Roisin O'Donnell

An Instant Bestseller in Ireland and the UK In this beautiful, urgent, and ultimately uplifting novel by a rising Irish literary star comes a heart-pounding, life-affirming story about one woman trying to leave her marriage and start over. On a bright spring afternoon, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change everything. Grabbing an armful of clothes off the clothesline, she 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--and that this time, when she leaves, she must stay away. On the surface, she has a perfect life: her husband, Ryan, is a good provider, sometimes even kind and attentive, from a nice Irish family, and they have another baby on the way. But he also monitors Ciara's every move, flies into unpredictable rages where he convinces her she can do nothing right, and has isolated her from work, friends, and her beloved family. Was fleeing the right thing to do? With no job and no support, Ciara struggles to provide a sense of normalcy for her little girls. Facing a broken housing system, they move into a hotel room on a floor reserved for women like her, eating takeout, washing their clothes in the bathroom sink, and building a community with the other residents. Ryan, meanwhile, wages a relentless campaign to win her back, and Ciara wavers. He never hit her, after all, and don't the girls need a stable home? For fans of Claire Keegan and Louise Kennedy, Rois n O'Donnell's extraordinary debut creates a devastating and suspenseful portrait of gaslighting and emotional abuse--and even better, a triumphant story about family, love, and finding a new place to nest.

An Instant Bestseller in Ireland and the UK In this beautiful, urgent, and ultimately uplifting novel by a rising Irish literary star comes a heart-pounding, life-affirming story about one woman trying to leave her marriage and start over. On a bright spring afternoon, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change everything. Grabbing an armful of clothes off the clothesline, she 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--and that this time, when she leaves, she must stay away. On the surface, she has a perfect life: her husband, Ryan, is a good provider, sometimes even kind and attentive, from a nice Irish family, and they have another baby on the way. But he also monitors Ciara's every move, flies into unpredictable rages where he convinces her she can do nothing right, and has isolated her from work, friends, and her beloved family. Was fleeing the right thing to do? With no job and no support, Ciara struggles to provide a sense of normalcy for her little girls. Facing a broken housing system, they move into a hotel room on a floor reserved for women like her, eating takeout, washing their clothes in the bathroom sink, and building a community with the other residents. Ryan, meanwhile, wages a relentless campaign to win her back, and Ciara wavers. He never hit her, after all, and don't the girls need a stable home? For fans of Claire Keegan and Louise Kennedy, Rois n O'Donnell's extraordinary debut creates a devastating and suspenseful portrait of gaslighting and emotional abuse--and even better, a triumphant story about family, love, and finding a new place to nest.

An Instant Bestseller in Ireland and the UK In this beautiful, urgent, and ultimately uplifting novel by a rising Irish literary star comes a heart-pounding, life-affirming story about one woman trying to leave her marriage and start over. On a bright spring afternoon, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change everything. Grabbing an armful of clothes off the clothesline, she 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--and that this time, when she leaves, she must stay away. On the surface, she has a perfect life: her sometimes kind and attentive husband, Ryan, is a good provider from a nice family, and they have another baby on the way. But he also monitors Ciara's every move, flies into unpredictable rages where he convinces her she can do nothing right, and has isolated her from work, friends, and her beloved family. Was fleeing the right thing to do? With no job and no support, Ciara struggles to provide a sense of normalcy for her little girls. Facing a broken housing system, they move into a hotel room on a floor reserved for women like her, eating takeout, washing their clothes in the bathroom sink, and building a community with the other residents. Ryan, meanwhile, wages a relentless campaign to win her back, and Ciara wavers. He never hit her, after all, and don't the girls need a stable home? Suspenseful and all-consuming, Rois n O'Donnell's extraordinary debut creates a devastating portrait of gaslighting and emotional abuse. Ultimately, Nesting is a triumphant story about self-determination, family, and resilience.

LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2025 THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES AND IRISH TIMES BESTSELLER A BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK AN OBSERVER BEST DEBUT NOVELIST OF 2025'Tense, forensically realistic and compulsively readable. A real achievement' SUNDAY TIMES‘Here is a novelist who has powerful news to tell, and an impressive range of narrative gifts with which to tell it’ IRISH TIMES‘Should become essential reading for all. Nesting? is a novel that truly matters’ SUNDAY INDEPENDENT'A moving portrait of life inside the housing system and the courage it takes to try to build a home in society’s cracks'? GUARDIAN_______________________________________________________________An extraordinary and urgent debut by a prize-winning Irish writer, NESTING introduces an unforgettable new voice in fiction. On a bright spring afternoon in Dublin, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change everything. 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. This 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. What will it take for Ciara to rebuild her life? Can she ever truly break away from Ryan’s control – and what will be the cost? Tense, beautiful, and underpinned by an unassailable love, hope and resilience, this is the story of one woman’s bid to start over. _______________________________________________________________‘Brand-new, urgent and hugely satisfying’ RODDY DOYLE'As emotionally charged as it is brutally real. The writing is flawless. I was profoundly moved’ ELAINE FEENEY‘Will make your blood boil and your heart soar. This is an important novel' CLAIRE KILROY‘Gorgeous, maddening, thrilling and compassionate’ SHEILA ARMSTRONG

LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2025 THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER THE INSTANT IRISH TIMES NUMBER 2 BESTSELLER A BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK AN OBSERVER BEST DEBUT NOVELIST OF 2025'Tense, forensically realistic and compulsively readable. Genuinely urgent... A real achievement' SUNDAY TIMES‘Here is a novelist who has powerful news to tell, and an impressive range of narrative gifts with which to tell it’ IRISH TIMES‘Should become essential reading for all. A novel that truly matters’ SUNDAY INDEPENDENT'A moving portrait of life inside the housing system and the courage it takes to try to build a home in society’s cracks' GUARDIAN_______________________________________________________________An extraordinary and urgent debut by a prize-winning Irish writer, NESTING introduces an unforgettable new voice in fiction. On a bright spring afternoon in Dublin, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change everything. 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. This 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. What will it take for Ciara to rebuild her life? Can she ever truly break away from Ryan’s control – and what will be the cost? Tense, beautiful, and underpinned by an unassailable love, hope and resilience, this is the story of one woman’s bid to start over. _______________________________________________________________‘Brand-new, urgent and hugely satisfying’ RODDY DOYLE'As emotionally charged as it is brutally real. The writing is flawless. I was profoundly moved’ ELAINE FEENEY‘Will make your blood boil and your heart soar. This is an important novel' CLAIRE KILROY‘Gorgeous, maddening, thrilling and compassionate’ SHEILA ARMSTRONG

A memory-eating, closet-dwelling beast escapes its confines; a Somali girl in a Donegal school is tougher than she seems; under a jasmine tree in Andalucía a woman waits for her stolen son; at the edge of a city, two brothers step unwittingly into a game that turns deadly. The scope and diversity of these stories knows no bounds, sitting somewhere between the real and imaginary. Wild Quiet contains a world viewed from unexpected angles, where the ordinary is rendered extraordinary and the extraordinary sublime. These are stories woven with compassion and humour, announcing the arrival of a fresh new voice in Irish literature. In this astonishingly innovative and bold collection, Roisín O’Donnell examines the hurts and triumphs of being human, and the wild, quiet moments that approach something like grace.