I have to confess bias, as I requested an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley because I went to Columbia and am always nostalgic for the campus and the neighborhood. That’s not to say I love every book set at Columbia - there have been some awful ones. It is to say that I often want to give a Columbia book a try.
Morningside Heights, the book, was really well done. It is a touching story of a small, blended family as the husband/father is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s, and while the book is from every character’s perspective (but his) it seems primarily to be focused on the wife’s journey and the reader really does get to know her best. I thought the book had a lot of depth, had a lot of heart, was beautifully written, and (specific to me) took me back to campus, the neighborhood, and the Upper West Side with a vividness that not all Manhattan books do (though many have tried). The book is unavoidably sad but somehow not dark and somehow a bit sweet in its sadness and humanity. I would highly recommend but provide a trigger warning for someone facing or who has faced a loved one’s mental decline.

4.5 stars .
This is an ordinary story in many ways about relationships, husbands and wives, sons and daughters, half siblings. At its heart, it’s a story about family. Life isn’t perfect and that’s precisely what makes this such a good story. The characters, their lives, their emotional response to each other and the things that happen are so relatable. What happens to them could happen in our family or in families we know. The progression of diminished mental and physical capacity in someone with Alzheimer’s Disease, a debilitating illness that turns life upside down and makes one of the spouses a care giver after thirty years of marriage is sad and realistically portrayed. A child from a first marriage, feeling abandoned by his father, making his way with an unconventional and unstable life with his mother, becoming part of his father’s family at times, a reflection of the difficulties that life brings. That a family can rise the challenges is a beautiful testament to love. There’s a nod to New York City, where the majority of the novel takes place, what it’s like to live there. There’s a reflection at times about the character’s Jewish heritage, giving up on a kosher home, returning at times to synagogue. This is such a well written novel, a realistic portrayal of marriage, of family, of life. I was moved.


I received a copy of this book from Knopf Doubleday/Pantheon through NetGalley.

Follow the relationship of this couple from falling in love, raising children, career and finally into aging and illness. An analysis of family and love, obligation, sadness, acceptance and resilience. This book took me on an emotional roller coaster ride, it was powerful and understated.

** I received an electronic ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

This is a lovely story, that is heartbreaking. Pru meets Spence while in his class at Columbia University. They get married and have the idyllic family. 30 years later, at the prime of their lives, something is very wrong with Spence and very quickly all of their lives change. Told from Pru their daughter Sara and Spence’s son Arlo, Henkin gives a very realistic view of a families that is struggling, interspersed with memories of their lives through the 30 years.

I am not going to lie, this is a very tough book at times. However, Henkin, seems to know exactly when to pull back to give you a little reprieve.

This was beautifully written and, I highly recommend this one.

Spence and Pru met when she was a student in his Shakespeare class in the late 70’s. He’s a rising star at Columbia and she’s also starting a promising graduate career. But their relationship moved quickly and before you know it, they’re married and she’s dropped out of the program. Pru seemed to then live a life different than she anticipated - total focus on Spence, supporting his career advancement, and then raising their daughter, Sarah. She also takes on the role of stepmother to Argo, Spence’s son from his first marriage ( who comes with a lot of baggage, to say the least).
Their age difference is referenced a lot in discussion about the book, but it is only 7 years, which doesn’t seem like a big factor to me. The big factor is that Spence receives a significant medical diagnosis when he’s 57 and that’s when Pru’s real challenges begin. Publicity for the book use the phrase “love in the face of loss” and that’s a perfect way to describe Pru.
Henkin is a wonderful storyteller and even though there’s a lot of difficult and sad subjects in the book, he draws you in very quickly. The story is told from the perspectives of Pru, Spence, Sarah and Arlo (as well as the wonderful home health aide, Ginny). The characters are all memorable and I imagine some might see Spence as the book’s tragic star. After all, he was a world renowned scholar and struck down in his prime by a horrible disease. But the character who’s really sticking with me is Pru. Did she regret the path she took? Would she have done things differently? Will she find happiness?
Thanks to Netgalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for the opportunity to read Morningside Heights in exchange for an honest review.

The summary sounded intriguing but unfortunately, I didn't find the book itself very readable. This was partly because of formatting and spelling and chopped up sentences, and FINAL written on every page - all things that will undoubtedly be corrected before publishing so I tried to overlook those problems. Even though I tried, it wasn't just the editing problems that made the book less than enjoyable. I didn't identify with any of the characters and truthfully, none of the characters seemed 'real'. I've always heard writers say 'show, don't tell' but the writing to me had a lot more 'telling' than 'showing'.

I trust that many of the things that bothered me about this ARC will be corrected before publishing so I'll give the book 3 stars just to be optimistic.

This is a book I could not get into and did not finish.

At first it seemed fine, though I could not identify with the characters. Pru, a good student, gives up her chance at a career to marry faculty. Keeping Kosher is important to her and so is the New York location, neither of which matters to me.

When her hubby starts losing his memory in his 50's, it affects the entire family including their med student daughter and his son from his prior marriage. Again, nothing I can relate to. When the son comes to live with them is when I stopped reading. It felt too disjointed and only some of that was the fact that it was a pre release that had some major editing or formatting issues which left out the ends of many sentences; something that drove me crazy.

If I could relate to any of the aspects mentioned, maybe I would have kept on with it and who knows, maybe I will give it another try in case it was just my mood influencing how I felt about the book, but at this point I can only give it 2.5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

This is a real and touching story about a well-loved Shakespeare teacher a Columbia who gets early onset Alzheimers. It's also a story about a complicated family with ex-wives and step-children and abandonment and love and belonging. It's also a love letter to New York City and its people.

I've lived in New York for all of my twenties and the characters in this story jump off the paper and are real and textured. They try, they fail, and they try again. They let each other down, they love each other fiercely. They take care of each other. They stand by each other. They show up for each other.

Each character in this book is unique and familiar and it's not possible not to fall in love with them.

with gratitude to netgalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Some of Henkin's writing is gorgeous, but I didn't love this book. The entire plot is summarized in the description, so it's not very plot-driven, and the characters, for the most part, aren't likeable or empathetic enough to feel connected to. Everything feels... distanced. I couldn't get into it as much as I'd hoped.

This was quite the emotional read. This book is about relationships and how different they can be from one and other. I was frustrated while reading this because of technical formatting issues in the ARC and I think that might have been a part of how it left me feeling.

What a captivating and emotional read! This novel chronicles the life of Pru Steiner, who is still madly in love with Spence Robin, her husband of many years who has been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. The story is told through various members of their family, including daughter Sarah, a medical student, and Arlo, Spence’s son from a very short first marriage, and moves back and forth through time.

The writing is beautiful, and although the main subject matter is a bit dismal, the story pops with precious bit of humor here and there — especially from Pru’s character. It explores various relationships (between spouses, between siblings, between parents and children) in an unsentimental yet wholly moving way as it chronicles family dysfunction and love and emphasizes the fragility of life.

All in all, this was a very interesting read. One disconcerting note: The ARC that I received was so replete with missing words, incomplete sentences, etc. that I had to guess at filling in the blanks myself on virtually every page, making this novel difficult to read in that respect and most likely taking away some of the inherent beauty of this work.

I won't be sharing this review on my site or on Amazon, because I believe this is a fantastic book. Unfortunately, I couldn't finish it because it was so difficult to read due to formatting issues and technical issues. Nearly every page had paragraphs that ended mid-sentence and I ended up giving up. It is certainly a book I would purchase, though. it grabbed me right away, and I have confidence that it will be in top shape by publication, so I don't feel it should be penalized on amazon due to pre-publication issues.

When grad student Pru goes to Columbia in 1976, she falls hard and fast for her dashing young professor, Spence Robin. They marry, have a child, and buy an apartment in Morningside Heights. But when after decades of marriage, Spence starts to show signs of early-onset Alzheimer’s, their whole family’s world is shaken.

Although the book revolves around the life and illness of Spence Robin, the story is not really about him. It’s about the people around him, and their relationships to him and to each other - the relationship between husband and wife, between parents and children, between brothers and sisters, and even between caretaker and patient. Some relationships are explored more deeply than others. Pru, Spence’s wife, is especially hard hit by the diagnosis. For all she insists she’s her own person, her whole life and identity revolves around her husband. When he gets sick, she faces something of an identity crisis. The book also delves deeply into the dysfunctional relationship that Arlo, Spence’s estranged son from his first marriage, has with his father, how their relationship got that way, and how Spence’s illness affects Arlo. These passages, in addition to the parts with Arlo and his half-sister Sarah, the parts with Spence’s nurse Ginny, and the parts with Pru’s paramour were the sections I found the most interesting.

3.5 stars, because although it’s a good book, I didn’t feel especially enthralled, or even particularly attached to most of the characters.

This looks like it could have been good story but there were too many technical formatting issues in the ARC to properly enjoy this. Will wait to read this at publishing, maybe. Disappointed with the formatting and could not finish.

Thanks to Netgalley, Joshua Henkin, and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group Pantheon for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 6/15/21

Some technical issues with the e-galley prevented me from getting very far, but the tone and writing was delightful and I look forward to reading it once the final copy is finished. It's already pre-purchased for our library.

I love when it feels like a writer is speaking directly to me and I'm so absorbed that the characters are people I know deeply by the end. Morningside Heights introduced me to a Shakespeare professor named Spence who has a happy marriage, acclaim for his work, and a home in Morningside Heights. Things are going swell, until he hits his mid-50s and gets diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. Anyone who's witnessed the rapid decline of a loved one, as I did with my brilliant grandmother, can see the heartbreaking journey ahead. Yet I didn't put the book down. I already wanted to see how Spence walked through this part of his journey.

I appreciated that his life wasn't painted as perfect by any means. There's a colorful ex-wife, a devoted current wife, a dyslexic son, a grounded daughter bound for med school, and his university and NY city life that bustles around him. The disfunction that every family struggles with made a colorful collection of secondary characters to keep the tone upbeat when it needed to be and it kept me reading. I sped through this one in less than three days needing to see it through. I loved how New York played another character, as it usually does, in a cast of loving puzzle pieces that fit perfectly together but never tried to be overly sentimental or tear-inducing. The love was more authentic in that light and I loved it!

Brilliant husband, smart enough wife, competitive daughter and technically-gifted stepson all circle one another through intimacy, anger, hostility and change. MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS uses Jewish characters to stage a story, mostly because of the ability to investigate multiple levels of belief throughout a lifespan. And these characters do move in and out of belief easily and frequently, their actions mostly defined by their surroundings. I wished for more in this tale; the characters seemed out of reach and a touch trope-y. I didn’t find anyone particularly likeable or engaging. When illness strikes, the family adapts, in a somewhat predictable manner. The most compelling character is the aide who cares for the husband for a decade; I wanted her to succeed. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

I mean, y'all had me at Shakespeare professor, but then I fell in love with the rest of this book. I loved the family dynamics - especially with the hardships of marriage that so many people face. this was a nice take.

I'm a big fan of the author's previous books, so I was excited to learn he had this latest one. And like his previous books, this one is nuanced, well written depiction of a marriage and family -- and the many ways those relationships can change over a lifetime. It also deftly addresses navigating a life that has departed from our expectations of what would come. Highly recommend!

Unfortunately, with so many typos and the big bold word FINAL interspersed between paragraphs on every page, I simply could not continue reading this eARC. It looks like a good story and perhaps I'll get if from the library some time. Thank you!