Book Review: Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan

After picking up Ordinary Human Failings, I struggled to set it down, consuming most of the text in one day. It is the sophomore novel by Megan Nolan—an author and journalist from County Waterford, Ireland. Published in 2023 but set in the '90s, Ordinary Human Failings follows three generations in a single home who come face-to-face with tragedy. Carmel, Richie, John, Rose, and Lucy co-exist but don't see each other. The threat of their private shame being thrust into the public eye looms ever present as they attempt to navigate this tragedy. The novel explores ideas of belonging versus not. Their neighbours make it clear that they think the family do not belong. So, when a crisis strikes, the family becomes easy targets.

I’ll try to keep this review as spoiler-free as I can because I do think it is worth the read. Embedded into the text from the opening paragraph, is anxiety:

“Down below in Skyler Square the trouble was passing quickly from door to door, mothers telling mothers, not speaking aloud but somehow saying: baby gone, bad man, wild animal.” [Page 3]

This tension is held throughout the majority of the book. Nolan’s ability to maintain such a compelling sense of dread in each chapter is part of what held my attention. But, another key aspect of why I loved reading this was the deep sadness which imbued each of the characters. Every person we meet battles with long unspoken woes, which leave them to live with ghosts from their pasts.

Early into the narrative, Tom Hargreaves, a journalist (devoid of morals), confronts you. Tom, as well as the Green family, facilitates much of the story. Tom's main schtick is manipulating the family for information. Like any family, the Greens have a complicated history. Through their conversations with Tom, this history comes to light for the reader. Nolan chronicles the toll mundane life has taken upon the Greens. Not presenting them as monsters, lazy, or flawed. But as “just an ordinary family, with ordinary unhappiness like yours.” [pg 192]

Silence, denial and seeking an escape from reality are key themes. Asking the question: can we ever confront past pain? Forget self-interest for a second and show true empathy to each other? Can we break harmful cycles?

Warning: potential spoilers from this point onwards. Ordinary Human Failings is an apt title for this book. Nolan endeavours to demonstrate that each character, even those met only briefly, is an ordinary person. An ordinary person like you and me. The Green family are the recipients of blame... From their neighbours, from the parasitic Tom, and from one another. Yet they're not villains, only human. Nolan ensures the reader understands why they are who they are, and where they have ended up. Through ordinary circumstances. 

By the end of the book we do get a hint that things will get better - that the Greens will learn to talk to one another. Nolan does not spoon-feed her readers. She never tells us if they can actualise their desire to be honest with one another. Nor if they can confront the weight of their history. But, she does show us that they are trying. Ultimately, leaving that decision up to us.

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