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Money is the root of all evil. This common saying originated in the Bible and is still frequently heard in a variety of different contexts today.
Sweeney’s debut novel, “The Nest,” uses money as the foundation of the plot. “The Nest” is a story about a family and how money has affected them. The Plumb siblings: Leo, Beatrice, Jack and Melody have been waiting for Melody to turn 40 for years. At that age, they will all come into a large sum of money that was put aside by their father when they were children. Their father had intended the money to be a nice addition to their lives, but he did not intend the trust to grow as much as it did.
As Melody approaches 40, the nest, as the siblings call it, has grown immeasurably, so much so that the siblings are relying on it to get them out of financial difficulties. Melody’s twin daughters are a year off from college and she and her husband are struggling with a huge mortgage. Her brother, Jack, has borrowed against the beach cottage he owns with his husband, Walker, in an attempt to keep his antiques store open. His husband is unaware of the hole Jack has dug for himself that keeps getting bigger and bigger.
Older sister, Bea, is trying hard to live up to her early promise as a talented short-story writer. Her long awaited novel is still incomplete. Leo, the oldest sibling, is stuck in a marriage to a cold woman who spends far more than she should.
One twist that comes in to play is the part when Leo gets into a drunken car accident with a 19-year-old waitress. His mother dips into the nest to hush up the waitress’s family and pay for Leo’s rehab. Upon Leo’s release, the siblings are devastated to learn that they are not receiving as much money as they had originally planned. Leo, while incredibly charismatic, is also unreliable. He promises to return the money to his desperate brothers and sisters but will he be able to come up with a plan after burning so many bridges over the years?
“The Nest” follows many characters: the four siblings, Melody’s twins, Leo’s old (and rekindled) flame, Stephanie, and Stephanie’s downstairs neighbor, Tommy. The waitress, Matilda, and her friend Vinny, and Bea’s co-worker, Paul, all play a role in the story. Each chapter is narrated from a different perspective. Some of the chapters feel less connected than others to the main plot, but by the end, the various storylines, although many, come together nicely.
The problem with “The Nest” is that the four main characters are not very likeable. There’s a lot of frustration and anxiety coming off Jack and Melody in particular. Leo is incredibly entitled and obnoxious. Bea is the most likeable of the four, but she gets the least airtime.
The siblings do not have strong relationships with each other either. For whatever reason, they have little in common. These aren’t siblings who share wonderful childhood memories (their parents, who aren’t mentioned too much, clearly did a number on them while growing up) or who have close bonds. It’s a little strange than the four have little to do with one another.
“The Nest” is the one thing that can bring them together. As they grapple with the financial implications of Leo’s actions and their respective lives start falling apart, they will need each other in ways they never have before. The question is, will they be able to start all over and form relationships that are separate from the money?
I liked “The Nest,” but I didn’t love it. Besides the unlikable siblings, the secondary characters are interesting, but too little time is spent on them. There’s a random subplot centered around a statue found in the 9/11 wreckage that ties into both the siblings’ storyline and the waitress who was in the accident with Leo. I thought those characters were more interesting than the Plumbs and I would have liked to see more of them and where their lives ended up.
The book is fine, but nothing special.
