Three Books and a Reminder

I finished three books this week, and one of them was Nesting, our current Read With Us selection. So in addition to book reviews, I'm also reminding you about our Zoom discussion of Nesting next Tuesday, June 10, at 7:00 pm. I'm looking forward to discussing this one!

Nesting is a haunting, beautifully written novel that explores the insidious nature of emotional and psychological abuse within the supposed safety of home. Róisín O’Donnell brings a quiet intensity to this story, set in contemporary Ireland, that is both unsettling and deeply empathetic.

The novel follows Ciara Fay whose gradual unraveling is mirrored by the slow, almost imperceptible tightening of control around her by her husband Ryan. What’s most powerful here is O’Donnell’s depiction of coercive control—not as dramatic, explosive outbursts or physical violence, but as a steady erosion of selfhood. The narrative voice is precise and restrained, mirroring the Ciara's psychological state, which makes the tension even more suffocating.

O’Donnell’s prose is lyrical but never overwrought. There’s a delicate balance between beauty and brutality in her writing that makes the emotional impact of the novel even sharper. The imagery of nesting—birds, homes, mothers—runs throughout the story in a way that’s both thematically rich and symbolically potent. It’s a metaphor that never feels forced but adds a deeply poetic layer to the narrative.

What earns this novel its high rating is its authenticity. Nesting doesn’t sensationalize abuse; it exposes its nuances—how it isolates, gaslights, and silences—especially in a cultural context that often prizes appearances and quiet endurance. I've often asked the question "Why don't women just leave an abusive situation like this?" and this novel helped me to better understand the many and complex reasons that it's so difficult.

A must-read for those interested in psychological fiction, feminist literature, or contemporary Irish writing. Nesting is a quietly devastating, necessary book that will stay with you. Four and a half stars rounded up. 

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I read the next two books as ARCs but for once, I'm telling you about them after they've been published and not two months before. So if you're interested, they should be available at your library.

Janelle Brown's What Kind of Paradise offers a compelling narrative that delves into themes of isolation, identity, and the impact of technology on society. Set in the mid-1990s, the story follows Jane, a teenager raised off the grid in Montana by her father, Saul. Their secluded life, filled with philosophical readings and a disdain for modern conveniences, is disrupted when Saul introduces a laptop into their world. He has demanded that Jane learn how to code so she can upload his manifesto. This event sets Jane on a path of discovery, leading her to question her upbringing and seek answers in San Francisco, a city undergoing its own transformation during the tech boom.

Brown's portrayal of Jane's sheltered life and her subsequent awakening is both poignant and thought-provoking. The novel effectively captures the tension between the allure of technological advancement and the desire for a simpler existence. Jane's journey is marked by her struggle to reconcile her father's ideals with the realities of the world she uncovers.

While the narrative is engaging, some aspects of the story could have been more fully developed. The pacing, particularly towards the end, feels rushed, leaving certain plot points and character arcs insufficiently explored. Additionally, the framing device used to bookend the story may not add significant value to the overall narrative.

Despite these shortcomings, What Kind of Paradise succeeds in prompting readers to reflect on the complexities of freedom, the influence of technology, and the search for personal truth. It's a novel that offers a unique perspective on the coming-of-age genre, making it a worthwhile read for those interested in stories that challenge conventional notions of progress and self-discovery. Three and a half stars rounded up. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for providing me with a copy of this book. It will be published on June 3, 2025. 

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A Family Matter by Claire Lynch is a quietly devastating and beautifully told story about a family split apart by prejudice, silence, and the painful choices adults are forced to make or make in error. Set in England, the novel follows the adult daughter of a single father who uncovers a long-buried secret: that her mother—who she believed absent by choice—was actually ordered by the courts in 1983 to remove herself entirely from her daughter's life due to her sexual orientation.

Lynch handles this emotionally fraught territory with subtlety and care. The narrative moves between past and present, slowly unspooling the truth as the protagonist grapples with her father's illness, her own experience of motherhood, and the question of whether she should seek out the woman she never knew she missed. The writing is restrained but emotionally resonant, capturing the quiet ache of lost time and the complicated love that persists even through separation.

There are some things that are left unsaid in the novel, but this is both a strength and a weakness by toning the emotion down a bit, but at times the reader is left wondering. The emotional core of the novel is powerful and deeply affecting. Lynch does an excellent job portraying the social and legal forces that shaped queer lives in the 1980s—and the long aftershocks of those injustices. The author's note that stated, "In the 19080s in the United Kingdom, around 9o percent of lesbian mothers involved in divorce cases ... lost legal custody of their children," was a terrible and chilling statistic.

A Family Matter is a tender, thought-provoking novel about the costs of silence and the redemptive potential of truth.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for providing me with a copy of this book. It will be published on June 3, 2025.

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Here's hoping you have a good weekend and a good book to read!