Ordinary Human Failings

A Novel

By: Megan Nolan

Narrated by: Jessica Regan

When a 10-year-old child is suspected of a violent crime, her family must face the truth about their past in this haunting, propulsive, psychologically keen story about class, trauma, and family secrets from “huge literary talent” (Karl Ove Knausgaard) and internationally bestselling author Megan Nolan.

It's 1990 in London and Tom Hargreaves has it all: a burgeoning career as a reporter, fierce ambition and a brisk disregard for the "peasants" -- ordinary people, his readers, easy tabloid fodder. His star seems set to rise when he stumbles across a sensational scoop: a dead child on a London estate, grieving parents beloved across the neighborhood, and the finger of suspicion pointing at one reclusive family of Irish immigrants and “bad apples”: the Greens.

At their heart sits Carmel: beautiful, otherworldly, broken, and once destined for a future beyond her circumstances until life - and love - got in her way. Crushed by failure and surrounded by disappointment, there's nowhere for her to go and no chance of escape. Now, with the police closing in on a suspect and the tabloids hunting their monster, she must confront the secrets and silences that have trapped her family for so many generations.

Great Characters

I really loved this story. The characters were complicated but somehow still warm. The narration was perfect.

Tragic, heartbreaking, beautiful, painful

I came close to crying several times. This is such a heartbreaking story. Greek tragedy alive in Ireland

Grim and luminous all at once.

Exceptional. The novel begins with a terrible tragedy, the violent death of a small child - and given the setting and characters, a down and out working-class Irish family, one might brace themselves for a spiraling experience, piling misery upon these people... and the reader. And while the details are often grim - alcoholism, poverty, mental illness all play prominent roles here - it's a remarkably compassionate novel, churning with a determined current of hope, and with admiration for the human spirit. Clear-eyed, authentic and captivating all the way.

Huge kudos to the audio narration as well - it's top notch.

Fantastic character development

This author has such a distinct a vivid voice. She is going to go down as one of the “greats”! Narrator did a wonderful job as well. Definitely recommend.

Authentic feeling

I loved the authenticity of this book. Growing up in a dysfunctional Irish family is a simple premise. But it all felt so real and deep. I enjoyed every minute of it.