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The Nest, by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
The Nest, by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
The Nest, by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, is not my usual literary fare, but socioeconomic dissections like this one might be a new favorite genre.
Sweeney’s novel tells the story of the Plumb family through what Matthew Thomas, author of We Are Not Ourselves, calls “an acerbic satire of the leisure class.” The Plumb siblings are eagerly awaiting the day they will inherit their trust fund, “The Nest,” and thereby resolve all their financial woes in one fell swoop. But when the eldest sibling, Leo, gets into trouble and burns through much more than his fair share of the money, he will have to find a way to reimburse all three of his younger siblings or weasel out of the obligation altogether.
Second-eldest sibling Melody’s acute concern with raising her daughters into perfect, future ivy-league students has her so invested in meticulously pruning every waking moment that she can’t see the forest for the trees. She has staked all her hopes for her children’s futures in “The Nest.” Meanwhile, in a desperate bid to undo a series of poor business decisions, all second-youngest Jack can do, ironically, is pass the buck. If Leo hadn’t made such a catastrophic mistake, then Jack’s ill-advised dealings could be smoothed over by “The Nest.”
Youngest sibling Beatrice has spent the last several years working on her next novel, or so she claims. Of all the Plumbs, Bea has the closest connection with Leo. As the family has drifted apart, she has lost sight of the muse she had in her eldest brother. Despite her waning success as an author, Bea is the only Plumb who would like to see her inheritance, but hasn’t built her whole life around the eventual bestowal of “The Nest.”
Leo himself is a fascinating con-artist who will win a small part of your heart whether you want him to or not, and likely before you notice the ploy. His cunning has gotten him into and out of trouble for years, but it seems he has finally tripped over his own feet. As his life and lies unravel around him, Sweeney deftly defines Leo’s character by its lack thereof. A master manipulator and smooth-talking schmoozer, Leo Plumb is an irritatingly good fortuned grifter with the business acumen to strike the right industry at the right moment. It’s satisfying to see him crumble under the crushing weight of all the loose ends he can’t tie up, but the smarmy bastard is just charming enough to make you feel a little sorry for him anyway.
As the tale unfolds, Sweeney offers her reader glimpses into the lives of the Plumbs and all those unfortunate enough to be trapped in their orbit. The story is told in an episodic series of vignettes. In one chapter, Jack Plumb strategizes a means of keeping his summer home while juggling multiple maxed out lines of credit. In another, publishing agent Stephanie evaluates her working relationship with Beatrice while contemplating her longtime on again/off again flings with Leo. Melody rages against the sale of her dream home in the wake of Leo’s missteps while Paul revels in Leo’s failure after years of festering resentment.
By the end, the connections are fluidly drawn and as you zoom out, you’ll see all the sleek silk trails weaving the untidy web of drama, deception, and dysfunction that defines the Plumb family and their associates. The Nest is not the book I expected it to be. It’s so much better.
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