Nesting: A Novel
In this beautiful, urgent, and ultimately uplifting novel by a rising Irish literary star comes a heart-pounding, life-affirming story about one woman trying to leave her marriage and start over.
On a bright spring afternoon, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change everything. Grabbing an armful of clothes off the clothesline, she straps her two young daughters into her car and drives away. Head spinning, all she knows for certain is that home is no longer safe--and that this time, when she leaves, she must stay away.
On the surface, she has a perfect life: her sometimes kind and attentive husband, Ryan, is a good provider from a nice family, and they have another baby on the way. But he also monitors Ciara's every move, flies into unpredictable rages where he convinces her she can do nothing right, and has isolated her from work, friends, and her beloved family.
Was fleeing the right thing to do? With no job and no support, Ciara struggles to provide a sense of normalcy for her little girls. Facing a broken housing system, they move into a hotel room on a floor reserved for women like her, eating takeout, washing their clothes in the bathroom sink, and building a community with the other residents. Ryan, meanwhile, wages a relentless campaign to win her back, and Ciara wavers. He never hit her, after all, and don't the girls need a stable home?
Suspenseful and all-consuming, Roisín O'Donnell's extraordinary debut creates a devastating portrait of gaslighting and emotional abuse. Ultimately, Nesting is a triumphant story about self-determination, family, and resilience.
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Community Reviews
What’s it about?
Ciara is a young mother of two daughters, living in Dublin, when she impulsively decides to leave her husband. He is controlling and emotionally abusive. This is Ciara’s story.
What did it make me think about?
Gaslighting
Should I read it?
This book took me on Ciara’s journey and helped me to understand the difficulties many women are faced with when leaving emotionally abusive relationships. It is so easy to say, “Why doesn’t she just leave?”. This story helps us to understand why so many women get trapped. If you read to learn you will appreciate this book. Plus it is a page-turner with a main character you are rooting for.
Quote-
“Why is that so difficult to say? Why can’t she tell her mother about the shame she feels for placating him, the fear of what will happen if she doesn’t?”
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