The Nest

The Plum family are an upper middle-class family, living in NYC. The four “children” are waiting to divvy up “The Nest”, a trust fund, that their father has set-up. Once the youngest of the siblings turns 40, they will be given this pay-out. Several of them have made bad choices over the years and could seriously use this money, but it turns out, the “The Nest” is empty...

Do we need another novel about whiny, white, privileged New Yorkers? We do not, but this turns out to be a pretty good story that avoids the usual insufferable, idiosyncrasies, and becomes an engaging character study as the Plums scrabble around trying to put their lives back together.

Die Plumbs sind eine Familie wie viele andere auch: Ausser der zufälligen Verwandtschaft hat man nur wenig gemeinsam und so beschränken sich die Zusammentreffen auf die eher seltenen Familienfeiern. Doch was die vier Geschwister verbindet, ist die Vorfreude auf das in Bälde auszuzahlende Erbe (das das Nest genannt wird): An Melodys 40. Geburtstag sollen alle 500.000 $ erhalten, die jede/r von ihnen teils schon seit Jahren fest verplant hat. Doch kurz vor diesem Termin verschuldet Leo, der Lebemann unter den Geschwistern, einen entsetzlichen Unfall und die Mutter der vier verwendet den Großteil des Geldes, um die Schäden so gering wie möglich zu halten. In dieser aussergewöhnlichen Situation finden sich die drei restlichen show more Geschwister zusammen, um einen Weg zu finden, doch noch an das Erbe zu gelangen. Denn Leo, der für sein verantwortungsloses Verhalten berühmt-berüchtigt ist, soll nicht ungeschoren davon kommen.
'Das Nest' ist eine wirklich schöne und unterhaltsame Familiengeschichte mit überaus differenziert und liebevoll beschriebenen Charakteren. Schwarz-Weiß-Schemata gibt es praktisch nicht (sieht man von der Mutter ab, die aber nur eine Randfigur darstellt) und sämtliche Personen haben ihre guten wie auch schlechten Seiten, selbst der egoistisch-narzisstische Leo. Die Autorin schildert überzeugend und nachvollziehbar, wie Menschen ihr ganzes Dasein darauf ausrichten, in einer bestimmten Zeit einen bestimmten Geldbetrag in Händen zu halten. Aber als dieses scheinbar bald erreichte Ziel sich buchstäblich in Nichts auflöst, brechen ganze Lebensentwürfe zusammen. Doch statt dass die Welt 'untergeht', kommt sich die Familie näher; es entstehen neue Möglichkeiten und manche/r muss feststellen: Es sind nicht die Schlechtesten ;-)
Ein ebenso lesenswertes, amüsantes wie mutmachendes Buch, das jedoch mal wieder mit einem Klappentext versehen ist, den man auch weglassen könnte. Ja, die Geschwister müssen Geld auftreiben, aber diesen Antrieb empfand ich während des Lesen eher nebensächlich. Und auch das Bild der Autorin hat ein derart historisches Alter, dass die Aussagekraft gegen Null geht. Doch wer liest schon Klappentexte (ausser mir) ;-) ? show less

Fifty pages in, I wasn't sure I'd keep going. The Plumbs were terrible -- I couldn't figure out why everyone was talking about this novel full of horrible people. They were selfish, greedy, and a little unfeeling. BUT then I started reading Part 2: The Kiss and we meet the characters that provide the foils for the Plumb children. The people with real problems that have worked hard their entire lives only to have things fall apart (or maybe not), but that haven't been waiting a couple of decades for a giant inheritance that was never intended to be so large. "The Nest" was supposed to be a kind of reward, a cushion, it wasn't supposed to be something these crazies put all of their hopes and dreams into. But at least two of the four Plumb show more children definitely did that thing with the eggs and the counting. Silly kids.

A funny thing happened as I was reading about Paul in Part 2...I got sucked in. I started to see the Plumbs through the eyes of the people that care about them. Maybe they weren't so bad after all. Maybe they just let their expectations get away from them. Maybe they were just siblings that got screwed over by their brother's poor choices.

By the end, I didn't hate them nearly as much. I even started to like a couple of the Plumbs, but I always LOVED the non-Plumb characters. They were the real driving force behind this story. The way the author managed to bring it all together is pretty amazing. Excellent book. Now that I'm finished, I understand the hype.

Strangely enough I was reminded of fall's big book, City on Fire. While this one is set in the 2000s and that one was the 1970s, they're both New York City novels with interweaving stories, lots of characters, bad choices, and wealth (remember the Hamilton-Sweeney's?). show less

This book came highly recommended by a couple of sources, and I have to admit, I didn’t think it would be my cup of tea. It took me a while to get into it - maybe 100 pages or so - which isn’t unusual for me. What is unusual, however, is that I’d stick with a book that didn’t entirely captivate me, for that long. I would (and have) abandoned many other novels long before then. But something about Sweeney’s writing style sucked me in and refused to let go. The chapters are short, the dialogue snappy, the prose descriptive and engaging. The characters aren’t atrocious - despite what many other readers say. I saw a lot of humanity in them, good and bad. They came across as real people, with needs, wants, desires, regrets. I show more think that’s what I appreciated most of all… the fact that these weren’t cookie cutter, black-and-white people. They were complex, and often unlikeable. After reading Gone Girl, I’m starting to realize more and more that I really like unlikeable characters. Go figure. I was under the impression I’d have to be madly in love with the characters to like the book, but it turns out that’s not the case at all. Likeable characters aren’t necessary for me to be swept away by a novel, as was definitely the case here. I really enjoyed this book, and I’m so glad I read it. show less

For once the hype is accurate! This is a dysfunctional family + a few outsiders saga which seems very realistic, filled with humor and bathos. Dead or incomprehensively neglectful parents cause difficulties for the four Plumb siblings. Eldest Leo is a charming trickster, Bea is caught in his thrall as she writes stories about him, Jack is "Leo Lite", and Melody is the complete control freak opposite of her mother. The funniest scene is a flashback to poor Melody's 12th birthday party, semi-hosted most neglectfully by her drunken mother but saved by clever brother Leo. Horrible, hapless Leo - "It felt like there was nowhere for his thoughts to alight that wasn't rife with land mines of regret or anger or guilt." This is a charming, well show more written book that no one should deny themselves - well worth a long library wait list! show less

This one hit awfully close to home since I have a brother who is TOTALLY a Leo and it was both frustrating and fascinating to spend time inside the head of a person who is so completely self-centered. Without my own personal experience I'm not sure I would believe that Leo was as shallow and petty as he turns out to be but I know that people like him do exist.

It was also uncomfortable and all too familiar to see how the people in Leo's life came to terms with his behavior and their own feelings towards him. It's hard to admit that you are better off without a person who shares your blood but it sure can happen.

I found most of the Plumb children sympathetic despite their many poor decisions because for the most part they were motivated show more by the right things and I was glad to see how life turned out for most of them.

Not the funny book I expected but still a worthwhile trip. show less

The Plumb siblings' father left them in his will what he intended to be a small sum of money, which they were only to inherit on the 40th birthday of the youngest child, Melody. During the intervening years shrewd investments have led to the trust money ("the nest") increasing significantly in value, and at least three of the siblings have lived in the expectation of inheriting a fortune which will bail them out of a financial mess/fund their daughters' college education etc. Then, months away from Melody's 40th birthday, the eldest child is involved (while drunk and under the influence of drugs) in a traffic accident in which his teenage female passenger, Matilda (not his wife), loses a foot. The Plumbs' mother (as the trust permits) show more uses most of the nest to fund a compensation package/confidentiality agreement with Matilda's family. The other siblings find out after the event and are devastated.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, even though (with the exception of Bea) the Plumbs are all terrible people. The shifting perspectives made the story a page turner and it was beautifully written. Favourite sentence:

" When Walker came out to [his parents] in high school, it had all the Sturm und Drang of him announcing that he was switching from violin to cello." show less