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. Roisín O'Donnell is an award-winning writer. In 2018, Roisín won the prize for Short Story of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards, and was shortlisted for the same prize again 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 numerous publications, including The Stinging Fly, The Tangerine and the Irish Times. Nesting is her debut novel. She lives near Dublin with her two children. '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.' '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.' '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.' 'Nesting is a powerful novel. Brand new, urgent, and hugely satisfying.'
