Nesting

Longlisted for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction

From an unforgettable new voice in Irish fiction, a heart-pounding, life-affirming story about one woman trying to leave her marriage and start over. For fans of Claire Keegan and Emma Donoghue.

‘Contains all the twists and turns of a classic thriller … Immersive and emotional’ New York Times

‘An escape story from Jodi Picoult territory, but with a lot more bite.’ The Age

‘Turns the idea of the domestic novel inside out … Not just riveting and deeply humane but – in an understated, ‘domestic’ way – radical, too.’ Observer

On a bright spring afternoon in Dublin, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change her life. Grabbing an armful of clothes from the washing line, Ciara straps her two young daughters into her car and drives away. Head spinning, all she knows for certain is that home is no longer safe.

It was meant to be an escape. But with dwindling savings, no job, and her family across the sea, Ciara finds herself adrift, facing a broken housing system and the voice of her own demons. As summer passes and winter closes in, she must navigate raising her children in a hotel room, searching for a new home and dealing with her husband Ryan's relentless campaign to get her to come back.

Because leaving is one thing, but staying away is another.

Tense, beautiful and gut-wrenching, Nesting is an unforgettable story of motherhood, underpinned by love, hope and resilience.

About the Author

Roisín O'Donnell is an award-winning writer. In 2018, Roisín won the prize for Short Story of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards, and was shortlisted for the same prize again in 2022. She is the author of the story collection Wild Quiet, which was longlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize and shortlisted for the Kate O’Brien Award.

Her short fiction has featured in numerous publications, including The Stinging Fly, The Tangerine and the Irish Times. Nesting is her debut novel. She lives near Dublin with her two children.