The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney
My rating: 4/5 cats
each dysfunctional family is dysfunctional in its own way…
the only word to describe this book is “breezy.” and that’s not to imply it is “unchallenging” or “unsophisticated,” just that reading it is a truly pleasurable experience and it both carries you away and sucks you in until you look up and it’s four in the morning and you’ve forgotten to eat dinner and you don’t even care.
it’s a multiple POV novel revolving around family money, new york, society, and disappointment – an updated edith wharton novel but with more disastrous hand jobs. here we are joining the charmingly flawed plumb family at a moment of crisis – three of the adult siblings; melody, jack, and bea, in varying degrees of estrangement from each other, are coming together to discuss a shared catastrophe – their not-insignificant joint trust fund, which each of them has been complacently anticipating and spending against for years, was nearly in their clutches (for some just in the nick of financial time), when it is suddenly liquidated by their mother to smooth over the spectacularly bad consequences of their eldest brother leo’s mess.
i.e. – the disastrous hand job.
leo has always enjoyed the benefits of his charm and charisma, coasting through life and work and relationships, making bad choices but still being indulged and coddled by everyone he knew. but with this latest episode, he finds that the shine might have been bruised off his apple for good.
the story unfolds not only through the perspectives of leo and his increasingly frantic siblings, but also their children, lovers, colleagues, neighbors, and the woman whose hand performed the job.
it’s a family story, it’s a new york story, it’s a social satire targeting the wealthy, the nearly wealthy, the literary scene, the art world, activists, mommy culture, etc but don’t be fooled into thinking this is some funny, frivolous book. it’s a frequently funny book that’s willing to kick a person when they’re down, but still has heart and depth and character growth and so many wonderful new york winks. it’s just …great. i don’t know what else to say about this book; i don’t wanna risk reducing its appeal with some dry regurgitation of plot that wouldn’t convey the juicy gossipy fun of it, so i’m gonna be lazy with this review and just say “here’s a fun breezy book that odds are good you’d enjoy.”
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oh, man – i stayed up until four in the morning reading this last night. SUCH bookcrack.
review to come, but know that this is super fun and you should look into it.
