The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney ***

I only bought this because it was a "Heather's Pick" and was on sale for $15, although I had read several quite positive reviews.  It was a lighter read than "The Corrections" by Jonathan Franzen, but it is similar in that it's modern fiction, modern themes, and modern family dysfunction. 

The Nest is an amount of money a wealthy father extends to each of his four children, a fairly substantial amount each of them will receive when the youngest, Melody, turns 40. However, Dad has died, and their flaky Mom, dips into The Nest to pay  damages to Leo, the reprobate oldest son, who gets into a car accident and his passenger suffers extensive injuries. So the rest of the family are all trying to figure out how to get their full share back into The Nest. Most of the four have already set aside some financial goal, counting on The Nest to see them through, and Melody is about to turn 40!

For a first novel, this was well- written, and I think I would have liked it more if I'd read more intensively for the first 100 pages, because I only read a little every day, and kind of lost my focus.