A wickedly smart, funny, and deeply felt debut novel about four adult siblings and the fate of their long depended-upon family inheritance
On a wintry night in New York City, Melody, Beatrice, and Jack Plumb gather to confront their charismatic and reckless younger brother, Leo Plumb, who has just been released from rehab. Leo's bad behavior before entering rehab, culminating in a car crash while under the influence-a nineteen year old waitress beside him-has left the Plumbs' joint trust fund, “The Nest,” as they've taken to calling it, endangered. All four siblings, at very different places in their lives, believe that this money will solve a host of self-inflicted problems and their consequences. And until Leo's accident, they'd been mere months away from receiving it.
Can Leo get the Plumbs out of this mess, as he's always been able to do for himself before? Or will the Plumb siblings have to do without the money-and the future lives-they've envisioned? As the siblings grapple with family tensions, old histories, and the significant emotional and financial cost of the accident, Sweeney introduces an unforgettable cast of supporting characters: Leo's stalwart ex-girlfriend who now thinks that maybe, just maybe, he is capable of change; the waitress whose life was shattered in the accident; the Iraqi war veteran who falls in love with her; and a retired, grieving firefighter with a very big secret.
Tender, funny, and deftly written, THE NEST explores what money does to relationships, what happens to our ambitions over the course of our lives, and the fraught but unbreakable ties we have with our families.
Every family has its problems. But even among the most troubled, the Plumb family stands out as spectacularly dysfunctional. Years of tensions finally reach a breaking point when Melody, Beatrice, and Jack Plumb gather to confront their charismatic and reckless 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 but months away from finally receiving. Each sibling has been counting on the money to solve a number of self-inflicted problems.
Can Leo rescue his siblings and, by extension, the people they love? Or will everyone need to reimagine the futures they’ve envisioned? Now, they must all grapple with old resentments, present-day truths, and the emotional and financial toll of the accident, as well as finally acknowledge the choices they have made in their own lives.
In this tender, entertaining, and deftly written debut, Sweeney illuminates 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.
"Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney's characters...come to life on the page. Fans of dark humor will get a kick out of this family drama."
