Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - Ordinary Human Failings

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Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan

7 reviews

marthaos's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is a really well-written book, a story whose plot involves a tragedy outlined in the opening sequence, but which turns out to be much more than the procedural it is set up to be. It is a wonderful character study, a look at a time in social history that is bleak and rife with a sort of opportunism that thrives on judgment and cover-ups and where if a person is down, they are down.

The Greens move to London from Ireland in the eighties to escape the judgment and social castigation that a teenage pregnancy would bring. Carmel, young, beautiful and with an imagined future of success, has to sacrifice much of what she wanted for herself but despite the sacrifices, cannot give herself to motherhood fully, remaining detached and cold towards her child Lucy. Lucy is the ten-year-old in question accused and questioned about the tragedy involving Mia, and when reporter Tom gets hold of the story, we see how a family can be scapegoated for no reason other than their position in society.

Through wonderfully rich character portrayals and descriptions, we learn how a series of ordinary human failings can compound a family, how shame and secrecy can feed off each other and over time smother a family and stop any growth. As we learn about the various members, we see how alcoholism and addiction can burn deep, we see how dreams and hopes can be buried in a culture of shame and failure and ultimately how it takes an open and brave confrontation with truth to break the cycles that can keep a family bound.

While this was quite a dark book, it was nuanced in its tone. The characters were very believably portrayed; ordinary humans who were neither vilified nor deified but who were navigating this life as best they could.

Overall this was a rich and immersive read and the Green family will stay with me for a long time and the quality of writing made it an enriching and enjoyable listen.

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_inge's review

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dark hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was a pageturner! And not necessarily because of the crime - this is the catalyst for uncovering the family’s story, the act itself doesn’t take center stage. I was invested in all the members of the Green’s family ánd Tom, so I was keen to keep reading to figure out how everyone related to each other.

This book doesn’t use quotation marks, and the numbered chapters usually indicate a shift in perspective. This does make it a bit confusing to follow sometimes. You could be reading multiple chapters from Carmel’s perspective, only to find a chapter from Ritchie’s point of view following those up without a prior warning. There’s quite a few characters to keep up with too, initially. I had to backtrack sometimes, either to figure out who’s who, but also to see who’s perspective I’m reading from. It doesn’t help that certain segments are paragraphs filled with a character’s thoughts, either.

In the interview on the last pages of my paperback copy, the author states they’d decided to remove major parts featuring Tom’s perspective as the focus should be on the family, not on him. I do get where this is coming from, but at the same time I thought Tom was always meant to be the one tying the story together. He’s the only character completely outside of the family, and he’s pretty one-sided most times (which the family isn’t either). He’s downright awful! But that’s what made his perspectives a nice change. He’s the only character who’s this full of himself, thinks this lowly of others and who has ulterior motives. I found his character fascinating and would’ve liked to see more of him. Once again during my Women’s Prize For Fiction 2024 reading I’m also noticing the blurb doesn’t really do this justice. The blurb made it out to be like Tom is the main focus here, so going into this I thought we’d get a deep delve into how the press works and what they’re capable of to get to a story first. These elements were there, but they never felt that important now.

Similarly, Lucy’s perspective wasn’t needed, in my opinion. In the interview Nolan says she wrote from her perspective when Lucy becomes a teen, to avoid having to write for a kid. But because the writing style doesn’t change from any of the (adult) characters in this book whatsoever, Lucy’s perspective felt a bit off. I knew she wouldn’t be thinking in the way she’s described to be doing here, which is lengthy sentences and an expansive vocabulary for how she really feels.

This is a really captivating read, every character felt alive to me. I would’ve liked less of Lucy and more of Tom, but that’s all personal preferences and I get why the author chose to go in this direction instead.

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terrimisu's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Ordinary Human Failings follows the aftermath in which a ten-year-old little girl is killed and suspicions point towards little Lucy Green. Amidst the investigation led by Tom Hargreaves and from the investigation, we slowly uncover the generational traumas that have occurred amongst the Green family.

I can already say this is one of my top reads of 2024. I enjoyed every second reading Ordinary Human Failings and was more than just impressed by how far this surpassed Megan Nolan’s Acts of Desperation. I loved Acts of Desperation but I think I can confidently say that I love Ordinary Human Failings even more for a myriad of reasons. I truly appreciated the frequent POV and time jumps, the gruesomeness, and the authenticity in which individual faults can lead up to such a catastrophic set of events. I got to learn more about each Green member and how their life took a turn for the worst, which ultimately changed the trajectory of their lives in their own way (whether it be a minor or major fault). It was quite fascinating how the life of Lucy Green was greatly affected prior to her own conception merely from the ordinary human failings of her family. Somehow all very separate traumatic experiences meet one another and manifest into something greater than it is which gravely leads to Lucy’s own ordinary human failing; an unthinkable act that was least expected. Ordinary Human Failings is something everyone needs to experience once in life and it's a beautiful piece of work that must be acknowledged for what it is; a masterpiece.

I want to thank Little Brown for allowing me the opportunity to read a galley of Ordinary Human Failing (and Megan Nolan for creating a beautiful novel)! I am so so excited to see what's in the future of Megan Nolan’s literature. Everyone go pick up Ordinary Human Failings in your nearest bookstores ASAP, this is a novel everyone must read!

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brinnavirginia's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

This book is fine. It did not move me, but for what it’s worth it also didn’t bore me. The description of the book makes it sound like it will revolve primarily around the character of Carmel and her life in the wake of the violent crime allegedly committed by her young daughter, and this is a WILD misrepresentation. We see Carmel the least of all of the main characters. And it’s soooo male-centric I kinda can’t believe a man didn’t write it.

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