A warm, funny and acutely perceptive debut novel about four adult siblings and the fate of the shared inheritance that has shaped their choices and their lives. Every family has its problems. But even among the most troubled, the Plumb family stands out as spectacularly dysfunctional. Years of simmering tensions finally reach a breaking point on an unseasonably cold afternoon in New York City as Melody, Beatrice, and Jack Plumb gather to confront their charismatic and reckless older brother, Leo, freshly released from rehab. Months earlier, an inebriated Leo got behind the wheel of a car with a nineteen-year-old waitress as his passenger. The ensuing accident has endangered the Plumbs' joint trust fund, “The Nest,” which they are months away from finally receiving. Meant by their deceased father to be a modest mid-life supplement, the Plumb siblings have watched The Nest’s value soar along with the stock market and have been counting on the money to solve a number of self-inflicted problems. Melody, a wife and mother in an upscale suburb, has an unwieldy mortgage and looming college tuition for her twin teenage daughters. Jack, an antiques dealer, has secretly borrowed against the beach cottage he shares with his husband, Walker, to keep his store open. And Bea, a once-promising short-story writer, just can’t seem to finish her overdue novel. Can Leo rescue his siblings and, by extension, the people they love? Or will everyone need to reimagine the futures they’ve envisioned? Brought together as never before, Leo, Melody, Jack, and Beatrice must grapple with old resentments, present-day truths, and the significant emotional and financial toll of the accident, as well as finally acknowledge the choices they have made in their own lives. This is a story about the power of family, the possibilities of friendship, the ways we depend upon one another and the ways we let one another down. In this tender, entertaining, and deftly written debut, Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney brings a remarkable cast of characters to life to illuminate what money does to relationships, what happens to our ambitions over the course of time, and the fraught yet unbreakable ties we share with those we love. “ The Nest is a masterfully constructed, darkly comic, and immensely captivating tale. The desperate and entitled people who populate this novel are messy as hell (they lie, they cheat, they steal, and by God do they ever connive) but somehow I found it impossible not to care about each and every one-and even, over time, to love them. The trick here lies in the storytelling, which is not only clever, but emotionally astute. Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney is a real talent, and I am incredibly impressed by this book.” - Elizabeth Gilbert “ The Nest ambles along so beautifully, what a pleasure to read! It’s a wise, funny, compassionate family drama, full of irresistible surprises, witty conversations, and necessary emotional truths.” - Jami Attenberg, author of The Middlesteins “A masterfully constructed, darkly comic, and immensely captivating tale...not only clever, but emotionally astute. Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney is a real talent.” - Elizabeth Gilbert “ The Nest is a trenchant, darkly funny, and beautiful novel. Sweeney explores the broken heart of a family with insight and compassion, revealing the myriad ways their wounds, loneliness, and unlikely hopes mirror our own. The novel is full of gorgeous surprise and abiding humanity. Cynthia Sweeney writes in the tradition of Jonathan Franzen and Claire Messud, but her voice and vision are entirely her own. The Nest is a book that will stay with you long after you read the last page, and Sweeney is the kind of writer that readers have needed for a long, long time. How happy we are that she’s here now.” Bret Anthony Johnston - Bret Anthony Johnston “In her intoxicating first novel, Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney has written an epic family story that unfolds in a deeply personal way. The Nest is a fast moving train and Sweeney’s writing dares us to keep up. I couldn’t stop reading or caring about the juicy and dysfunctional Plumb family.” - Amy Poehler “In her intoxicating first novel, Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney has written an epic family story that unfolds in a deeply personal way. The Nest is a fast-moving train and Sweeney’s writing dares us to keep up. I couldn’t stop reading or caring about the juicy and dysfunctional Plumb family.” - Amy Poehler “When the playboy older brother of a grown fam lands himself in rehab, he puts the group trust fund at risk. Cue his dysfunctional siblings scheming to get it all back. You’ll hate-love them all.” - The Skimm “ The Nest is all about families, how we let each other down, and more importantly, how we raise each other up.” - Bustle, 12 Spring Break Reads To Help You Escape Normal Life “Sweeney writes like a pro.” - New York Times “[A]promising start for this writer.” - Seattle Times “[A] wry, irresistible debut” - Entertainment Weekly, Be