Megan Nolan’s lauded debut novel, which excavated with painful precision the interior life of a young woman beholden to a toxic partner, was called Acts of Desperation. Her follow-up could share the same title: in Ordinary Human Failings, the Irish-born, London-based author and journalist proves desperation is her special subject.
Her canvas, however, is considerably wider this time – a welcome development – and Nolan paints a horribly compelling, more narrative-driven tale. It begins in 90s London with a young tabloid journalist, Tom, who craves a good story at any cost while expressing contempt for the “peasants” who read his rag. He is first on the scene when a toddler goes missing from an estate and sniffs a potentially huge story. Local gossip quickly lays the blame at the feet of a 10-year-old girl, Lucy, member of the mysteriously troubled, benefit-claiming Green family, who arrived from Ireland and have never fitted in.
