which is an actual problem and could have really been explored more, but it wasn't. He got Stephanie pregnant then disappeared, but it was cool because she makes tons of money and really prefers to be a single mom anyway, so NBD. Like, that would be an actual major problem for the majority of people in the US, but nah, it's played out and wrapped up in a couple of pages, and life goes on!
There was nothing wrong with the writing. It was a quick read and I only considered abandoning it once or twice, but decided to stick it out because overall it had good reviews.
***SPOILERS***This novel will remind you what is really important in life. A bunch of weak and/or hateful siblings stop obsessing about money, write off the most hateful weak/hateful sibling (who, naturally, is the most rich, powerful, and good looking sibling) and cobble together an extended family that works and is actually healthy for the next generation and each other.
Ugh. I just couldn't get into this book. I finally quit after 200 dreadful pages. It was such a bore. I swear I almost fell asleep every time I picked up this book. I really hate giving bad reviews. But this book was a big bore for me.
Digital audio performed by Mia Barron.Four middle-aged siblings have to confront expectations, disappointments, half-truths, obfuscations and down right lies. The impetus for their meeting is that oldest brother Leo has used “the Nest” – a trust fund left by their long-deceased father for them to share equally – for rehab and to pay damages to a teen-aged waitress he injured in an accident while high on cocaine. But the other three have counted on that money, want that money, NEED that money - – to save a failing business or pay off a mortgage on a too-large house, or cover tuition at a private college. This is a wonderful debut novel, a character-driven tale that explores sibling relations, family dynamics, and a host of other issues that require open communication … something the Plumb siblings have never learned to do. I got drawn into their dynamic fairly quickly, but I think Sweeney was a bit too ambitious. There are so many issues she touches on – from homosexuality to undocumented immigrants to pressure put on children by their parents to get into a top university to grief and mourning – and Sweeney uses different characters in addition to the four Plumb siblings to explore these issues. The result is that I felt lost at times.This was further complicated by the fact that I was listening to the audio. Don’t misunderstand … Mia Barron does a fine job. She has a great pace, clear diction and enough skill as a voice artist to make each character unique. But when point of view suddenly shifts it’s difficult to reconcile what’s happening without the text in front of you. I’ll be interested to see what Sweeney does in her next novel.
I loved this book!
I wish there were more novels of hers sitting out there to read! Once I figured out who was who and could keep track of their names, I was all set---moving from sister to sister and round and round we went. Lots of characters with lots of issues made for interesting relationships to be explored....as in "WHAT can happen NEXT?"
Did not particularly enjoy this novel. Yes, the family problems occur across social strata, yet somehow this family comes off as privileged and unaware of it. Quite annoying, actually.
This was a book club book so I had to read it. I felt the characters were very unlikeable. I can't say I enjoyed reading about a bunch of spoiled New York socialites. The author spent a lot of time painting very whiny adults that were only concerned with their piece of their inheritance. At the end they seemed to make a run around but at that point it was too late for me. The secondary characters were more interesting but didn't really do a whole lot to further the plot.To me this book was a lot of fluff and I don't think I would recommend it.
I cannot recall a novel with more unlikeable characters stuffed into it then this one. I honestly felt, other then Stephanie, there was not a single main character that I cared for. The Plumb's are just horrible and insufferable people, and chapter after chapter I kept asking myself if I was truly meant to care about their well being. While many of them began to show redeeming qualities near the end, it felt too little to late, and completely out of the blue. Almost as if the author realized her characters were too unlikable and suddenly needed to give them redeeming qualities. Aside from hating all of them, the story felt so scattered and all over. There were so many pieces of the story that just felt so random and out of place. Unnecessary even. Matilda's chapters for example really had no place in the story and could easily have been left out for all the good they did to move the story forward, which is to say, not at all. The twin daughters chapters as well really did very little to add to the story being told, other then to temporarily distract from their horribly selfish mother.It all just felt like an entitled, though why they feel that way is never explained, family who have problems much of the rest of us do, but rather then deal with them like adults they to do illegal things, risk their children's future, and exploit their brothers failure to write a novel again. And don't even get me started on Leo. Probably the most worthless character ever written. It confuses me how anyone would ever give him the time of day, and so made the novel feel completely unlikely and out of touch for me.Overall it just felt like several different puzzle pieces from separate puzzles trying to be forced together to make a complete puzzle, but ultimately failing.
I really enjoyed this multi-faceted look at a unique family facing a crisis that affects each one differently.
Couple of things. ..good book but I couldn't grasp the premise. What was the connection between leo and his mother's second husband that compelled his mother to cover up his indiscretion with the kids inheritance? It seemed, as the story evolved, she was had little connections to her children ( my God, did she not know about birth control in the '60's? ). So why start now? My husband says i'm too hard on story lines. Be that as it may, I like my characters real and relatable.
***SPOILERS***This novel will remind you what is really important in life. A bunch of weak and/or hateful siblings stop obsessing about money, write off the most hateful weak/hateful sibling (who, naturally, is the most rich, powerful, and good looking sibling) and cobble together an extended family that works and is actually healthy for the next generation and each other.
The oldest adult child uses the family nest egg. The story tells of the sibs and their families and how this affected them. I thought it dragged on too long and their dysfunctions too much for one family.
Cynthia Sweeney has written a complete novel with very interesting characters. The story revolves round the four siblings in the Plumb family and their feelings towards a Nest egg that their father left them. Will they get the money? Some of the partners of the family are irritated by the constant reference to the "Nest." For example Jack's partner Walker feels he is going mad by the "infernal sum of money they still insisted on calling The Nest." Sweeney has a way with words which kept me enthralled in the book for example when one of the characters says "I loved enough to lose; I felt enough to weep." That says it all- the book is about love and feeling.