The Nest

By: Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

Narrated by: Mia Barron

“Hilarious and big-hearted, The Nest is a stellar debut.” — People

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.

An enjoyable, light (aka lite) read with a moral

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

yes. This is a fun, light-hearted with fable-like undertones of the corruptive power of money and the redemptive power of love and family. I would classify this book with The Assistants as beach-read level expose into the social inner-workings of a Manhattan-ite family of four adult siblings, each coping with conflicting feelings towards each other and their anticipated inheritance which was initially modest in sum and intent but which, thanks to favorable market conditions and sage trading decisions on the part of the lawyer managing the fun, has grown into a wealth-making sum, even after being split four ways. The characters are lite but sufficiently developed. The language is crisp. The narrative is clear and engaging. overall, a very satisfying excursion.

What other book might you compare The Nest to and why?

I would compare this book to The Assistants, China Rich Girfriend, and The Rosie Project. All of these books are light, engaging treatments of fairly serious subjects. Each is written in its own clever style that ellicits laughs out loud in varying degrees.

Surprisingly Satisfying

Was skeptical given the super-mixed reviews but was pleasantly entertained by the Plumb family and all of their escapades. Had a similarly satisfying experience reading The Royal We by Heather Cocks.

Wry,, Witty, Heartfelt

Very readable, hard to put down...a well written examination of "family" where the sum of the parts truly is greater than the whole.

Every family

It seems as though this book could speak to everyone I know. We all seem to be holding on to something in our lives. How freeing to let it go!! Great book.

Interesting, but a little petty.

I’d actually give this a 3.5 stars. It’s definitely better than average, but didn’t get as in-depth as it could have. This was a great read- I was very involved with all the storylines and loved how the characters’ lives were weaved together. I would have liked to see more depth to the internal conflicts, but I also think that’s a poignant commentary on us as a people; often getting caught up in the shallow clutches of greed or materials when the real issues are with relationships. I enjoyed the read and found it easy and an escape.
The performance was also good. Not a ton of change in voices, but a great pace and enough change in intonation to make the picture.