Four siblings are eager to inherit what they affectionately refer to as “The Nest” from their late father. He worked hard his whole life, pinching and living a modest live, and his intention was to provide a modest bump for his children, but his investment practices and a favorable market have swollen the amount beyond what he could have imagined. But, when the eldest sibling’s bad decisions finally catch up with him, they all pay the consequences, literally. Now the nest is almost depleted, and financial times are tight. Will things be made right?
This is a story of arrested emotional development in an unhealthy and emotionally distant family in New York.. Each person is their own worst enemy, and each has suffered from unfulfilled expectations. They are pretty unhappy, but largely by their own hand, and really, they have plenty to be happy about but let themselves focus on what amounts to spilled milk. Small grievances and mismanaged expectations plague them. This is quite possibly the whitest of white people tales told. All that said, I found it endlessly fascinating, a real peak into the problems of the other half, and especially felt it worked well as an audiobook.
In my quest for the Amazon prime link I learned this book is SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE, as it was optioned by Amazon itself. At present Emily V. Gordon is attached to write the screenplay, i.e., she who co-wrote “The Big Sick” with her husband Kumail Nanjiani. I’m not sure it would be my cup of tea as a movie, but it seems like it has the beginnings to a good movie adaptation.