This is a family drama based on an early trauma left untreated and how that plays out within family dynamics throughout decades. The characters are difficult both to one another and certainly to the reader. It is difficult to care about anyone.
However, during the annual birthday celebration, multiple traumas (in addition to the original trauma) occur within hours of one another that will decide the trajectory of nearly another two decades which read at a much quicker pace than previously. At this point, the reader cannot look away. A new narrator takes over the remainder of the story and there is hope for this family, yet.
This is the third novel I have read by Jean Hanff Korelitz and I am a fan. In reading The Latecomer I kept waiting for the author, as I knew her, to show up. And she did, about three quarters into the book. Unfortunately, that was way too late to recover from the previous density of backstory. On the other hand, I was glad to have finished and find the writing that I love was there after all.
However, during the annual birthday celebration, multiple traumas (in addition to the original trauma) occur within hours of one another that will decide the trajectory of nearly another two decades which read at a much quicker pace than previously. At this point, the reader cannot look away. A new narrator takes over the remainder of the story and there is hope for this family, yet.
This is the third novel I have read by Jean Hanff Korelitz and I am a fan. In reading The Latecomer I kept waiting for the author, as I knew her, to show up. And she did, about three quarters into the book. Unfortunately, that was way too late to recover from the previous density of backstory. On the other hand, I was glad to have finished and find the writing that I love was there after all.