Nesting By Roisin O'Donnell - Review

My friend Stacey was raving about this book and wanted me to read it, so I requested it at the library and picked it up in the middle of May. I loved it and really recommend it. I would love to read something else by Roisin so will definitely be keeping an eye out for her!

The book is about Ciara, a young mum of two. She is married to Ryan and I think her kids are called Sophie and Ella but I'm writing this over a month later so I wouldn't swear to that. Ryan is abusive towards her. The book starts where the family goes to the seaside and he insists that the girls go swimming even though it's like April or something, and too cold. The girls are in wetsuits that are too small for them because Ciara has squirrelled away the money that Ryan gave her for new ones. The day is a disaster and when they're back at home she makes a split second decision to leave. She packs up a few things and gets in the car and leaves. 

She sleeps in the car overnight and the next day tries to find help. Ryan is obviously blowing up her phone demanding to know what has happened and begging her to come home. She gets housed in a hotel in Dublin city centre, where the fifth floor is taken up by people - women mostly - in similar situations, who are victims of Ireland's housing crisis. She tries to leave the country as her mum and sister are in Sheffield, where Ciara and her sister grew up, but Ryan has put a block on the kids' passports. Ciara has previously left Ryan for three weeks, but went back. 

In the hotel the inhabitants of the fifth floor aren't allowed to leave by the main staircase etc. Each room has a family in and everyone is trying to make the best of it. Ciara gets quite friendly with the woman next door and with one of the staff in the hotel, who is trying to learn English as a second language. 

Ciara is pregnant again which obviously adds to Ryan's rage. She talks about how he was violent when Ella was only a few months old and how she had to spend the whole night with her back against Ella's  bedroom door in case he turned more violent towards her. He has raped her at night previously, but he tells her that he's not abusive because he has never physically hit her. To the outside world, he looks like a catch. He's a civil servant and he attends mass regularly. His mother gets on at Ciara to go back to him too. 

It's not so much the leaving but it's the staying gone. Ciara has no way to support herself and Ryan has told her that she isn't allowed to teach in Ireland because she gained her degree in England - which turns out not to be true. Ryan uses the girls to manipulate her. It was done so well that the reader totally understood where Ciara was coming from and why she felt totally turned upside down.

I wanted her to succeed, of course. I wanted only the best for her and I wanted her to get money and find some friends and be able to be by herself, coparenting with Ryan I guess even though he was a dick towards her. I want this for all women in this situation and this is a brilliant book showing what can and does happen when a woman dares to leave. 

I really would recommend this and am giving it five out of five.