Irish writer Megan Nolan’s novel “Ordinary Human Failings” offers a harrowing account of a fictional crime. The main protagonist and speaker throughout the novel is burgeoning reporter Tom Hargreaves who stumbles upon a sensational story.
Three-year-old Mia Enright, child of a well-revered local couple, goes missing and the main suspect is none other than a 10-year-old Lucy Green.
The novel delves deep into the ongoing persecution of Irish families, nearly forcing the readers to look further into the dense history of Irish individuals alongside the Green family, who now have no other choice but to face their own history.
It is important to note that while the novel details dark tragedies that now plague the city of London, Nolan beautifully details the realities of characters trapped by circumstance. The novel is not a graphic depiction of fear and violence, but rather entwines tragedy with real life “Ordinary People”.
Carmel, the mother of the alleged child killer, unveils the familial life that happened before the birth of Lucy. What began as an unwanted pregnancy resulted in Carmel mothering Lucy without the help of Lucy’s father.
The truth of this novel does not lie in what truly happens to little Mia Enright, but instead what secrets come to life when a family system is disrupted.
Nolan is careful to not explicitly explain what tragedies unfolded among the Green family but instead weaves memories and conversations to unveil the “rot” that manifests into generations of trauma.
The beauty of Nolan’s writing is the clear restraint that haunts both the characters and the reader, there are no quick answers within the novel but rather a deep unraveling. The novel nearly forces readers to look within their very own past and begs the question; “ Can you ever outrun your past?”
With lines as raw as“I’d rather I was never alone, that’s the God’s honest truth. I’ve been afraid to be alone since the day I was born, and it’s all I ever am”, it is nearly impossible to not encounter those deep feelings often hidden away in everyday situations.
While the novel is a bit of a true crime murder mystery, it is not nearly as provocative as an Ann Rice novel. It instead offers a poignant reminder that humans are at the very base of all stories, even the outwardly sensationalized news headlines that haunt the screens of every news broadcast.
The idea of loss and the near impossibility of life after loss exudes from the pages of this novel with an eerie humanness, Nolan writes “The grief was so bitter and consuming that it left no space to consider anything else, an extended version of the way in which a terrible hangover gives you permission to ignore the day’s responsibilities, because they have become functionally impossible.”
Megan Nolan, the author of “Ordinary Human Failings”, will be attending Storyfort. Offering an exciting opportunity for fans and writers alike to hear from the author herself and a chance to listen closely to the advice and work of such an introspective voice.
