Book Club: The Nest

Image Via Chapters Indigo

Book: The Nest

Author: Cynthia D'aprix Sweeney
Indigo Summary: 

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.

What I have to say: 

This book was the December pick for my book club. There was a lot of 'hype' around this book in 2016 and I added it to my reading list in the summer, and originally read it in October. There was a lot going on in this book...tons of characters and story lines. It was sometimes hard to keep track of everything. There were also a number of characters and story lines that did not move the plot forward and, if they weren't there, the book would be just as good- if not better. The Plumb siblings were a little annoying- the significant others of Jack, Leo, and Melody were more likeable.

 

Final verdict: 

Worth the read, but doesn't live up to the hype that surrounded it.