Nesting - Roisín O’Donnell - ★★★★

AUTHOR: Roisín O’Donnell

NARRATOR: Louisa Harland

GENRE: Contemporary Irish Fiction

PUBLICATION DATE: February 18, 2025

RATING: 4 stars.

In a Nutshell: A contemporary Irish drama about a woman’s attempt to get away from her abusive marriage. Hits the right mark in terms of characters and plot, and most of all, in the depiction of psychological domestic violence. The last quarter was a bit frustrating, but other than that, this debut is worth a try. To anyone who ignorantly asks such women sufferers, “Why don’t you just walk out of your marriage?”, you need to read this novel.

Plot Preview:

2018. Dublin, Ireland. One day, after what can be called a final-straw incident, Ciara takes a life-changing decision. She packs a few essentials, grabs her two toddlers Sophie and Ella (aged four and two, respectively), and walks away from her marriage. In a city struggling with homelessness, starting anew, especially with no savings and no family nearby, isn't easy. But Ciara is determined that, unlike her last attempt at escape a couple of years ago, she will stick to her decision this time around, no matter what tactics her husband Ryan tries. But is it ever easy to break away from an abusive control-freak’s clutches?

The story comes to us in Ciara’s third-person perspective.

Domestic violence is one of most unacknowledged and underplayed crimes of modern times. This, despite that fact that it is considered a public health and safety crisis. Just a few days back, an abusive president who doesn’t deserve to be named even said that “private violence enacted by men against women in the home should not be considered criminal”, dismissing it as a “little fight with the wife”. Even worse is ignoramuses wondering in surprise or irritation, ‘If he’s so abusive, why doesn’t she just walk away?” Well, unless you have been in the same situation, you have no right to claim that an easy solution exists. This book shows one such case where the threads fray but aren’t easy to snap.

Bookish Yays:

✔ The true-to-life depiction of abusive marriages.

✔ The realistic portrayal of what happens when you get away from such a marriage. It’s not instant happiness or relief, and a lot has to be taken into account before committing to this drastic step.

✔ The highlight on the complicated realities of psychological abuse, which is rarely acknowledged as a part of domestic violence or as marital cruelty, and is tougher to prove.

✔ Ciara. A paradoxical woman in many ways. Brave yet questioning, strong yet weak, impulsive yet level-headed. It is anyway easy for us readers to root for an abused wife to stand on her independent feet, but I love that Ciara is not shown as perfect. She has her flaws and vulnerabilities, partly due to her personality and partly due to the mindgames Ryan has been playing. Her character development was layered, with her background proving how anyone is susceptible to entering such marriages.

✔ Ryan. You might wonder why I am putting an abuser in the Yay category. It’s a credit to the author, not to the character. Ryan is a textbook example of how a manipulative and gaslighting husband actually functions. I appreciate how he is not portrayed as being physically abusive (except in one crucial detail), which is what most such abusers are depicted as in fiction. He proves how abuse can come in a charming parcel.

✔ The little ones in the story, especially Sophie who isn't afraid to voice her opinion. My heart broke for them and hoped for them.

✔ The fabulous use of the first-person perspective, with Ciara’s introspection telling us her thinking without making it seem like endless rambling. You can actually feel Ciara’s uncertainty, her double-guessing of every move and word. I am rarely this satisfied with first-person internal monologues. 

✔ The depiction of the housing crisis in Ireland. This isn't the first Irish book I've read tackling homelessness as well as domestic violence in Ireland, so I guess both of these might be severe issues there. I can't be sure without having first-hand information, but the portrayal in the book seems genuine enough.

✔ Though there are ample opportunities for the plot to go into melodrama, the writing keeps the emotional quotient just at the right level without making the book sound like a trauma narrative. There are sprinkles of joy interspersed among the scenes of worry and fear.

Bookish Nays:

❌ The journey towards finding your feet after a traumatic fresh start anyway takes long, but the final quarter of the book gets frustrating, especially because of certain questionable decisions and needlessly dragged situations.

❌ There’s a tiny romantic track in the story, but even that was enough to turn me off as it simply wasn’t needed. Can't a woman find happiness on her own?

❌ The ending might work for many readers but I thought the resolution a bit too smooth and convenient for such a story.

🎧 The Audiobook Experience:

The audiobook, clocking at 9 hrs 46 min, is narrated by Louisa Harland. I had mixed feelings about her performance. She read Ciara’s parts well enough, and her Irish lilt suited the character. However, she just couldn’t handle the children’s dialogues, voicing them in a very weird old-granny kind of voice. Sophie has quite a lot to say in the book, so this odd voice was a big turn-off. I wish the narrator had been tested on their ability to voice a child convincingly.

One thing I liked about the audio version was the special sound effect it used to make a phone conversation sound real, with the opposite person's voice coming in a tinny-through-the-machine way. Well done.

Overall, this is exactly as you would expect a book on such a story to be. It is realistic, it is gritty, it is intense. But it is also slow and repetitive. Most of the plot sticks to the core focus, which is especially commendable of a debut work. If the final quarter had been finetuned, I would have rated this higher. But even in its current form, this novel mostly lives up to the high standards in which I hold contemporary Irish literary fiction.

Recommended to fans of OwnVoices literary fiction dealing with tough topics. The book does get intense, so read it only when you are in a strong headspace.

My thanks to Hachette Audio and Algonquin Books for providing the ALC of “Nesting” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.