Jonathan Cape unveils second novel by ‘leading voice in new Irish writing’ Megan Nolan

Vintage has unveiled the second novel from Megan Nolan after publishing her début Acts of Desperation in 2021.

Ordinary Human Failings, a novel about truth prejudice, family and secrets, to be published by Jonathan Cape in June 2023, was originally acquired as the second title in a two-book deal, with Acts of Desperation being the first. 

Michal Shavit, publishing director at Jonathan Cape, acquired UK & Commonwealth rights from Harriet Moore at David Higham.

The synopsis of Ordinary Human Failings reads: “It’s 1990 in London and Carmel’s daughter is suspected of murdering another child. Carmel is beautiful, otherworldly, broken, and was once destined for a future beyond her circumstances until life – and love – got in her way. Crushed by failure and surrounded by disappointment, there’s nowhere for her to go and no chance of escape.

“When a reporter, Tom Hargreaves, with a fierce ambition and a brisk disregard for the ‘peasants’ – ordinary people, his readers – stumbles across this scoop, a dead child on a London estate, grieving parents loved across the neighbourhood and the finger of suspicion pointing at one reclusive family of Irish immigrants and ‘bad apples’, he persuades his paper to put them up in a hotel with all bar expenses paid.

“In the conversations that follow, the family are forced to confront the secrets, prejudices and silences that have trapped them for generations. This beautiful, heart-wrenching novel confronts head-on the tension between privacy, suffering and the search for truth.”

Shavit said: “With her début novel, Acts of Desperation, Megan Nolan was applauded as the voice of a generation by critics. With this stunning second novel, she brings us the heart-wrenching story of a young Irish woman and her family, broken by societal prejudice and the brutality of tabloid journalism, and confirms her place as a leading voice in new Irish writing.”

Nolan added: “I am deeply grateful to my editor and team at Jonathan Cape for helping me to write the sort of novel I’ve always wanted to. Their trust and support, and that of my agent Harriet Moore, allowed me the confidence to try something new, a huge gift for any artist, particularly as the concerns of Ordinary Human Failings – privacy, repression, inherited secrets – have obsessed me since I first began to write stories two decades ago.”