Acts of Desperation, Megan Nolan's raw and riveting debut novel, explores the dark and often taboo depths of abusive relationships. The novel's unnamed narrator, a bright but self-destructive young woman, falls in love with an enigmatic older writer, Ciaran. As their relationship escalates through the years, she descends into addiction, isolation and self-loathing, while nevertheless being drawn back to Ciaran as her center of gravity and her source of self-identity. By the time the tensions in their relationship reach a breaking point, the narrator no longer knows what he made her do and what she might have done by choice.
Blistering and visceral, Acts of Desperation pulls no punches when it comes to exploring the interior life of a young woman coming of age under the gaze of men. With a riveting, undeniable first-person voice, the narrator hypnotically leads readers into a world that is eerily easy to identify with and submit to. The story of her relationship with Ciaran may seem a familiar one, but the narrator's willingness to push past familiar tropes and explore the ugly underpinnings of such relationships and their effects on one's emerging sense of self make this story stand out not as a straightforward cautionary tale but as a revelation of the darkness that lingers in many contemporary romantic relationships. Rather than regurgitating overly simplified mantras about consent and abuse, Nolan crafts a story that puts the complexities of its characters first and forces readers to consider the unclear boundaries of choice, one's own desires and the desires of another. --Alice Martin, freelance writer and editor