The Nest, by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

 

Characters
Plumb Family	Others
Francie and Leonard Sr. – parents   Leo Jr. Victoria – divorced wife Stephanie – girlfriend, Bea’s agent Lillian Plumb Palmer “Lila” – daughter   Beatrice “Bea” – writer Tuck – deceased   Melody Walter Nora and Louisa – 16 years old, daughters   Jack Walker   George Plumb – Leo’s brother, managed “The Nest”	Paul Underwood – former partner with Leo, owner “Paper Fibres”   Nathan Chowdhury – former partner with Leo   Tommy O’Toole - Stephanie’s tenant, wife died at Twin Towers on 9/11, Rodin sculpture   Simone – Nora’s school friend   Matilda Rodriquez – lost foot in Leo’s accident Vinnie – amputee, eventual husband   “The Glitterary Girls” Bea Celia Baxter – interested in art, not writing Lena Novak – successful author

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the paperback edition.

1.       What did you think about Bea writing about Leo (“Archie”)?  Was this fair to Leo?  She also portrayed the mother as “distant and casually cruel” (page 46).  Was it fair to portray her family members so realistically?

2.       Discuss Francie and her relationship with her children.  Should she have consulted with the other three before using their money to help Leo?  When she thought about telling the other three what she had done, she thought “Nothing she did was good enough; what she did for one disappointed another.  She couldn’t win” (page 47).  Was she justified in these feelings?

3.       What did you think about Leo?   He had let his insurance lapse and had $2 million hidden that he did not tell his siblings about or offer to share with them.

4.       When Leo was telling Stephanie about the accident, he said that because Matilda was nineteen “she was old enough” (page 236).  Why did this statement have such an effect on Stephanie?  What did the statement tell Stephanie (and the reader) about Leo?

5.       Have you ever had an experience (or been the cause of one) like Bea had at the party where she overheard the two other Glitterary Girls talking about her?

6.       How did “The Nest” dominate the family dynamics?  Why did they start to grow closer only after the money was gone?

7.       Discuss Melody, Jack and Bea.   How did the prospect of getting the money from ‘The Nest” affect each of their lives? 

8.       Why were the characters of Tommy O’Toole and Simone added to the story?  What did these two subplots add to the story?

9.       Was Jack like Leo?  In high school he always felt “like a lesser version of his older brother” (page 17) and had been called “Leo Lite.”  At the end of the novel he reflected that, if he had money hidden somewhere, he might have done what Leo did and disappear.

10.   When Stephanie was pregnant, she was surprised at how New Yorkers, who normally did not interact with each other, felt free to make comments about the baby and Stephanie’s life, including the name she was going to give the baby.  Is this a common reaction to a pregnant woman?  Were there any comments in particular that you related to?

11.   At the end of the novel, Leo edited Bea’s latest story about himself and changed the main character’s name back from “Marcus” back to “Archie.”  Was he giving Bea permission to publish the story?  Why would he do that?

12.   At the end of the story both Bea and Paul saw Leo at the pier when they were coming home from searching for him in the Caribbean.  Why did neither one tell the other or approach Leo?

*****

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