Status
Available
Genres
Publication
Ecco (2017), Edition: Reprint, 368 pages
Description
Fiction. Literature. HTML: 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..… (more)
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Media reviews
Entertainment Weekly
“Her writing is like really good dark chocolate: sharper and more bittersweet than the cheap stuff, but also too delicious not to finish in one sitting.”
People, Book of the Week
“Hilarious and big-hearted, The Nest is a stellar debut.”
Washington Post
“[S]cenes both witty and tragic... that glow with the confidence of an experienced comic writer... [Sweeney] maintains a refreshing balance of tenderness. Rather than skewering the Plumbs to death, she pokes them, as though probing to find the humanity beneath their cynical crust.”
O, the Oprah Magazine
“[A] closely observed, charming novel.”
B&N Reads, The Best New Fiction of the Month
“The dynamics and foibles of family take center stage here, interweaving four characters’ tumultuous journeys to paint a rich picture of domestic drama.”
PureWow
“This highly anticipated book about four adult siblings whose dysfunctional relationships are dictated by a shared inheritance releases March 22 and is endorsed by Amy Poehler. Need we say more?”
Refinery 29, 5 Brand-New Books to Read in March
“Fans of dark comedy are sure to appreciate the twisted humor and compassion found in this novel, which explores the ever-binding relationship between brothers and sisters. The Nest is gripping family drama at its best.”
BookPage, 9 Women to Watch in 2016
“Readers who devour quirky family dramas like Where’d You Go, Bernadette and Be Frank With Me won’t want to miss this anticipated debut about a dysfunctional New York City family.”
Bustle, 15 of the Best Books of March 2016
“All it will take is a few pages of this book’s strikingly hypnotic prologue, and you’ll be sucked in... Better than reality TV, you won’t be able to stop reading this until you’ve sucked out all the juicy drama.”
New York Magazine / Vulture
"A precise and deftly braided story...a breezier The Emperor’s Children, by turns winsome, biting, and addictive.”
Entertainment Weekly, 9 Books You Have to Read in March
“In this hilarious family saga, a group of adult siblings find their futures uncertain when they realize the shared inheritance they’ve been counting on might have been drained by their reckless older brother.”
PopSugar
"A compulsively readable novel that will keep you thinking about how expectations can shape our lives, and what happens when we can no longer rely on them.”
Buzzfeed
"Largehearted and witty, The Nest is a tender portrait of a family who must face their past choices and the consequences of their expected inheritance on their relationships and one another.”
Marie Claire
“Nothing makes your dysfunctional clan look good like another’s-meet the Plumb siblings, caught up in a trust fund battle, in Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney’s The Nest.”
Cosmopolitan, Cosmo Reads
“As siblings struggle with money woes, their humble inheritance turns into a full-blown cash cow. There’s only one problem: the black sheep of the family.”
Elle
"This dysfunctional family novel, arriving in March, has best-seller potential written all over it. Scenes in The Nest, which follows four adult siblings and the inheritance shared between them, play out cinematically... certainly every bit as entertaining as a movie, too, and impossibly witty to
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boot." Show Less
Publishers Weekly
"In her debut, Sweeney spins a fast-moving, often-humorous narrative, and her portrait of each sibling is compassionate even as she reveals their foibles with emotional clarity...assured, energetic, and adroitly plotted...an engrossing narrative that endears readers to the Plumb family for their
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essential humanity." Show Less
Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“[A] generous, absorbing novel...Sweeney’s endearing characters are quirky New Yorkers all... [a] lively novel. A fetching debut from an author who knows her city, its people, and their heart.”
User reviews
LibraryThing member tinkerbellkk
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
To me this book was a lot of fluff and I don't think I would recommend it.
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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.
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LibraryThing member rkreish
I was curious about this book because I like funny books and I like family sagas. I was expecting something funny about a family dealing with an inheritance, the Nest of the title, and the book delivered on the funny parts, but overall it abandoned the comedy and silliness, which I wasn't
The Nest focuses on the adult siblings of the Plumb family. Leo Plumb is a writer and founder of a media conglomerate. He and his siblings live in or near New York, and their lives center on the money they stand to inherit on their sister's 40th birthday.
First, you have to be able to be charmed by Leo, the internet millionaire who spectacularly self-destructs at the beginning of the book at a family wedding. Sweeney didn't get me to be charmed for him, so that was strike one for me.
Second, I felt like there were a few good set-pieces in the book (every family gathering had a bit of ridiculousness), but I never felt the action ramping up. It could have been a true farce of a book with siblings acting truly manic, but it never quite got there. Taking it to an even more absurd height would have worked for me. Instead, there's emotional heft at the very end after not much of that. It's hard to read a section asking me to sympathize with a few characters when I've just finished a book where the characters were all so wrapped up in themselves. They hardly empathized with each other, which got me into the mode of not empathizing with them either.
I was expecting something funnier, based on the cover copy and what I'd read about the book elsewhere.
Disclosure: I received a review copy from the publisher.
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expecting.The Nest focuses on the adult siblings of the Plumb family. Leo Plumb is a writer and founder of a media conglomerate. He and his siblings live in or near New York, and their lives center on the money they stand to inherit on their sister's 40th birthday.
First, you have to be able to be charmed by Leo, the internet millionaire who spectacularly self-destructs at the beginning of the book at a family wedding. Sweeney didn't get me to be charmed for him, so that was strike one for me.
Second, I felt like there were a few good set-pieces in the book (every family gathering had a bit of ridiculousness), but I never felt the action ramping up. It could have been a true farce of a book with siblings acting truly manic, but it never quite got there. Taking it to an even more absurd height would have worked for me. Instead, there's emotional heft at the very end after not much of that. It's hard to read a section asking me to sympathize with a few characters when I've just finished a book where the characters were all so wrapped up in themselves. They hardly empathized with each other, which got me into the mode of not empathizing with them either.
I was expecting something funnier, based on the cover copy and what I'd read about the book elsewhere.
Disclosure: I received a review copy from the publisher.
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LibraryThing member Dianekeenoy
I really enjoyed this book and read it through in one sitting. It's about a very dysfunctional family waiting for the distribution of the joint trust fund left to them by their father. He meant for this to be a modest sum for them to enjoy in midlife. However, with the stock market soaring, the
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trust goes up to unexpected high dollars and each of the siblings have been counting on this money to solve each of their self-inflicted problems. You have Melody, a super mother; Jack, an antiques dealer; Bea, an author who can't finish a long over due novel; and Leo, just released from rehab. The trust has been endangered by the accident that Leo had while driving drunk with a very young waitress in the passenger seat. The big question is will Leo rescue his siblings or will everyone have to reimagine their futures. Highly recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member zmagic69
Hard to believe this is the authors first book, as well written as it is.
The blurb on the book flap really doesn't do this book justice. It is not about a group of mean, narcissistic, materialistic New Yorkers waiting to get their hands on a pile of money to fix all of the previous poor decisions.
The Nest would be a fantastic beach read.
The blurb on the book flap really doesn't do this book justice. It is not about a group of mean, narcissistic, materialistic New Yorkers waiting to get their hands on a pile of money to fix all of the previous poor decisions.
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This describes Leo the oldest of the four, who is never going to change or grow up, and how he is seen through the eyes of his siblings and the harm it has cost them. There are a few side stories the effortlessly blend into this main story, and wind up being both plausible and believable. The other nice thing about this story is you don't have to be a New Yorker or worse an insider to to enjoy this story, you want to keep reading to see who matures, who figures out what having Leo and depending on Leo has gotten them as well as having Leo in their life, and who figures out how to get through life.The Nest would be a fantastic beach read.
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LibraryThing member snash
Having read various reviews I'd say the family's not terribly dysfunctional, more like on the dysfunctional side of normal. I found it entertaining and fun, but not particularly funny.
LibraryThing member Dreesie
What happens when four middle-aged siblings, raised by a narcissistic mother and a late largely absent (working) father, find out that the NEST egg trust fund their father set up for them to receive in mid-life is going to be much less money than they expected? Only because their mother used to
A clever idea interestingly written. Most of the characters are fairly despicable--the favorite brat (Leo), the sad writer whose promising career flamed out (Bea), the gay man who can't keep a business afloat and lets his well-paid lawyer husband bail him out repeatedly (Jack), and the needy cryer (Melody). And of course mom (Francie), who uses her children's nest egg for her favorite so that she doesn't have to dip into her own funds. Sweeney did a good job writing such different characters, as well as writing very different spouses/significant others, children, co-workers, neighbors.
I found the end a little too pat and unlikely, though Bea is definitely the most realistic of the siblings. And, as Walt says, "It will all work out."
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save her favorite from a legal issue? Anger. Betrayal. Reflection. Appreciation. And the 3 unfavorites discover they like each other more than they realized.A clever idea interestingly written. Most of the characters are fairly despicable--the favorite brat (Leo), the sad writer whose promising career flamed out (Bea), the gay man who can't keep a business afloat and lets his well-paid lawyer husband bail him out repeatedly (Jack), and the needy cryer (Melody). And of course mom (Francie), who uses her children's nest egg for her favorite so that she doesn't have to dip into her own funds. Sweeney did a good job writing such different characters, as well as writing very different spouses/significant others, children, co-workers, neighbors.
I found the end a little too pat and unlikely, though Bea is definitely the most realistic of the siblings. And, as Walt says, "It will all work out."
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LibraryThing member Kristelh
Story of brothers and sisters who have to find their way after they find that the money they thought they were depending on from the family inheritance has been spent on the one brother's expenses after he was involved in a MVA high on cocaine.
LibraryThing member froxgirl
For once the hype is accurate! This is a dysfunctional family + a few outsiders saga which seems very realistic, filled with humor and bathos. Dead or incomprehensively neglectful parents cause difficulties for the four Plumb siblings. Eldest Leo is a charming trickster, Bea is caught in his thrall
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as she writes stories about him, Jack is "Leo Lite", and Melody is the complete control freak opposite of her mother. The funniest scene is a flashback to poor Melody's 12th birthday party, semi-hosted most neglectfully by her drunken mother but saved by clever brother Leo. Horrible, hapless Leo - "It felt like there was nowhere for his thoughts to alight that wasn't rife with land mines of regret or anger or guilt." This is a charming, well written book that no one should deny themselves - well worth a long library wait list! Show Less
LibraryThing member Jcambridge
I am always cautious about books (especially first novels) that get rave reviews before they even hit the bookstore shelves; however, I must admit this one did not disappoint. The Plumb family is indeed very dysfunctional, but each member has at least some redeeming qualities -- the interaction is
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interesting and I suspect makes most readers take a closer look at the relationships within their own family. The writing was good, although it did show clear evidence of this being a "first" novel. I recommend it and may have more comments to share after a bookclub discussion later this week. No doubt in my mind that the movie rights have already been purchased and casting is underway...this could well end up as a TV series. Show Less
LibraryThing member shazjhb
I loved this book. When I started reading it, I did not like any of the characters but the changes experienced by the family were wonderful. I also like the fact that not everything was tired up and some mystery remained.
LibraryThing member mchwest
WONDERFUL! Congratulations on a debut novel that left me feeling totally ok with being part of a dysfunctional family, just happy being part of any family. Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, moved the story forward and backward to the end, making for a story line that I hope to see more of in her writing
"She opened and closed both hands as if she were grabbing fistfuls of air. "Up!" she said again, as her family rushed toward her all at once, each of them hoping to get to her first."
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future. "She opened and closed both hands as if she were grabbing fistfuls of air. "Up!" she said again, as her family rushed toward her all at once, each of them hoping to get to her first."
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LibraryThing member msf59
The Plum family are an upper middle-class family, living in NYC. The four “children” are waiting to divvy up “The Nest”, a trust fund, that their father has set-up. Once the youngest of the siblings turns 40, they will be given this pay-out. Several of them have made bad choices over the
Do we need another novel about whiny, white, privileged New Yorkers? We do not, but this turns out to be a pretty good story that avoids the usual insufferable, idiosyncrasies, and becomes an engaging character study as the Plums scrabble around trying to put their lives back together.
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years and could seriously use this money, but it turns out, the “The Nest” is empty...Do we need another novel about whiny, white, privileged New Yorkers? We do not, but this turns out to be a pretty good story that avoids the usual insufferable, idiosyncrasies, and becomes an engaging character study as the Plums scrabble around trying to put their lives back together.
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LibraryThing member thewanderingjew
The Nest, Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, author; Mia Barrow, narrator
Each member of the Plumb family is preoccupied with their own greed, secrets, lies and devious behavior. Their interactions with each other are on the surface as they are all fairly egocentric. As relationships are broken and their
Because each of the siblings had been expecting a large sum of money, they had overextended themselves in one way or another and were deep in debt. Leo’s accident and their mother’s need to keep it quiet turned their lives upside down. They were all, with the exception of daughter Bea, deep in arrears with bills they could now, not pay. Without the windfall, many of the families were suddenly in desperate need of cash, and their reactions varied from sympathy toward their brother to anger at him and their mother. When a contrite Leo asked for their trust and promised that he would try and repay them in 90 days, what could they do? Could he be trusted or would he revert to his former reckless life and behavior? Would he burn all his bridges? What choices would he make? Would he be responsible or revert to his past behavior, drinking, doing drugs, womanizing and lying? They were between a rock and a hard place.
Will the family be able to put themselves back together again? Will adversity destroy them or bring them closer? From my own personal experience, I know that it is difficult to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. What would have probably been a perfect analysis of the Plumb family, in crisis, seemed to turn into a book that had a PC agenda demanding that every controversial issue on G-d’s earth have an audience. There is Stephanie, the pregnant former girlfriend of Leo Plumb who becomes a single mother. There is an illegal, under aged immigrant, in the person of a promiscuous girl who was performing a sex act when the car accident, the catalyst causing the ultimate family crisis, actually occurred. Leo is a sociopath in his early 40’s. He is married, but childless, addicted to drugs and his own pleasure, and is in the throes of a disastrous divorce from his spendthrift, money hungry, high-flying and very angry, vindictive wife, Victoria. He thinks nothing of lying and serving his own needs first, without considering anyone else. There is Vinnie who lost his arm in an IED explosion and is an angry young man. He loves Matilda and believes that she has been taken advantage of by the wealthy Plumb family and their high end attorney. They make an odd couple, one footless and one armless, like the Rodin sculpture of The Kiss that was damaged in the terrorist attack that took down the Towers. We have a retired security guard, Tommy, who finds what he thought was a message from his wife, in the wreckage of the Twin Towers after 9/11, and in a moment of indiscretion, he steals it. This damaged relic, “The Kiss”, remains hidden in his house, as he mourns his loss, and he has been tortured by its theft ever since. We have a homosexual brother, Jack, who is childless, in a relationship with Walker that is coming apart at the seams because of Jack’s questionable ethics, secrets, and lies. We have a sister, Bea, who is unmarried and childless, an author who used her brother as a character in a series of successful novels, but has had no recently published successful books. She is still mourning the loss of her married lover, Tucker, whom she nursed after his stroke until his death. She works for Paul who is a shy man who observes, supports and loves her in silence. The final sibling is sister Melody, who feels neglected and unloved by her mother. She believes she is kind of the outsider in the family. She over compensates for her mother’s neglect, now that she is the mother of twins, by being a somewhat overzealous parent. She spends far more than her pocket can afford as do most of the siblings. Her twins, who are high school students, are struggling with their own sexuality. One, Louisa, believes she is a lesbian and the other, Nora, wonders if she, therefore, is also gay, since they are twins. There is also Simone, Walter, Nathan and more. Graphic sex, too, seems to unnecessarily often pop its head on the pages of this book.
The narrator did a good job of capturing the attitudes and personalities of the characters, portraying them fairly authentically so that the listener can actually see a picture of the character in their mind’s eye. However, there were so many issues and so many characters that it is sometimes difficult to keep everything straight. For that reason, it is better to select the print version. The book is written with levity, although it is not the laugh out loud kind, and much of the subject matter made the funny lines fall flat for me.
Each member of the Plumb family is preoccupied with their own greed, secrets, lies and devious behavior. Their interactions with each other are on the surface as they are all fairly egocentric. As relationships are broken and their
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lives are turned upside down because of highly dysfunctional Leo Plumb, one has to wonder whether or not his siblings and parents have actually created the monster by enabling him to become the villain. His irresponsible behavior and his car accident that caused grievous injuries to his passenger and could have caused a major scandal, has placed his brothers and sisters in various chaotic situations. Francie Plumb, the rather self-centered mother of all the Plumb children, and her current husband, want to contain the story at all costs. Therefore, since she is in charge of the small bit of money that her first husband had put aside for their four children in order to afford them a safety net when they were older, and it had grown considerably, she unilaterally, without consulting any of them, decided to disperse an exorbitant amount of their “Nest” to place Leo, the bad seed, in a fancy rehab and to pay off the victim in his car. She did not use any of her own vast fortune, and instead claimed she needed to protect herself since the downturn in the economy had taken a toll on her. The children had been eagerly awaiting their payout which was fast approaching with the youngest daughter’s 40th birthday, at which time it could be doled out. Now, only 10% of their expected fortunes awaited them.Because each of the siblings had been expecting a large sum of money, they had overextended themselves in one way or another and were deep in debt. Leo’s accident and their mother’s need to keep it quiet turned their lives upside down. They were all, with the exception of daughter Bea, deep in arrears with bills they could now, not pay. Without the windfall, many of the families were suddenly in desperate need of cash, and their reactions varied from sympathy toward their brother to anger at him and their mother. When a contrite Leo asked for their trust and promised that he would try and repay them in 90 days, what could they do? Could he be trusted or would he revert to his former reckless life and behavior? Would he burn all his bridges? What choices would he make? Would he be responsible or revert to his past behavior, drinking, doing drugs, womanizing and lying? They were between a rock and a hard place.
Will the family be able to put themselves back together again? Will adversity destroy them or bring them closer? From my own personal experience, I know that it is difficult to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. What would have probably been a perfect analysis of the Plumb family, in crisis, seemed to turn into a book that had a PC agenda demanding that every controversial issue on G-d’s earth have an audience. There is Stephanie, the pregnant former girlfriend of Leo Plumb who becomes a single mother. There is an illegal, under aged immigrant, in the person of a promiscuous girl who was performing a sex act when the car accident, the catalyst causing the ultimate family crisis, actually occurred. Leo is a sociopath in his early 40’s. He is married, but childless, addicted to drugs and his own pleasure, and is in the throes of a disastrous divorce from his spendthrift, money hungry, high-flying and very angry, vindictive wife, Victoria. He thinks nothing of lying and serving his own needs first, without considering anyone else. There is Vinnie who lost his arm in an IED explosion and is an angry young man. He loves Matilda and believes that she has been taken advantage of by the wealthy Plumb family and their high end attorney. They make an odd couple, one footless and one armless, like the Rodin sculpture of The Kiss that was damaged in the terrorist attack that took down the Towers. We have a retired security guard, Tommy, who finds what he thought was a message from his wife, in the wreckage of the Twin Towers after 9/11, and in a moment of indiscretion, he steals it. This damaged relic, “The Kiss”, remains hidden in his house, as he mourns his loss, and he has been tortured by its theft ever since. We have a homosexual brother, Jack, who is childless, in a relationship with Walker that is coming apart at the seams because of Jack’s questionable ethics, secrets, and lies. We have a sister, Bea, who is unmarried and childless, an author who used her brother as a character in a series of successful novels, but has had no recently published successful books. She is still mourning the loss of her married lover, Tucker, whom she nursed after his stroke until his death. She works for Paul who is a shy man who observes, supports and loves her in silence. The final sibling is sister Melody, who feels neglected and unloved by her mother. She believes she is kind of the outsider in the family. She over compensates for her mother’s neglect, now that she is the mother of twins, by being a somewhat overzealous parent. She spends far more than her pocket can afford as do most of the siblings. Her twins, who are high school students, are struggling with their own sexuality. One, Louisa, believes she is a lesbian and the other, Nora, wonders if she, therefore, is also gay, since they are twins. There is also Simone, Walter, Nathan and more. Graphic sex, too, seems to unnecessarily often pop its head on the pages of this book.
The narrator did a good job of capturing the attitudes and personalities of the characters, portraying them fairly authentically so that the listener can actually see a picture of the character in their mind’s eye. However, there were so many issues and so many characters that it is sometimes difficult to keep everything straight. For that reason, it is better to select the print version. The book is written with levity, although it is not the laugh out loud kind, and much of the subject matter made the funny lines fall flat for me.
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LibraryThing member Alphawoman
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
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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. Show Less
LibraryThing member melissarochelle
Fifty pages in, I wasn't sure I'd keep going. The Plumbs were terrible -- I couldn't figure out why everyone was talking about this novel full of horrible people. They were selfish, greedy, and a little unfeeling. BUT then I started reading Part 2: The Kiss and we meet the characters that provide
A funny thing happened as I was reading about Paul in Part 2...I got sucked in. I started to see the Plumbs through the eyes of the people that care about them. Maybe they weren't so bad after all. Maybe they just let their expectations get away from them. Maybe they were just siblings that got screwed over by their brother's poor choices.
By the end, I didn't hate them nearly as much. I even started to like a couple of the Plumbs, but I always LOVED the non-Plumb characters. They were the real driving force behind this story. The way the author managed to bring it all together is pretty amazing. Excellent book. Now that I'm finished, I understand the hype.
Strangely enough I was reminded of fall's big book, City on Fire. While this one is set in the 2000s and that one was the 1970s, they're both New York City novels with interweaving stories, lots of characters, bad choices, and wealth (remember the Hamilton-Sweeney's?).
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the foils for the Plumb children. The people with real problems that have worked hard their entire lives only to have things fall apart (or maybe not), but that haven't been waiting a couple of decades for a giant inheritance that was never intended to be so large. "The Nest" was supposed to be a kind of reward, a cushion, it wasn't supposed to be something these crazies put all of their hopes and dreams into. But at least two of the four Plumb children definitely did that thing with the eggs and the counting. Silly kids.A funny thing happened as I was reading about Paul in Part 2...I got sucked in. I started to see the Plumbs through the eyes of the people that care about them. Maybe they weren't so bad after all. Maybe they just let their expectations get away from them. Maybe they were just siblings that got screwed over by their brother's poor choices.
By the end, I didn't hate them nearly as much. I even started to like a couple of the Plumbs, but I always LOVED the non-Plumb characters. They were the real driving force behind this story. The way the author managed to bring it all together is pretty amazing. Excellent book. Now that I'm finished, I understand the hype.
Strangely enough I was reminded of fall's big book, City on Fire. While this one is set in the 2000s and that one was the 1970s, they're both New York City novels with interweaving stories, lots of characters, bad choices, and wealth (remember the Hamilton-Sweeney's?).
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LibraryThing member Susan.Macura
I read the previews for this book, and to be honest, they did not appeal to me. However, my local librarian told me to read it, and so I did. I am so glad I took her advice. This was a fun summer read! The Plumbs are the most dysfunctional family I have read about in quite a while, but they are
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also some of the most likable! There are four siblings who grew up living their lives based on the promise of a family inheritance – the nest. However, due to some tragic circumstances, the nest is not available at the point they are to inherit. This story looks at how each character comes to terms with this fact of life and how they rebuild their lives, some for the better and some with no changes at all. I loved it! Show Less
LibraryThing member jillrhudy
***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
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
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family that works and is actually healthy for the next generation and each other. Show Less
LibraryThing member LivelyLady
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.
LibraryThing member Writermala
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
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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. Show Less
LibraryThing member jmoncton
An inheritance can be a surprising windfall, something akin to winning the lottery. But when you plan for an inheritance and actually plan on spending it before it comes to you, then you might be creating a problem. In this darkly humorous novel, the Plumb siblings have been anticipating their
This story was hilariously funny at points, but very revealing about the nature of families.
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inheritance (the 'nest') much of their adult lives and some of them have gone beyond planning and spent it. So when older brother Leo gets behind the wheel of a car drunk with a young waitress which results in a horrible accident, it looks like the family inheritance is at risk. This story was hilariously funny at points, but very revealing about the nature of families.
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LibraryThing member voracious
When their successful father set up an inheritance account for his four children, he never intended for the "Nest" to be the answer to all of his children's problems. As the funds grew far beyond what they were expected to achieve, all four of his greedy, self-focused adult kids began to plan their
I have to admit, when I first heard about the hype this book was creating, it seemed an odd plot to draw such high reviews. I put off reading it because it didn't sound like something I would enjoy. However, I hate to be left out when it comes to the hottest books of the season so I eventually relented to see what the fuss was about. Generally, I found the characters pretty irritating and self-centered. There was a little tongue and cheek humor which was enjoyable, as even their mother couldn't stand to be in her children's company. The story was fine and some characters were fleshed out more than others. I would say it would be a good beach read since it wasn't particularly deep or memorable. I enjoyed the setting of Manhattan and some of the non-related characters more than the Plums, who tended to be shallow and materialistic. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't had such high expectations?
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lives around the Nest they would inherit. In some cases, this meant overextending themselves into debt or unsustainable circumstances, as they expected the Nest to solve all their financial woes. This probably would have occurred had it not been for an unforseen circumstance, placing the siblings at odds with eachother to reestablish the account. I have to admit, when I first heard about the hype this book was creating, it seemed an odd plot to draw such high reviews. I put off reading it because it didn't sound like something I would enjoy. However, I hate to be left out when it comes to the hottest books of the season so I eventually relented to see what the fuss was about. Generally, I found the characters pretty irritating and self-centered. There was a little tongue and cheek humor which was enjoyable, as even their mother couldn't stand to be in her children's company. The story was fine and some characters were fleshed out more than others. I would say it would be a good beach read since it wasn't particularly deep or memorable. I enjoyed the setting of Manhattan and some of the non-related characters more than the Plums, who tended to be shallow and materialistic. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't had such high expectations?
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LibraryThing member TerriS
All about a dysfunctional family fighting over an inheritance....but in the end, I can't really say if I liked it or not....
LibraryThing member Bookmarque
This is usually billed as “rich people problems” or “rich people behaving badly”. Either the definition of rich has seriously changed or the folks who label it that way haven’t read it. The Nest is about the prospect of having a windfall and all the dumb financial stuff people do in
The opening section is the story introduces us to the Plumb family and boy are the storylines faint. Each sibling has done something dumb about money and is counting the days until their share is delivered and will fix things. None are super rich and none are super poor; they’re just living with debt, much like the rest of America. The thing was that none had a situation that was really dire and nothing really needed resolving. So Melody’s kids will have to go to state schools. So Jack will have to tell Walker about the line of credit against the beach house and they’ll have to sell it. Frances will keep working at her crappy job and living in her crappy apartment.
Then things take a shift and introduce new characters, all of whom are somehow tied to the siblings. Those stories needed resolution and kept the book moving forward with something to achieve. Of course everything revolves around Leo eventually. Leo the cad. Leo the coward. Leo the cheat. As villains go he’s effective, but in a really limpid sort of way. If I hadn’t been through a family squabble over inherited money recently, I might have chalked up his behavior to artistic license, but it’s true. Money turns people into cowardly cads who cheat. It’s a low-key novel that highlights family dynamics well and also each person’s more personal relationships.
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expectation of it. And the original windfall isn’t really a lot. You couldn’t stop working and live a life of leisure with just that. I think to manufacture the level of outrage the other siblings have when it's gone, you'd have to make it much bigger. Just me.The opening section is the story introduces us to the Plumb family and boy are the storylines faint. Each sibling has done something dumb about money and is counting the days until their share is delivered and will fix things. None are super rich and none are super poor; they’re just living with debt, much like the rest of America. The thing was that none had a situation that was really dire and nothing really needed resolving. So Melody’s kids will have to go to state schools. So Jack will have to tell Walker about the line of credit against the beach house and they’ll have to sell it. Frances will keep working at her crappy job and living in her crappy apartment.
Then things take a shift and introduce new characters, all of whom are somehow tied to the siblings. Those stories needed resolution and kept the book moving forward with something to achieve. Of course everything revolves around Leo eventually. Leo the cad. Leo the coward. Leo the cheat. As villains go he’s effective, but in a really limpid sort of way. If I hadn’t been through a family squabble over inherited money recently, I might have chalked up his behavior to artistic license, but it’s true. Money turns people into cowardly cads who cheat. It’s a low-key novel that highlights family dynamics well and also each person’s more personal relationships.
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LibraryThing member Doondeck
I really enjoyed this multi-faceted look at a unique family facing a crisis that affects each one differently.
LibraryThing member Kiddboyblue
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
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.
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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.
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Awards
Booklist Editor's Choice: Adult Books (Fiction — 2016)
NPR: Books We Love (2016)
San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year (Fiction — 2016)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2016-03-01
Physical description
368 p.; 8 inches
ISBN
0062414224 / 9780062414229