It is as much a social commentary as it is a book about relationships, politics, recession, corruption and modern media and it certainly gave me food for thought.

I really loved this book, at the halfway point I was torn between wanting to read it as much as possible and not wanting it to end. His online gaming friend Pwange and student Laura are both exceptionally written and shine a spotlight on the influence of modern technology on day-to-day life (there is a chapter from Pwange’s point of view which is written as a stream of consciousness via one long sentence as he delves deeper into his World of Warcraft-esque game). Samuel in particular was excellent, we learn about his life both as a child and in 2011 and there was a distinct difference between the way those two versions of Samuel were portrayed.

Nathan Hill has written an incredible novel which reminded me of Donna Tartt ( The Secret History and The Goldfinch are two of my favourite novels) with a wonderful multi-person narrative which unfolds the story through a variety of writing styles. This book had some of the things that I love most about a novel multi-person narrative, a sprawling time span, a mystery, complex themes, strong storytelling, emotional investment and to top it off I learnt about something I had no idea about (Chicago’s part in the social unrest of the 1960’s). It’s an epic novel, coming in at 628 pages covering a whole range of writing styles as each character’s story is told. The Nix spans decades from the protests of Chicago in the 1960s to the present day in post-crash America and crosses both cities and continents. I was intrigued by the synopsis set in 2011 it tells the story of Samuel Andreson-Anderson who is faced with his estranged Mother after she attacks a politician causing a nationwide storm.

I’m going to be honest and admit that I first heard about this book when Sarah-Jessica Parker posted a picture of it on Instagram with the caption, ‘please don’t end, please don’t end, please don’t end’, and, well, if it’s good enough for Carrie Bradshaw it’s good enough for me.

The nix nathan hill review