Books that you are compelled to read through in one sitting are not that common but Liz Nugent's Unravelling Oliver requires a day of no other plans as this is a novel you won't want to put down from start to finish.
Told as a series of what you might call witness statements, the novel starts with ordinary, seemingly happily married for decades couple Alice and Oliver and an incident of brutality and violence from the latter that leaves Alice in a coma. And that's just the start. From there, each chapter is character titled as Oliver and all the people who have come across and befriended him over his life try to piece together what snapped to make this successful author beat his sweet and loving wife into a coma. And as the "statements" come together a picture forms of a life that leads up to that breaking point and some sordid details emerge from Oliver's past from an early stage onwards.
The whole story is told perfectly by Nugent and, like so many reviews state, is an un-put-down-able read. Oliver is a pretty mesmerizing character and it's impossible not to be intrigued by this damaged soul or truly shocked by what he's capable of. The novel offers plenty of wonderful twists and turns and the different narrators provide intriguing other sides to the same story; other versions of the truth.
Unravelling Oliver is such an accomplished read from first time novelist Liz Nugent. In fact, by the end of the novel, I was sorry to leave the world of these characters behind but also very satisfied by how the story played out. A thoroughly enjoyable read and one I'd highly recommend.
Unravelling Oliver is out now in trade paperback format and is released in paperback April 9th.
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