Nesting cover art

Nesting

Preview
This Season's Biggest Deal

£0.99/mo for 3 months + £10 Audible bonus

Auto-renews at £5.99/month after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Get this deal
Offer ends on 28 December, 2026.
More purchase options

Nesting

By: Roisin O'Donnell
Narrated by: Louisa Harland
Get this deal

Auto-renews at £5.99/mo. after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 28 December, 2026.

Buy Now for £15.50

Buy Now for £15.50

This Season's Biggest Deal | £0.99/mo for 3 months + £10 Audible bonus

£5.99/mo after 3 months - terms apply. Cancel monthly
Summary
Winner of the 2025 Irish Book Awards, Novel of the Year
Longlisted for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction

From an unforgettable new voice in Irish fiction, a heart-pounding, life-affirming story about one woman trying to leave her marriage and start over. For fans of Claire Keegan and Emma Donoghue.

‘Contains all the twists and turns of a classic thriller … Immersive and emotional’ New York Times
‘An escape story from Jodi Picoult territory, but with a lot more bite.’ The Age
‘Turns the idea of the domestic novel inside out … Not just riveting and deeply humane but – in an understated, ‘domestic’ way – radical, too.’ Observer

On a bright spring afternoon in Dublin, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change her life. 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.

It 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.

Tense, beautiful and gut-wrenching, Nesting is an unforgettable story of motherhood, underpinned by love, hope and resilience.
Editors Select Family Life Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Women's Fiction World Literature Marriage Heartfelt Fiction
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1

Critic reviews

‘Contains all the twists and turns of a classic thriller … Immersive and emotional’
‘Turns the idea of the domestic novel inside out … Not just riveting and deeply humane but – in an understated, ‘domestic’ way – radical, too.’
‘An escape story from Jodi Picoult territory, but with a lot more bite.’
‘Paced like a thriller, Nesting is a deep, beautiful, hopeful meditation on trauma, healing and love.’ (Jessica Stanley, author of Consider Yourself Kissed)
‘Powerful’
‘The emotions are unflinching, the details are intricate, and the tension is tight … Reading this book will change you’
‘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)
'What's striking is the novel’s dizzying speed – reading it is more akin to devouring a thriller than a work of domestic realism.'
‘As if we needed further proof of Ireland’s literary supremacy, along comes this absolutely stunning debut. A masterclass in emotivity and artful detail, O’Donnell steers us back and forth to the brink, as our heroine navigates her devastating and all too common reality. Deeply invested, Ciara’s wins become our wins, her losses ours too. I was on tenterhooks the whole time and enjoyed every second of it.’ (Nadine J. Cohen, author of Everyone and Everything)
'Nesting is a powerful novel. Brand new, urgent, and hugely satisfying.' (Roddy Doyle, author of The Women Behind the Door)
No reviews yet