Nesting

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. Longlisted for the Women's Prize • An Instant Bestseller in Ireland and the UK


Genre: Literary Fiction

"A gorgeous, maddening, thrilling and compassionate book. Roisin O'Donnell so expertly captures the dull thud of dread and the frailty of hope. Nesting shows us that the quietest voice in the room can also be the most powerful." - Sheila Armstrong

"Nesting is a perfect portrayal of the insidious nature of intimate partner abuse where the bruises are not physical, but violently emotional. I fell in love with the voice of Ciara as she sets out to create a new life against all odds for herself and her children. A story of bravery, love, and redemption, chock full of emotional suspense - I couldn't look away. A high-wire act of a debut." - Chelsea Bieker

"Such a moving, heartfilled, urgent book." - Jan Carson

"Nesting is a powerful novel. Brand-new, urgent, and hugely satisfying." - Roddy Doyle

"Nesting is a triumph in empathy. This novel is achingly beautiful and utterly necessary. O'Donnell's attentiveness to language shines from every page. A book to open eyes and hearts. O'Donnell imbues her characters' circumscribed domestic space with a page-turning emotional urgency." - Danielle McLaughlin

"Roisin O'Donnell tackles the unsettling cruelties and manipulations of coercive control with insight and emotional complexity. The voice is authentic, vivid and important. The final dedication to 'anyone trapped in a place that does not feel like home' says everything. Emotionally charged, psychologically nuanced and full of compassion and possibility, I read with my heart in my mouth." - Una Mannion

"Nesting is a triumph of a novel. I raced through it. A beautifully crafted, unflinching portrait of the lengths a mother must go to to make a home for herself and those she loves." - Louise Nealon