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Ordinary Human Failings
Ordinary Human Failings | MEGAN. NOLAN
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review
Gleefulreader
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Pickpick

The last update on recently finished books. I read this on a combination of audio and kindle. An Irish family in London faces the possibility that their 11 year old daughter/granddaughter/niece has been accused of murdering a young girl in their housing estate. The death of the young child is just the route that it takes to examining unwed parenthood in Ireland in the 1980s, alcoholism, generational trauma and unintended consequences. Con‘t >

Gleefulreader It also looks at the nature of poverty and dead ends versus the dreams people have for their lives, particularly during the late 70s and early 80s in Ireland and Britain, and the viscious and predatory nature of the tabloid press. A brilliant book without easy answers. 2mo
BarbaraBB Great review. Brilliant book indeed 2mo
8 likes2 comments
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quietlycuriouskate
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Pickpick

Oh, this is such a sad book!
Inter-generational trauma being carried and passed on with horrible inevitability by people without the wherewithal to transcend their circumstances.
Exploitative journalist Tom was a shitbag but I found I wanted more depth to his character, to see where he was coming from, just as we did with the Green family.

TrishB So sad this book, still with me! 4mo
TheKidUpstairs So sad, but so well done. Loved this book 4mo
sarahbarnes Yes to all of this! Great review. 🩵 4mo
BarbaraBB Great review. I loved it too. 4mo
30 likes1 stack add4 comments
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kbuggle
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Pickpick

A quiet, Irish story

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vlwelser
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Pickpick

I thought this was really well written. I was definitely engaged in the story also.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 6mo
41 likes1 comment
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rmaclean4
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Pickpick

What a suprise this novel was to me. It starts so bleak and desperate. This novel follows an Irish family as they relocate to London where a tragic event happens. Imagine my suprise as the book takes a major turn near the end. Loved it! So glad the #womensprize brought this novel to my attention. 3.5 🌟

16 likes1 stack add
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Megabooks
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Mehso-so

I loved Nolan‘s debut, Acts of Desperation, so I was primed to enjoy this one. Unfortunately, it missed the mark. I found the journalist plot device off putting and awkward.

A kid may have killed another kid. As the family awaits word on the police investigation, a journalist tries to get the scoop while sequestering them in a hotel, but instead he finds out more about the family‘s dysfunctional dynamic.

BarbaraBB I liked this one better than her other book. It doesn‘t often happen that we think differently about the books we read! 7mo
sarahbarnes I did really like this one, and haven‘t read Acts of Desperation. I may need to do that now. 7mo
sarahbarnes Actually, I apparently tried to read it awhile back and bailed. My memory is terrible sometimes. I think it was too brutal for me. 7mo
68 likes3 comments
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TrishB
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Pickpick

Jeez, what a sad roll call this book is. Not sure what I was expecting really. It‘s grim and sad and full of mistakes people make in life. And poverty and hopelessness.
Small glimmer of a light at the end.

squirrelbrain Great review! 8mo
sarahbarnes I agree. And I loved it. 8mo
BarbaraBB Great review. I loved it too. 8mo
Cathythoughts Great review 👍🏻❤️ 8mo
96 likes1 stack add4 comments
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Pinta
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Pickpick

Intergenerational loneliness and shame. The surface telling, and the deeper history. Guilt. Truth. Family. Denial. Migrant challenges. Tabloid journalism. Processing trauma. Beautiful sentences. When sensationalized stories become ordinary, but no less painful. 2024

P43 “the only surefire way to reduce a problem‘s importance was to replace it with a new and more urgent problem.”

P113 “Do you know how rare it is to start over?”

13 likes1 stack add
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sarahbarnes
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Pickpick

I loved this quietly sad, unsettling book that on the surface is about a tragic death, but is really about ordinary human failings. Parents failing children and adults failing each other and themselves. And at the end, a small glimmer of hope that felt well-proportioned to the story.

BarbaraBB Beautiful review. Such a sad great read 8mo
sarahbarnes @BarbaraBB a sad, great read indeed. 🩵 8mo
34 likes2 comments
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ChaoticMissAdventures
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Pickpick

This was great. One of the better Women Prize books this year. The story of a troubled family slowly unravels. Each person is interesting and tortured in their own way. At the heart of the story is a horrible something, and a terrible reporter. The writing is solid and the book is heavy but intriguing.

BarbaraBB One of my favorites too. 8mo
jlhammar I‘ve only gotten to three so far (hoping to start Enter Ghost next), but I‘d love to see this and Brotherless Night on the shortlist. 8mo
ChaoticMissAdventures @jlhammar these are 2 of my favorites too! I just finished and loved 8mo
42 likes3 comments
quote
Suet624
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“If you had the bad luck to be from Ireland, it felt, you had to suck it up and never have sex or else have the baby.”

You could also include 21 states in the U.S. where this now applies as well.

Hooked_on_books I‘m disgusted by our country. Parts of it for fighting for this to happen and other parts for sitting back and letting it when the strategy was clear. I can only hope that, like Ireland, there‘s a popular uprising to restore women‘s reproductive rights. It took too long there and no doubt it‘ll take too long here, but hopefully someday. We‘ve certainly already seen that in the states where the voters were allowed to decide. 8mo
Suet624 @Hooked_on_books you‘ve said it all. I agree 100%. 8mo
vivastory This is what I found so frustrating when people talked about “it could never happen here.“ I'd always point them in the very recent history w/ Ireland 8mo
See All 9 Comments
Amiable Ugh to all of it. It infuriates me. 🤬 8mo
Suet624 @vivastory Ireland is better off than the US at this point. 8mo
vivastory @Suet624 Yeah, I know things have changed there recently 8mo
sarahbarnes Can‘t wait to hear what you think of this one. 8mo
JenniferEgnor SCOTUS is hearing the EMTALA case out of Idaho this week. I‘m worried about how they‘ll rule. Hard to believe it‘s 2024 and this is where we‘re at. 8mo
Suet624 @JenniferEgnor The Republicans didn‘t allow Obama his right to appoint a Supreme Court judge and then they proceeded to appoint three members who lied to Congress about a woman‘s right to choose as being established law. I have no use for people who vote for Republican candidates after witnessing just how often the Republicans lie and cheat. (edited) 8mo
54 likes1 stack add9 comments
blurb
Suet624
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I‘m sitting at Safelite getting a new windshield with a bunch of very quiet people. Thankfully they don‘t have a tv on. Suddenly I noticed that both my book and my sweatshirt have the same logo. A bit of overkill? If I‘m lucky the folks will think I work at Galaxy. 😊

review
Jas16
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Pickpick

A young girl is suspected of killing a younger child and an opportunistic journalist tries to gain information about the tragedy from her family. As he pries and cajoles we are given glimpses into their lives and realize there is was a string of everyday tragedies leading to the present day one. A well executed but bleak rumination.

vivastory I heard about this recently & thought it sounded interesting. 8mo
Suet624 Just grabbed this from the library. 8mo
sarahbarnes Just got this from the library too @Suet624 8mo
Suet624 @sarahbarnes 👍🏻👊🏻👯 8mo
54 likes4 comments
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Leniverse
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Pickpick

Gorgeously written.
I was worried about the subject matter of this book, dead child & child killer, but it wasn't at all what I feared. No trauma porn. Quite the opposite.
"Us Vs Them", gossip and finger pointing, unscrupulous tabloid reporters, and a very human family making bad decisions. Definitely shortlist material.
#WomensPrize2024 #womensprize

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suvata
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Pickpick

3 stars • Ordinary Human Failings delves into the issues of class, trauma, and family secrets. Set in 1990s London, the story revolves around the Greens, a family of Irish immigrants. Their lives are marked by a teenage pregnancy, escalating alcoholism, and a dead child on a London estate. As the police close in on a suspect and tabloids hunt their monster, the family confronts the secrets and silences that have trapped them for generations.

blurb
suvata
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The Stranger in the Lifeboat is a must-read novel that was much darker than I had anticipated. It got me pondering the nature of humanity, perseverance, and trust. Next up is Ordinary Human Failings. I don‘t know much about this book, but the title alone made a connection for me.

#BookConnXtions by #suvataOnX, #Litsy, #Facebook, #Intagram and #Bookstagram

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jlhammar
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Pickpick

“There is no secret, Tom, or else there are hundreds of them, and none of them interesting enough for you. The secret is that we‘re a family, we‘re just an ordinary family, with ordinary unhappiness like yours.”

Propulsive and poignant family drama. Insightful, impactful writing. An impressive work of literary fiction. Great start to my #WomensPrize reading!

BarbaraBB I started the longlist too with this one and what a great start it was! 9mo
Cathythoughts Great review 👏🏻❤️ I have it stacked already X 9mo
Centique I have this stacked but that quote is so fantastic - i have to move this up! 9mo
67 likes1 stack add3 comments
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Hooked_on_books
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Pickpick

I think this book is a good example of “most people lead lives of quiet desperation.” We follow the current events of this family while learning the background of several characters during a tragic event. What I actually liked most was the setting that was shown but not remarked upon: the reality of poverty, the removal of women‘s choices, the prejudice of living in a land not your own. Worthy contestant for the Women‘s Prize for Fiction.

63 likes3 stack adds5 comments
review
AnneCecilie
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Pickpick

1990, a 3 yr old girl is found dead. The suspicion falls on a 10 yr old girl. A journalist that‘s in the area when it happens, decides to take advantage of this and puts the family in a hotel to get exclusive access to them. His talks with the grandfather, uncle and mother uncovers a divided family with alcohol problems and neglect. Prejudice and assumptions also play a role in the society‘s allegations.

I feel like I raced through this one

Suet624 Great review! 9mo
Tamra I was on the fence about this, but your review is motivating me to stack it. 😄 9mo
See All 6 Comments
AnneCecilie @Suet624 thank you 😊 9mo
AnneCecilie @Tamra thank you. I know the blurb make is sound like a crime/ thriller, but this a family study. Hope you like it, when you get to it 😊 9mo
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 9mo
63 likes1 stack add6 comments
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MicheleinPhilly
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Pickpick

This was a sneaky little bugger. Presents as a straightforward mystery but is really a heartbreaking portrait of a family suffering from addiction, poverty, abuse, and neglect. I could have easily read about them for another 200 pages. #womensprizeforfiction

charl08 Looking forward to picking this one up! 9mo
kbuggle Just finished this on audio, and wish I‘d read it in print.. it didn‘t translate as something I really enjoyed, but feel like it may have, if it hadn‘t been narrated. 9mo
Cathythoughts Great review. I have this stacked , I must get to it 👍🏻♥️ 9mo
BarbaraBB Great review. Such a lovely book. 9mo
sarahbarnes On my list. 9mo
55 likes3 stack adds5 comments
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Deblovestoread
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Pickpick

It‘s hard to say I enjoyed this book because it is so full of hurt, so full of ordinary human failings. It‘s raw and unflinching in its portrayal of a family who experience a horrific event, going back to the beginning and thru to the other side. 4.5 🌟

#WomensPrizeLonglist.

BarbaraBB Great review. An impressive book indeed. 9mo
60 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
TheKidUpstairs
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Pickpick

An excellent, engaging read.

1990. A young girl is found dead on a council estate in London. Another child is suspected of causing her death. An exploitative journalist hides the family away in a hotel in hopes of wringing a story out of them.

I couldn't turn away, and found myself sneaking time to listen during a busy March Break. Highly recommend! I usually can't do fiction on audio, but Jessica Regan's narration was superb.

#WomensPrize

Cathythoughts Great review 👍🏻 9mo
squirrelbrain Great review! 9mo
BarbaraBB I liked this one so much too. 9mo
63 likes4 stack adds3 comments
review
BarbaraBB
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Pickpick

A little English girl dies and the neighborhood quickly assumes the Irish immigrant family‘s daughter Lucy must have had a hand in it. An ambitious journalist wants to get to the bottom of it and talks to Lucy‘s family. The story is not so much about the death, but about a deeply damaged family with mother Carmel at their tragic heart.
It‘s a beautiful sad read.

#womensprize

Megabooks Great review! 9mo
TrishB Lovely review ♥️ 9mo
sarahbarnes Great review and pic. I‘ve stacked this of course. 9mo
See All 10 Comments
squirrelbrain Great review! 9mo
Cathythoughts I follow Meg Nolan on Instagram, I‘ve yet to read her. I must do. Stacked. 9mo
BarbaraBB @Cathythoughts good idea to follow her on Instagram! I will too. I think this book is better than 9mo
Chelsea.Poole I‘ve been wondering about this one! I was impressed by Acts. 9mo
CarolynM Great review❤️ 9mo
TheKidUpstairs I'm very engrossed in the audio of this one (when I've got time to listen). It's so beautifully and heart wrenchingly human. 9mo
BarbaraBB @TheKidUpstairs I am@not surprised you are loving it too. And it gets more engrossing each chapter 🩷 9mo
82 likes4 stack adds10 comments
quote
TheKidUpstairs
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"... they got mortgages and girlfriends and spoke about their houses as if houses were worlds."

65 likes2 stack adds
review
Amor4Libros
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Pickpick

This was a roller-coaster of a read! The emotions I felt with this book were visceral at times.

A great story about family dynamics and how perceptions (personal and external) can dictate your place in society.

Can already say that this is one of my favorite reads of 2024!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #NetGalley

US Pub Date: 2/6/24

26 likes1 stack add
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GerardtheBookworm
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Pickpick

Melancholiac and depressive literary fiction focusing on a struggling Irish family living in London in the 90's. Told from third person perspectives through its characters, a horrible crime is connected to the group as the media and the public already lay blame to the accused. However, this is a commentary on poverty, neglect, abuse, dysfunction, and societal attitudes the world ignores that takes place in our own homes.

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squirrelbrain
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Pickpick

Tom is a reporter who hears about a toddler going missing on a London council estate. When the fingers are pointed at a troubled Irish immigrant family, and in particular their young daughter, he is gleeful that he might get a ‘scoop‘.

This isn‘t about the child‘s disappearance but about the family background; how they ended up where they did.

I‘d have liked to learn more about Tom himself and ⬇️

#netgalley Published 13th July in the UK.

squirrelbrain I didn‘t feel much of a connection with many of the other characters; it did feel a bit like a newspaper report written from a distance. I liked how it ended though, with no easy glib answers but still a resolution of sorts for the main characters. 1y
Cathythoughts Interesting! I havnt read anything by this author, but I see her around a lot on social media. I‘ve been meaning to try her … we‘ll see 👍🏻😁 1y
65 likes2 comments