Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan is an exquisite look into literally what it says in the title: the nuances and complexities of people that make up all of our ordinary human failings. It’s such a clever way to look at it the way a majority of people are just struggling their way through life.
Opening sentence: Down below in Skyler Square the trouble was passing quickly from door to door, mothers telling mothers, not speaking aloud but somehow saying: baby gone, bad man, wild animal.
Carmel and Tom
Set in the 1990s, Carmel Green is from Waterford, Ireland but moved to London in the late 1970s with her family when she accidentally got pregnant as a teenager. In London, she has Lucy but doesn’t bond with her daughter.
Her older brother, Richie is an alcoholic and after their mother Rose dies from cancer, they struggle to get along. Rose was the glue.
Trigger warning here as the plot centres around a terrible crime: a toddler is found dead in the block of flats that the Greens live in and Lucy, 10, was last seen playing with the toddler before she was found dead. Accusations are thrown and Lucy is called in for questioning by the police.
Really, who would care about a family like theirs? Theirs were ordinary human failings, tragedies too routine to be of note.
Ordinary human failings, indeed
Tom Hargreaves is our other lead character. He’s a newspaper reporter trying to make ends meet, find his next (first) big story. He happens to hear about the tragedy of the little girl and is first on the scene to get the scoop. His boundaries between human decency and career-focus are very blurred as he whisks the family off to a hotel and grills them for information.
Alongside the present story in 1990, we get the back-stories of each character and they are honestly heartbreaking. They really give this book its heart and depth. A series of seemingly inconsequential events that when put together can make the trajectory of each life spin. Ordinary human failings, indeed.
She stood back a moment and looked at him, only a boy, a stupid boy, just another boy trying to do something he didn’t understand and would never feel the consequences of.
So well written, Megan Nolan seems to effortlessly convey the smallest of emotions and nuances that make up the raw realism of people. She explores the fragility and impact of generational trauma, the stereotyping of immigrants and also, through Tom, shines a light on the ethics of reporting and how the weakest in society are continually preyed upon at their most vulnerable moments.
So layered and detailed, I devoured Ordinary Human Failings, couldn’t stop reading it, and will be thinking about it for quite some time.
