Nesting by Roisin O’Donnell
Nesting by Roisin O’Donnell is one of the books I bought with my Christmas money, along with Homegoing, Small Rain, Us and Munichs. Published in 2025, it is O’Donnell’s debut novel and was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2025. I don’t know why it took me so long to read it. It turned out to be one of the best of my Christmas books.
In Dublin, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision to grab her two small daughters and leave her controlling husband, Ryan. But was he really so bad? He didn’t hit her. Was she just imagining it?
Unable to go home to her mother and sister, with nowhere to go, Ciara and her daughters, Ella and Sophie, end up living on the top floor of a hotel, hidden away with all the other homeless families. Ryan constantly texts her, begging her to come home. Can she block him out and start to build a life for herself and her daughters?
But with no money, no job and no home, it’s hard to navigate life and break free. Because homelessness doesn’t always mean living on the streets…
This is a beautiful and moving read. It’s not exactly scary, but Ryan’s presence feels like a constant threat. I’m pleased to say I have no experience of being homeless or being in a controlling or abusive relationship, but I feel like Nesting absolutely nails what it would feel like. The tough times are balanced out by the sweet descriptions of the girls’ conversations, which feel so authentic as they chatter about the world around them.
There’s some fantastic Irish novelists out there from Marian Keyes to Liz Nugent to Maggie O’Farrell, and Roisin O’Donnell fits right in. If you’re looking for a moving and authentic read, and can cope with the subject matter, I can’t recommend Nesting highly enough.
