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Table of Contents
About The Book
THE INSTANT IRISH TIMES NUMBER 2 BESTSELLER
A BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK
AN OBSERVER BEST DEBUT NOVELIST OF 2025
'Tense, forensically realistic and compulsively readable. A real achievement' SUNDAY TIMES
‘Here is a novelist who has powerful news to tell, and an impressive range of narrative gifts with which to tell it’ IRISH TIMES
‘Should become essential reading for all. Nesting is a novel that truly matters’ SUNDAY INDEPENDENT
'A moving portrait of life inside the housing system and the courage it takes to try to build a home in society’s cracks' GUARDIAN
_______________________________________________________________
An extraordinary and urgent debut by a prize-winning Irish writer, NESTING introduces an unforgettable new voice in fiction.
On a bright spring afternoon in Dublin, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change everything. Grabbing an armful of clothes from the washing line, Ciara straps her two young daughters into her car and drives away. Head spinning, all she knows for certain is that home is no longer safe.
This was meant to be an escape. But with dwindling savings, no job, and her family across the sea, Ciara finds herself adrift, facing a broken housing system and the voice of her own demons. As summer passes and winter closes in, she must navigate raising her children in a hotel room, searching for a new home and dealing with her husband Ryan’s relentless campaign to get her to come back. Because leaving is one thing, but staying away is another.
What will it take for Ciara to rebuild her life? Can she ever truly break away from Ryan’s control – and what will be the cost?
Tense, beautiful, and underpinned by an unassailable love, hope and resilience, this is the story of one woman’s bid to start over.
_______________________________________________________________
A BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK
AN OBSERVER BEST DEBUT NOVELIST OF 2025
'Tense, forensically realistic and compulsively readable. A real achievement' SUNDAY TIMES
‘Here is a novelist who has powerful news to tell, and an impressive range of narrative gifts with which to tell it’ IRISH TIMES
‘Should become essential reading for all. Nesting is a novel that truly matters’ SUNDAY INDEPENDENT
'A moving portrait of life inside the housing system and the courage it takes to try to build a home in society’s cracks' GUARDIAN
_______________________________________________________________
An extraordinary and urgent debut by a prize-winning Irish writer, NESTING introduces an unforgettable new voice in fiction.
On a bright spring afternoon in Dublin, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change everything. Grabbing an armful of clothes from the washing line, Ciara straps her two young daughters into her car and drives away. Head spinning, all she knows for certain is that home is no longer safe.
This was meant to be an escape. But with dwindling savings, no job, and her family across the sea, Ciara finds herself adrift, facing a broken housing system and the voice of her own demons. As summer passes and winter closes in, she must navigate raising her children in a hotel room, searching for a new home and dealing with her husband Ryan’s relentless campaign to get her to come back. Because leaving is one thing, but staying away is another.
What will it take for Ciara to rebuild her life? Can she ever truly break away from Ryan’s control – and what will be the cost?
Tense, beautiful, and underpinned by an unassailable love, hope and resilience, this is the story of one woman’s bid to start over.
_______________________________________________________________
‘Brand-new, urgent and hugely satisfying’ RODDY DOYLE
'As emotionally charged as it is brutally real. The writing is flawless. I was profoundly moved’ ELAINE FEENEY
‘Will make your blood boil and your heart soar. This is an important novel' CLAIRE KILROY
‘Gorgeous, maddening, thrilling and compassionate’ SHEILA ARMSTRONG
About The Author
Photo credit: Ruth Medjber
Roisín O'Donnell is an award-winning Irish author. She won the prize for Short Story of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards in 2018, and was shortlisted for the same prize in 2022. She is the author of the story collection Wild Quiet, which was longlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize and shortlisted for the Kate O'Brien Award. Her short fiction has featured in The Stinging Fly, The Tangerine, the Irish Times and many other places. Other stories have been selected for major anthologies such as The Long Gaze Back, and have featured on RTÉ Radio. Nesting is her first novel. She lives near Dublin with her two children.
Product Details
- Publisher: Scribner UK (January 30, 2025)
- Length: 400 pages
- ISBN13: 9781398528529
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Raves and Reviews
‘Nesting is a powerful novel. Brand-new, urgent, and hugely satisfying’
– Roddy Doyle, author of The Women Behind the Door
‘A gorgeous, maddening, thrilling and compassionate book. Roisín O’Donnell so expertly captures the dull thud of dread and the frailty of hope. Nesting shows us that the quietest voice in the room can also be the most powerful’
– Sheila Armstrong, author of Falling Animals
'Nesting is a haunting, deeply affecting debut novel by Roisín O’Donnell – a gripping and unflinching exploration of coercive partner control, societal inequality, motherhood and the terrifying reality of a world closing in fast when you have no options left. An incredibly compelling tale of survival, it is as emotionally charged as it is brutally real. The writing is flawless. I was profoundly moved'
– Elaine Feeney, author of How to Build a Boat
‘O'Donnell presents as her hero a woman society has chosen not to hear, not to see. Nesting will make your blood boil and your heart soar, sometimes on the same page. This is an important novel’
– Claire Kilroy, author of Soldier Sailor
‘Clear, urgent and compassionate, Nesting will sweep you along, heart in mouth’
– Lucy Caldwell, author of Openings
‘Roisín O’Donnell tackles the unsettling cruelties and manipulations of coercive control with insight and emotional complexity. The voice is authentic, vivid and important. The final dedication to ‘anyone trapped in a place that does not feel like home’ says everything. Emotionally charged, psychologically nuanced and full of compassion and possibility, I read with my heart in my mouth’
– Una Mannion, author of Tell Me What I Am
‘Such a moving, heartfilled, urgent book’
– Jan Carson, author of The Raptures
‘Nesting is a triumph in empathy. This novel is achingly beautiful and utterly necessary. O’Donnell’s attentiveness to language shines from every page. A book to open eyes and hearts. O’Donnell imbues her characters’ circumscribed domestic space with a page-turning emotional urgency’
– Danielle McLaughlin, author of The Art of Falling
‘Nesting is a triumph of a novel. I raced through it. A beautifully crafted, unflinching portrait of the lengths a mother must go to to make a home for herself and those she loves'
– Louise Nealon, author of Snowflake
‘Nesting is a perfect portrayal of the insidious nature of intimate partner abuse where the bruises are not physical, but violently emotional. I fell in love with the voice of Ciara as she sets out to create a new life against all odds for herself and her children. A story of bravery, love, and redemption, chock full of emotional suspense – I couldn't look away. A high-wire act of a debut’
– Chelsea Bieker, author of Madwoman
‘Paced like a thriller, Nesting is a deep, beautiful, hopeful meditation on trauma, healing and love’
– Jessica Stanley, author of Consider Yourself Kissed
‘What an extraordinary debut! I clutched this book tightly as I read, and rooted for Ciara from page one. Nesting is an unputdownable story of love, courage and survival. I look forward to whatever comes next for Roisín O’Donnell'
– Mary Beth Keane, author of Ask Again, Yes
‘Such a beautiful and real portrayal of contemporary Dublin’
– Ana Kinsella, author of Look Here
‘A dazzling debut, pin-sharp in its depiction of the insidious hooks of behind-closed-doors coercive control. O'Donnell handles her heroine's pain and potential power with nuanced, page-turning aplomb. I was gripped to the end’
– Cristín Leach, author of Negative Space
'A woman from Dublin walks away from her abusive marriage, two young daughters in tow. A tale that is at once tender and urgent, Nesting is a searing story of survival, love and what it takes to rebuild a life'
– i Paper, best new books to read in January 2025
‘There’s a poetic, raw energy to this remarkable tale of coercive control… A poignant, beautifully written novel that opens your eyes to what some ordinary good women face every day’
– Woman & Home, *Book of the Month*
‘Never flinching from the brutality of coercive control – and beautifully written – this is a breathtaking debut novel’
– Red
‘A heart-rending but ultimately hopeful read’
– Good Housekeeping
‘Written with assurance, this is a brilliant debut’
– Prima
'What is [also] striking is the novel’s dizzying speed, a reading experience more akin to devouring a thriller than a work of domestic realism. This is a credit to O’Donnell’s writing, and shows just how far we are invested in Ciara and her daughters’ fate… Nesting offers a moving portrait of life inside the housing system and the courage it takes to try to build a home in society’s cracks'
– Ruth Gilligan, Guardian
‘Confident and compelling… This is a writer, and a novel, deeply concerned to notate a real Ireland: to show us to ourselves, whether we like it or not… It is a novel bright with the energy of its mission, a novel about a country in which men still hold most of the cards, and in which independence (the book’s true subject) is still, for many women, not remotely a given. Here is a novelist who has powerful news to tell, and an impressive range of narrative gifts with which to tell it'
– Kevin Power, Irish Times
‘This book should become essential reading for all. Nesting is a novel that truly matters'
– John Boyne, Sunday Independent
‘A very impressive debut novel… It’s surprising, it’s chilling, it’s electric… it’s beautifully written, and it’s just a very emotionally stirring novel. I was incredibly impressed by the power and sophistication of this book'
– Johanna Thomas-Corr, Times Radio
'I absolutely devoured this book. A tense, beautiful exploration of love, courage and resilience. I can't recommend it highly enough'
– Adele Parks, Platinum
'This book is a key. It will open eyes, hearts and minds, and if there is any justice it should also open doors and wallets. Raw, heartbreaking and hopeful, this book will resonate with so many women. It is one of the most forensic and unflinching portraits I have ever read of coercive control and its devastating impact. I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that this book could save lives'
– Laura Bates, founder of the Everyday Sexism Project
'A powerful political novel... Tense, forensically realistic and compulsively readable. Few contemporary novelists dare to get into the nitty-gritty of poverty and its entrapping cycles. O’Donnell makes these everyday battles with housing assistance and child maintenance payments feel genuinely urgent – a word that’s often overused in fiction reviews, but in this case feels earned. This debut is a real achievement, one that more experienced authors of state-of-the-nation novels would struggle to pull off’
– Johanna Thomas-Corr, Sunday Times
‘Urgent and arresting’
– Ursula Kenny, Observer
Resources and Downloads
High Resolution Images
- Book Cover Image (jpg): Nesting Hardcover 9781398528529
- Author Photo (jpg): Roisin O'Donnell Photo credit: Ruth Medjber(0.1 MB)
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