Our Little Cruelties by Liz Nugent. Advance Reader Copy (eARC) from the publisher via Netgalley included. No affiliate links used. You can read my full disclosure policy here.
“All three of the Drumm brothers were at the funeral, although one of us was in the coffin.”
Liz Nugent has a well deserved reputation for giving us brilliant opening lines and Our Little Cruelties* does not disappoint. From the beginning we know that one of the Drumm brothers is dead, but which one and what happened is a mystery. A mystery Nugent delights in unraveling.
Will, Brian and Luke each have a complicated relationship with their mother Melissa, a once famous singer. Their relationships with each other aren’t much better. Told from each of their perspectives we follow their lives throughout childhood and adulthood. This use of multiple points of view and a timeline that switches between the past and present leads to a richly layered narrative that reminds us that people who share an experience do not always have the same memories of that experience.
Will is a film producer who cares only for himself. Brian seems unsure of his place in the world until he begins working for Luke. Luke is a popstar who is struggling to adapt to his dwindling career. The joy of a Liz Nugent novel is in not knowing what is coming, so I won’t give too much of the plot away other than to say your opinion about which Drumm brother is the worst will constantly change.
As we’ve come to expect from Nugent, Our Little Cruelties leaves us with as many questions as it does answers, particularly around whether the actions of her characters are as a result of nature or nurture.
Our Little Cruelties is a compelling read about the consequences of the awful things horrible people do to not only to their family, but everyone around them.
Our Little Cruelties by Liz Nugent is published by Penguin Ireland and is available in trade paperback format now—in Ireland. Our Little Cruelties is published elsewhere on March 26th and will be available in paperback, ebook and audiobook format.
I don’t use affiliate links, but if you like what I do you can show your support by buying me a coffee here.