The Latecomer

by Jean Hanff Korelitz

Book Overview

*A New York Times Notable Book of 2022*
*A Washington Post Notable Work of Fiction*
*An NPR Best Book of the Year*
*A New Yorker Best Book of 2022*

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Plot, Jean Hanff Korelitz's The Latecomer is a layered and immersive literary novel about three siblings, desperate to escape one another, and the upending...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1250790794
• ISBN13: 9781250790798
• Release Date: May 2022
• Publisher: Celadon Books
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 1.47 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Great writer --a little meandering at times

I read The Plot then proceeded to try to read everything that J. H. Korelitz had ever written. The second book I read was You Should Have Known, and it was GREAT, as I thought, The Plot. This third book is not as interesting and tries to get into the thoughts of each of the three triplets in the story, along with their clueless mother and almost absent father. Without some kind of family background that had love as its basic ingredient, these children seem lost as to what they want in life, and being well off do not have to choose based on need. The detailed parts about the Mormon religion were boring to me, I don't know if I was supposed to sense great sarcasm, or try to understand Mormonism, but it fell short. I did enjoy the criticism of the super liberal school the triplets attended, where there were no grades because someone's feelings could be hurt, and no grades because that too involved competition. The author goes so far off plot into the intricacies of philosophy and religion that the characters get lost. I will continue to read anything JH Korelitz writes, but this was not the book to start with if you are not familiar with her, IMO. She is a treasure to read and the book educates you in a way, but it was not my favorite of her books.

Hits close to home

Title: The Latecomer Author: Jean Hanff Korelitz 435 pages I love the roses on the cover how there's three bloomed and one getting ready to bloom fits the story perfectly. In the story it follows Salo and Johanna who had triplets Harrison, Lewis and Sally through IVF. IVF is in vitro fertilization in which an egg is removed from a woman's ovary and fertilized with the males sperm in a laboratory. Than later on if any are successful the embryo is put back into the woman's womb to develop into a baby. This subject is why I choose to read the book because before my rainbow baby I'm pregnant with currently after five miscarriages, being told I'm infertile would never have kids, and having a ruptured ectopic pregnancy last August we were planning to go this route. This book is very emotional and hits close to home personally. Also, in the book the triplets are going off to college when they plan to do another round of IVF introducing "The Latecomer" which is emotional to say the least. This book was very emotional to me but could not hold my intrest for long. Reason being it's very slow paced and I'm usto books with a faster paced plot. I do reccomend if you enjoy reading a lovely emotional story though.

Do you have the underwear question? ~ Salo Oppenheimer.

That's the best quote in the whole book in my humble opinion, lol. That line was on a questionnaire from the IVF clinic our leading parents went to, one of many private questions that a person, or family, keeps the answers to themselves. However many of those secrets (not the underwear one) are revealed through this riveting, intricately written novel. It may take a few chapters to get into, but it's totally worth hanging in there. While the paragraphs run on it's easy to keep up with the eloquent and personable narration, one of my favorite things about the book. Its close to first person making it easy to grasp unlike some third person narrators that are akin to animatronic. But at times it can go into over explanation, I don’t mind so much because I learn something and it rounds full circle bringing the point home, but its worth mentioning. And the switching of point of view is flawless throughout, gliding from one to the other seamlessly. The Oppenheimer family is a mess, no doubt there, and while I believe most folks like stories about family's that have their strifes but generally love each other, that is not the Oppenheimers'. I feel like there's more honesty in this book about when a family generally doesn't hold a bond to one another and instead of trying to force things together they do what most people would want to do, let it be and live their lives. That may sound harsh, but to me that makes this book all the more interesting. Seeing how a non-perfect family deals with everyday, and not-so everyday, strifes that come with life and family. And that it's ok to feel hate, because you can't hate without love. This is my first book by Jean Hanff Korelitz and I very much intend to get more of her books. Thank you Celadon Books and Bookroit for hosting the giveaway I received this ARC from.