As much of a compulsive read as the first novel * The Times *
One masterful novel... Nolan has excelled herself: Ordinary Human Failings is a raw, pulsing thing... A writer who's still at the start of what promises to be a splendid career. Ordinary Human Failings is a bold and beautiful second novel... daring in all the right ways, but compassionate when it needs to be * Daily Telegraph *
There is something wonderfully ordinary about this book... Nolan has set out to make a plain three-legged stool rather than an ornate grandfather clock. The corridors of contemporary literature are stuffed with grandfather clocks with faulty mechanisms. How much more valuable is this modest, well-made thing * Sunday Times *
Megan Nolan's debut novel... saw her grouped with other Irish millennial women such as Sally Rooney and Naoise Dolan. But with her ambitious and insightful second novel, Ordinary Human Failings, Nolan makes it clear she is not a manifestation of a type, but rather a writer to be read on her own terms * Financial Times *
A subtle, accomplished and lyrical study of familial and intergenerational despair, a quiet book about quiet lives... an excellent novel: politically astute, furious and compassionate... a genuine achievement * Guardian *
A feat of narrative compression that showcases Nolan's talent * Daily Mail *
Page-turning and written with aching, compassionate insight. Each account leaves your heartstrings taut as cheese wire * Observer *
A brilliant analysis of what happens when we treat horror and pain as entertainment. Nolan writes with great compassion -- Nicole Flattery, author of Nothing Special
A heartbreaking study in how humiliation and grief are passed from parent to child * Daily Telegraph, *Summer Reads of 2023* *
An ambitious novel, and the story is told beautifully * Independent *
Heartbreaking, society-examining stuff * Vogue *
Megan Nolan is one of the brightest young things around * The Times, *Summer Reads of 2023* *
This is set to be electric * Sunday Times, *Five Hot Reads for 2023* *
Nolan's prose is cool, elegant and, at times, stunningly beautiful * Dazed *
The final pages...moved me to tears. This is a fine novel by an author who, at just thirty-three, already has exceptional skill and nerve * Literary Review *
A fearless writer... marks a confident evolution in her writing * Bookseller *
Ordinary Human Failings is something as rare as a chilling, ice cold, bruising novel not shying from the darkest aspects of humanity, at the same time as being compassionate, aching and ultimately hopeful. I inhaled it, and its characters will stay with me for a long long time. Oh she sure can write that Nolan -- Jenny Mustard, author of Okay Days
The millennial author everyone should be watching right now * Daily Telegraph, praise for ACTS OF DESPERATION *
Thrilling... Nolan is the real deal * The Times, praise for ACTS OF DESPERATION *
A mesmerising debut that is a masterpiece from the opening sentence to the bitter end * Independent, praise for ACTS OF DESPERATION *
