Details:
- author: Megan Nolan
- full title: Ordinary Human Failings
- narrator: Jessica Regan
- genre: literary fiction
- country: Ireland
- topics: #childmurder, #humanfailings, #family
- publisher: Hachette Audio, Little, Brown & Company
- publish date: 06 Feb 2024
- timing: 5:41:00
My Rating of the Audiobook:
- content: 💙💙💙💙💙
- narration: 💙💙💙💙💙
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| Goodreads |
Excerpt from the Book:
The night the child went missing, Carmel sat a few miles away in the window of a cafe in Brockley. She was breathing hard, cloud on the glass. Passing by, a man glanced in to check her prettiness and was struck by the intensity of her face behind the patch of steam which partially obscured it. She ignored the gentle rattle of plates and hiss of chips which went on behind her, hearing nothing. When she let herself pore over memories, she was hawkish. Filled with greed for one of the only pleasures remaining to her, raking through lost evenings and moments. It was rare that she did allow herself this. It had been so long that she knew there could only be a handful more times. It would not always be possible to summon precisely the fast-fading textures and tastes.My Thoughts:
In the novel, we follow the case of 10-year-old Lucy, who is suspected of murdering a small child. Tom is a tabloid journalist. He intends to learn as much as possible from Lucy’s family. So, he pays for the hotel for the family and a limitless supply of alcohol. Of course, with the hidden motive of getting exclusive newsworthy information. A story from the past then unfolds. We learn the story of the family and the stories of individual members: Carmel (Lucy’s mother), Richie (Lucy’s uncle and Carmel’s brother), and John (Carmel’s father). Problems, weaknesses, and failings of ordinary people.Inspired by some true crime cases. Ordinary Human Failings is a shocking story but sounds realistic and ordinary enough that it really could be a true crime story. I read Megan Nolan for the first time, and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by the novel.
About the Author:
Megan Nolan was born in 1990 in Waterford, Ireland and is currently based in London. Her essays and reviews have been published by The New York Times, The White Review, The Guardian and Frieze amongst others. Her debut novel Acts of Desperation was published by Jonathan Cape in 2021 and by Little, Brown in the U.S. and was the recipient of a Betty Trask Award, short-listed for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, and long-listed for the Dylan Thomas Prize. Her second novel Ordinary Human Failings will be published in July 2023.
About the Narrator:
Jessica Regan has a soft, reassuring, trustworthy voice with a hint of brogue.
Having trained at RADA, she has worked prolifically in theatre and television and behind the mic. Jessica's received the British Soap Award for Best Newcomer (2015) for her role as Niamh Donohue in 'Doctors' (BBC). She has also been both a guest and a co-host for hit podcast ‘The Guilty Feminist’ as well as co-hosting her own show ‘Best Pick’.
