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The Nest
The Nest
The Nest
Audiobook11 hours

The Nest

Written by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

Narrated by Mia Barron

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

()

About this audiobook

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.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperAudio
Release dateMar 22, 2016
ISBN9780062443830
Author

Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney is the author of the instant New York Times bestselling novels The Nest and Good Company. The Nest was a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writer’s pick and named one of the best books of 2016 by People, the Washington Post, NPR, Amazon and others. Sweeney’s work has been translated into more than 28 languages. She has been a guest on Today, Late Night with Seth Meyers and NPR’s All Things Considered. The Nest has been optioned by AMC Studios and is in development as a limited series. Sweeney holds an MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars and lives in Los Angeles with her family. 

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Reviews for The Nest

Rating: 3.5043289863203464 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

1,155 ratings105 reviews

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  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I've been excited to read this book for a while now, based solely on the cover design. I had no idea what it was about. In the end, I gave it two stars, which based on my rating scale, means it was not for me, but you might like it. It was a quick read.

    I think the main reason I didn't give the book a higher rating is because I really didn't enjoy any of the characters. They were all, with maybe the exception of Bea, selfish and self-centered. That's not to say that selfish, terrible people can't be well-written and enjoyable, but these just weren't. None of them had anything special going on, or any really defining characteristics. (And this is just a personal pet peeve of mine, but OMG, the bland, boring character names made it impossible to remember who was who. Jack, Paul, Walker, Walter [yes, really], Nora, Louisa, Maggie, Melody... even when I was three-quarters of the way through the book, I had to keep reminding myself who each person was.

    The plot itself was fine, but it felt like a lot of fuss over nothing. So Leo blew the money. Oh no! Now Melody's kids might have to go to a state school. Jack was irresponsible with the money he does have, and now he and Walter (Walker? I don't remember which one he was married to) might lose their summer house.

    Seriously, these were the MAJOR PROBLEMS that the family faced. And then those problems were solved in about two sentences when Bea offered to share her money with her siblings, and they both immediately accepted. Problems solved!

    Jack is an addict, which is an actual problem and could have really been explored more, but it wasn't. He got Stephanie pregnant then disappeared, but it was cool because she makes tons of money and really prefers to be a single mom anyway, so NBD. Like, that would be an actual major problem for the majority of people in the US, but nah, it's played out and wrapped up in a couple of pages, and life goes on!

    There was nothing wrong with the writing. It was a quick read and I only considered abandoning it once or twice, but decided to stick it out because overall it had good reviews.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Highly recommend this book. It was long so you get time to know the characters. Beautiful story
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Audiobook with the best reading I have ever heard. Magnificently written story of ordinary people with everyday issues.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book is fantastic. Keenly depicts the many ways in which the infighting over money, especially vast sums of inheritance, can dissolve the last remaining sense of fondness between adult siblings.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I had very high hopes for this book, especially due to all the publicity and reviews I had seen leading up to it's release. I enjoyed it, but not quite as much as I thought I would; perhaps my expectations were a little unrealistic. I wasn't completely blown away, and it wasn't a book that I stayed up all night reading, but I don't necessarily have anything negative to say either. I enjoyed the plot twists but I also thought there were a couple plot lines that would've been really interesting if they were more fully developed. I liked that the protagonists were flawed which made them much more relatable. I would recommend this to people who don't mind a slower pace and alternating narrators.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Didn't connect with any of the characters, no real plot development, nothing happens.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I've been excited to read this book for a while now, based solely on the cover design. I had no idea what it was about. In the end, I gave it two stars, which based on my rating scale, means it was not for me, but you might like it. It was a quick read.

    I think the main reason I didn't give the book a higher rating is because I really didn't enjoy any of the characters. They were all, with maybe the exception of Bea, selfish and self-centered. That's not to say that selfish, terrible people can't be well-written and enjoyable, but these just weren't. None of them had anything special going on, or any really defining characteristics. (And this is just a personal pet peeve of mine, but OMG, the bland, boring character names made it impossible to remember who was who. Jack, Paul, Walker, Walter [yes, really], Nora, Louisa, Maggie, Melody... even when I was three-quarters of the way through the book, I had to keep reminding myself who each person was.

    The plot itself was fine, but it felt like a lot of fuss over nothing. So Leo blew the money. Oh no! Now Melody's kids might have to go to a state school. Jack was irresponsible with the money he does have, and now he and Walter (Walker? I don't remember which one he was married to) might lose their summer house.

    Seriously, these were the MAJOR PROBLEMS that the family faced. And then those problems were solved in about two sentences when Bea offered to share her money with her siblings, and they both immediately accepted. Problems solved!

    Jack is an addict, which is an actual problem and could have really been explored more, but it wasn't. He got Stephanie pregnant then disappeared, but it was cool because she makes tons of money and really prefers to be a single mom anyway, so NBD. Like, that would be an actual major problem for the majority of people in the US, but nah, it's played out and wrapped up in a couple of pages, and life goes on!

    There was nothing wrong with the writing. It was a quick read and I only considered abandoning it once or twice, but decided to stick it out because overall it had good reviews.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Great read, the story was captivating and effortless to read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    ***SPOILERS***This novel will remind you what is really important in life. A bunch of weak and/or hateful siblings stop obsessing about money, write off the most hateful weak/hateful sibling (who, naturally, is the most rich, powerful, and good looking sibling) and cobble together an extended family that works and is actually healthy for the next generation and each other.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It was okay. It was lacking a major story-line punch. The characters seemed to be orbiting in their own worlds without much interaction. Leo, one of the main characters was just too narcissistic. Never really cared for most of the characters.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I read Daphne du Maurier's "Monte Verita" yesterday. In that story, there's a passage that reads: "I have a theory that each man's life is like a pack of cards, and those we meet and sometimes love are shuffled with us. We find ourselves in the same suit, held by the hand of Fate. The game is played, we are discarded, and pass on."With all of the circling back and interwoven lives, I suspect D'Aprix Sweeney was going for this kind of effect, but du Maurier works it better. D'Aprix Sweeney uses too many words with too much overused language to describe things. The novel feels too labored for me to really enjoy it.I didn't think I would finish this one---there are so many chapters---but against all odds, I made it to the end, including the epilogue even though I'm coming to believe that epilogues are largely gratuitous.This novel is about a bunch of people from New York City who make bad, selfish decisions, are petulant when no one wants to bail them out, and then experience individual and collective sort-of awakenings that make for a saccharin ending. I see what other reviewers were talking about when they said the ending was cliched.The audiobook was basically eleven hours of annoying people whining about their lives. There were a couple of characters I liked, but for the most part I didn't care at all what happened to these people. The best thing they could do but won't because they wouldn't want to risk ending up somewhere that didn't have artisanal cocktails would be to get the heck out of New York and out of their own heads and see another part of the world, or at least another part of the country. Seriously, just go to the Midwest or somewhere where you can stop thinking you're the center of the universe. After this novel, I might have to swear off novels set in NYC for a good while.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    3.5 stars. The premise of this book really had me intrigued but the follow through was not as great as I expected. The characters were interesting and the plot moved along well. I just thought that so much more could have been done with the family scenario. Recommend for those who like adult contemporary novels and are willing to keep their expectations in check.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    3.5 stars

    Original idea, great reader, rushed ending, uneven writing.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I would have to say that this book is not for everyone. It's about the Plumbs who are a crazy and dysfunctional family waiting until the youngest is 40 so they can inherit their nest of money. I found the siblings to be well-developed characters that are very believable but also very flawed. They lie, cheat and steal but you still find yourself wondering what will happen to each of them. There is a lot of dark humor and lots of surprises along the way that keep you interested. I can really see a movie in the making from this book. As I have said in the beginning of my review, these shallow characters are not for everyone but if you love family sagas, then I suggest you give it a try. I would definitely look to read more from this author, as I found this debut interesting. What I have taken away from this book is: In the end, you just have to accept your family for who and what they are.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I am a sucker for a fictional story taking place in New York City! I also adore stories that involve multiple characters who all connect in some way. This book had both and I loved it! I thought I wouldn't be able to relate to the characters since they are wealthy high society New Yorkers but it felt like a Modern Family episode and everyone can relate to money problems and family issues! Very fast paced and just the right amount of detail to draw you into the typical New York lifestyle and scene. I appreciate how the author brought up issues in parenting, dating, motherhood, sibling rivalry, career choices and money problems. Each character connected in some way and had their own problems to deal with but I loved how while they all were depending on money to solve their issues, they used other means and resources to get through the difficulties and overcome. Money isn't everything but family is! Great read, great ending and highly recommended.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Beautiful story…. It came together in the most spectacular way!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Leonard Plumb Sr. hat etwas Geld in einem Treuhandfonds für seine vier Kinder angelegt. Auf Englisch nennt man so ein finanzielles Polster für schlechte Zeiten "nest egg" und schon bald war dieser Fonds für seine Familie nur noch "das Nest". Eigentlich war es ein eher bescheidener Betrag, aber er konnte den Immobilienboom nach seinem Tod ja nicht voraussehen und hatte auch einen sehr umsichtigen Treuhandverwalter ausgesucht, so dass seine Kinder nun viel mehr Geld erwarten können, als er geplant hatte. Er wollte nie, dass sich seine Kinder auf den zukünftigen Geldsegen verlassen, sondern sich alles selbst erarbeiten, daher soll das Geld auch erst nach dem 40. Geburtstag von Melody, der Jüngsten, an alle verteilt werden.Melodys 40. Geburtstag naht. Wie ihre drei Geschwister Leo, Bea und Jack braucht sie das Geld dringend. Doch dann benutzt ihre Mutter das Geld aus dem "Nest", um Leo zu helfen, der sich in ernst zu nehmende Schwierigkeiten gebracht hat. Vereint in der Sorge um ihr Geld fangen die Geschwister wieder an zu kommunizieren und sich zu treffen…Ich habe das Buch mit einiger Skepsis begonnen, da ich mir nicht vorstellen konnte, wie Gezanke um Geld unter Geschwistern lesenswert sein könnte. Die ersten Seiten haben meine Bedenken dann erst mal verstärkt, weil die vier Geschwister alle nicht besonders sympathisch sind und den typischen New Yorker Lebenswandel zu haben schienen. Doch ich hatte nicht mit dem Schreibtalent der Autorin gerechnet. Sie hat mich in die Geschichte und das Familienleben hineingezogen und ich kam nicht wieder heraus!Beim ersten Treffen der Geschwister verspricht Leo, sich etwas einfallen zu lassen, damit das "Nest" bis zu Melodys Geburtstag vier Monate später wieder aufgefüllt ist. Leo ist der Älteste und die anderen drei wollen ihm glauben und vertrauen – obwohl sie ihn dafür eigentlich zu gut kennen – und sie hoffen und schieben ihre Geldsorgen vor sich her. Dabei lernt der Leser alle vier Geschwister besser kennen, ihre aktuelle Lebenssituation und wie sich ihr Leben entwickelt hat, und fragt sich, was Leo wohl tun wird und welche Auswege es für die anderen drei gibt.Am Ende hatte ich fast alle Charaktere irgendwie liebgewonnen, egal wie verkorkst sie waren, und war richtig traurig, dass das Buch zu Ende war. "Das Nest" ist eine interessante Familiengeschichte über die Beziehung zwischen Geschwistern und die Autorin erzählt so, dass man als Leser den Eindruck hat, mittendrin zu sein. Die Atmosphäre und die Denkweisen sind sehr amerikanisch, darauf muss man sich einstellen.Da ich intelligente, gut geschriebene Familiengeschichten sehr mag, hat mir das Buch sehr gut gefallen und ich hoffe, dass die Autorin weitere Bücher schreiben wird.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A dysfunctional, upper class family in NYC in current day. Four siblings lose their soon to be received inheritance from their father after their mother spends it all to correct the mistake of one of them. All but one had plans for the money and were in serious debt, knowing that the windfall would be coming soon. The story is told from several perspectives and each main character is well-developed. On the whole, they seem spoiled, living beyond their means and just not nice people. The story did keep me reading but the ending was a huge disappointment. It ended like a fairy tale, all problems solved, everyone happy and not at all realistic.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Worst book I had ever read! Absolutely no redeeming characters!
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Originally published in 2016.New York Times best seller list? Really? I don't think so! A dysfunctional family fighting over an inheritance. This was just too predictable to be of any interest. I see it has been optioned as a film. Maybe that would be more interesting...maybe.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    An enjoyable jaunt through the lives of some interesting characters who are larger than life but somehow believable. NYC as a backdrop is critical to the story as some of the characters could only exist in such a city. Entertaining read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Well written portrait of a family in all its glory and disfunctionality. Each one of the 4 Plump siblings are very human, easy to like and to relate to in some way or another. A great read.!!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    3. 5 stars -- slow start. The promise of financial security is a blessing and a curse. This book is about the Plumb family - 4 siblings: Leo, the flashy, living large, screw-up oldest, Beatrice, the writer and artsy free spirit who had early success, but has not published anything for years, Jack who has always faced Leo's shadow (Leo Lite), even though he has forged his own path as an antiques dealer, is gay and married to Walker, and Melody, the caboose, who is a suburban mother of twin girls, married to Walter and a bit of a social striver, though she is doing it on a shoestring budget. Francie, the mother, is portrayed as a selfish, cold-hearted woman who is an alcoholic and has always been more interested in herself and her New York social standing than her kids. Their father, Leonard is dead and that is why The Nest, the financial trust he set up for his children, exists. The Nest is set up to be dispersed upon Melody's 40th birthday (though the dysfunctional family can never remember when that is) and the amount is staggering. Each sibling is counting on that money for various reasons: Leo has had a messy divorce and is basically bankrupt, Bea has a book advance to pay back, Jack has been borrowing against the summer home he and Walker own (unbeknownst to Walker) to keep his store afloat and Melody has a mortgage and college tuition x2 to think of. Essentially each of them has relied on this safety net and counted their chickens before they hatched. Six months prior to the payout, Leo gets into a tragic accident involving a luxury car (unpaid), drugs and alcohol and a 19 year old waitress, and Francie uses the money to hush it up, pay off the waitress (who loses a foot), and pay for rehab for Leo. The other siblings are outraged, devastated and now in a bind. There is humor here -- more of a dark nature as they plan to confront Leo and turn a blind eye to their own failings (albeit, which pale in comparison to Leo's) and though he promises to pay them all back, they know this will most likely never happen. He does make an effort to stay sober, build a business plan which involves the publishing/media industry and get his act together, but not surprisingly he has burned a lot of bridges in his earlier rise to money and fame, not least of which involved his wicked ex-wife Victoria. There are various subplots which intertwine with this main problem: with nowhere to go, Leo falls back on an old girlfriend, Stephanie, who was once Bea's agent; Melody's girls begin to experiment with freedom and sexual identity; Walker's law practice which centers on AIDS-related cases is detailed, Bea and her longtime boss, Paul -- a publishing rival of Leo's, get involved, and Matilda, the paid-off amputee makes a re-appearance. The author keeps all these plates spinning pretty deftly, and while the siblings, Stephanie, and the reader want to hope in Leo, that just seems like a recipe for heartache. Stephanie observes: "Nothing was a sure thing; every choice was just an educated guess, or a leap into a mysterious abyss. People might not change, but their incentives could." (274) Since Leo's incentives always involve himself, the outcome is not surprising. However, there is redemption here in the form of the siblings confronting their own shortcomings, and also becoming more of a family. While the characters are not inherently likeable, the book's premise is one worth thinking about and would make for good discussion.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Interesting read.
    There is no one word to explain the story. This story explains the complicated relationships amongst families, in particular Leo Plumb. The effects of one person can dramatically alter the lives of those around him.
    "He'd been itching to get them all together in one room and try to make a tiny inroad into facilitating some kind of agreement about the infernal sum of money they still insisted on calling The Nest, which drove Walker mad."
    "Aside from being infantile, he couldn't fathom how a group of adults could use the term in apparent earnestness and never even casually contemplate the twisted metaphor of the thing, and how it relates to their dysfunctional behavior as individuals and a group."
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I love a good dysfunctional family story. This one was packed full of it. I didn’t think I’d read it as fast as I did, but I definitely couldn’t wait to find out what was happening with each character.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was a cornovirous book. I had a hard time concentrating on reading so this was an easy read that suited me well. The 4 siblings of a family are waiting till the youngest turns 40 so they can all get their inheritance. The oldest sibling has stolen the inheritance and the story revolves around the other 3 siblings trying to find him.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I've been excited to read this book for a while now, based solely on the cover design. I had no idea what it was about. In the end, I gave it two stars, which based on my rating scale, means it was not for me, but you might like it. It was a quick read.

    I think the main reason I didn't give the book a higher rating is because I really didn't enjoy any of the characters. They were all, with maybe the exception of Bea, selfish and self-centered. That's not to say that selfish, terrible people can't be well-written and enjoyable, but these just weren't. None of them had anything special going on, or any really defining characteristics. (And this is just a personal pet peeve of mine, but OMG, the bland, boring character names made it impossible to remember who was who. Jack, Paul, Walker, Walter [yes, really], Nora, Louisa, Maggie, Melody... even when I was three-quarters of the way through the book, I had to keep reminding myself who each person was.

    The plot itself was fine, but it felt like a lot of fuss over nothing. So Leo blew the money. Oh no! Now Melody's kids might have to go to a state school. Jack was irresponsible with the money he does have, and now he and Walter (Walker? I don't remember which one he was married to) might lose their summer house.

    Seriously, these were the MAJOR PROBLEMS that the family faced. And then those problems were solved in about two sentences when Bea offered to share her money with her siblings, and they both immediately accepted. Problems solved!

    Jack is an addict, which is an actual problem and could have really been explored more, but it wasn't. He got Stephanie pregnant then disappeared, but it was cool because she makes tons of money and really prefers to be a single mom anyway, so NBD. Like, that would be an actual major problem for the majority of people in the US, but nah, it's played out and wrapped up in a couple of pages, and life goes on!

    There was nothing wrong with the writing. It was a quick read and I only considered abandoning it once or twice, but decided to stick it out because overall it had good reviews.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I didn't think I'd like this book about a dysfunctional group of characters, but it redeemed itself and I found myself interested in getting to the end just to see how it would play out.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Not my kind of story. Only one minor character likable and the story felt episodic.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Lots of first-world problems amongst this dysfunctional family, but I liked this novel! Good writing. More characters than I expected, but the author didn‘t allow this to sprawl. I kind of hope there will be a sequel to this novel.