This was a lovely and often sad story. Alzheimer's is brutal, especially early onset. There were a lot of threads that got pulled but never went anywhere with all of the characters, especially Arlo and Sarah.

I am a friend of the author so cannot review the book, but I am in touch with him to help him think about how to get the word out.

A beautifully written story with a minimal family saga type of plot. I enjoy any book about a Jewish family and about New York so it covered those bases. I’m not sure it would appeal to everyone but was an enjoyable read.

Oh my favorite kind of book- complex characters, plot that tells each story while weaving them together. Human drama.

This is my first by this author. I cannot wait to visit his other work.

Thank you Netgalley for an advance copy of this book.

I really liked what I read of this, but about 50 pages in I had to stop because there were technical issues and many, many pages were missing. Sorry, I can't be more helpful, but I liked the way this one started.

Netgalley provided me with a free e-galley in return for this review.

I thought this was a fairly decent story! It was easy to follow along and I enjoyed it. I kind of wish this had been told first person POV and through only a couple characters. I did enjoy learning about how Pru handled Spence as his health declined. Good book! :)

Spence and Pru live a quiet life. He is an accomplished Shakespeare professor at Columbia in New York. She once aspired to become a lawyer, but after meeting Spence, she forfeited that life for becoming the professor’s wife and the mother of his daughter. Pru was also an orthodox Jew, that lapsed when she left home.

Spence has a son, Arlo, from a previous relationship. Arlo visited a few times each year, but never lived with them longer than a week or two. Living a nomadic life with his mother, he had recently been living in a commune in Delaware. His mother’s greatest aspiration was to poop in every state. At fifteen, Arlo chose to live with his father and Pru. Life was different from the nomadic life he lived with his mother, most notably schooling, or lack thereof. That was about to change, even if Arlo had learning disabilities – it did not matter if he liked it or not.

As time goes on, Pru realizes Spence is becoming forgetful. The Alzheimer’s diagnosis is not unexpected. It is devastating nonetheless. Everyone’s life changed along with Spence as he deteriorated. The question is, will Pru and this children, Sarah and Arlo be able to hold on to the fragile family structure they have built or will it collapse?

Morningside Heights is interesting and true to life. Having had members of my family stricken with Alzheimer’s Disease, I understand the tumultuous path the characters must travel. The characters are interesting and I love the way Henkin allows Arlo to grow and change over the course of the book.

This is the first book I have read by Joshua Henkin. He is the author of multiple short stories as well as several novels. One of which, The World Without You, is the 2012 winner of the Edward Lewis Wallant Award for American Jewish Fiction.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy for free from Netgalley and the author in exchange for a fair and honest review. Copyright © 2021 Laura Hartman

I could not put this down. It was engaging from the very beginning and I think it will hit home with a wide variety of readers

Such an engaging story that will appeal to a wide range of readers. I found this book relatable and could apply some of the contents to my own grandmother and grandfather's current situation. My ARC copy had a lot of words, letters and paragraphs missing which disrupted the flow of my reading so I will want to read a copy of this when it is released to fully appreciate the impact of the story.

A wonderful story of love that endures a lifetime of challenges. Children, sickness and just life. Enjoyed reading this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for early access to this book. Henkel develops characters that beg you to keep reading. Morning Side Heights is a book about family, love, and a little dysfunction. We explore at relationships and the troubles and delight that develop between them. My heat went into each relationship presented and I related to them. The story follows husband and wife Spence and Pru and their daughter Sarah and Spenc’s Son Arlo along with a cast of other characters. Spence contracts Alzheimer’s at an early age and each person reflects on their relationship with Spence and each must decide how to process the disease and the developments. This book was hard to put down and the characters are easy to become attached to.

Poignant, well analyzed, realistically written bittersweet story with its well developed, layered middle class New Yorker characters.
Such a great novel: Easy to read, easy to connect with the characters and understand things from their POVs.

It starts with Pru and Spence’s meeting and blooming love story at the university. Pru is astonishing student with a brilliant career opportunities ahead of her and Spense is only 6 years older than her but he’s already her professor, published his successful book, became guest on a show at PBS, the golden child and rising star of Columbia University.

They fall for each other and as he asks her to marry with him, she doesn’t think twice even though his ex and his son are still in the picture. She also gives up her academic career because financially Spence’s book sales help them to buy a beautiful house and start a new family together.

Now they have a daughter named Sarah and they let Arlo : Spense’s son from first marriage live with them even though this choice put them into complex situations. Arlo is not a bad kid but he made so many wrong choices because of his mother and it seems like her thoughts still affected him in negative way. He is also clever boy but he suffers from dyslexia which gives him more anxiety!

And Spense is not the brilliant minded man Pru has married. He starts suffering from Alzheimer, slowly turning into a stranger. Pru starts to question and resent herself for giving up her career for her marriage and she meets with a man which pushes her harder to think about moving into a new life path.

It’s emotional, truly powerful story reflect each family members’ perspectives genuinely. I’m giving my 4 New Yorker, complex, heart wrenching, sad, family drama stars! I enjoyed Joshua Henkin’s brilliant story telling skills and I’m looking forward to read more of his works in near future.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

Henkin is a new author to me, but a friend has read other works and raved. The description of "Morningside Heights" sums it up perfectly: "It’s about the love between women and men and children and parents, about the things we give up in the face of adversity, about what endures when life turns out differently from what we thought we signed up for." Marriage is hard. Relationships are hard. Most of us go in having heard this, but we think once we are over the early years adjustments, it gets easier, but as we learn in this book, even 30 years later, marriage is hard. This book was a refreshing look at the struggles of marriage and relationships later in life as diagnoses show up and children are grown and leave the house. It really teaches us that nothing is routine.

This is a complicated and sad story, but also one that is portrayed with compassion and understanding. The author shows what life was like in the 70's, how health issues intrude and what people must often endure just to get through another day. It also offers hope and the importance of family and friends.

Sensitivity and a particular, middle class American tone mark this engaging novel which evokes a marriage and its multiple connections from a muted psychological perspective. Not the first book about Alzheimer’s, nor necessarily the best, it nevertheless evokes the predictable decline with grace and humanity. A well achieved literary slice of domestic life.

Pru falls in .love with her graduate school professor, Spence Robin, the rising star of Columbia University. He is a Shakespearean scholar and a master of words. She is enthralled by his genius and accepts his proposal of marriage, despite the revelation of an ex-wife and son. With earnings from his successful publication, they buy an apartment and spend the rest of their years together in the title neighborhood, Morningside Heights. They share their life with their daughter, Sarah, and welcome Arlo, his son, into their lives. Living with Arlo, however, presents challenges that none of them can surmount. Spence starts to change; he is no longer the controlled, fastidious, clever man she married. An early onset of Alzheimer’s is diagnosed; from that point each family member’s life is altered. Joshua Henkin has placed these very real characters into a novel that challenges love, family, loyalty and endurance. They have their share of heartache, disappointment and frustration yet hope and love are never abandoned. I learned much from them.

Pru gives up her career for Spenser for a lot of reasons, in part because one academic in the family was enough, but in the seventies, it was still pretty common for women to sacrifice their own careers for their husbands. But, thirty years later the brilliant mind that defined Spencer begins to slip away, ravaged by early-onset Alzheimers.

Pru’s decision to give up her career is only one of the difficult choices the novel explores.

Spencer has a child, Arlo, from a previous marriage, who has an intelligent mind as well, but is stymied by dyslexia and life choices his mother made. Does Arlo remain loyal to his mother or to his father who can offer him a traditionally better life? When Pru meets a man, does she stay with Spencer or move on?

It’s also about privilege. Pru is able to employ a nurse to help with some of the heavy lifting of Spencer’s care. She has no idea the sacrifices the nurse, Ginny must make to give her son a future. Later, Pru has options for Spencer's care that would not be available to someone less well off.

It’s a complicated story about families and a well-written, enjoyable read.

I received this Advanced Reader Copy of Morningside Heights from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

#MorningsideHeights #NetGalley

Morningside Heights is a charming novel that centers around one family and how they are all impacted by the health of one member taking a sudden turn for the worse. Spence Robin is in his prime teaching career when he gets hit with early onset Alzheimers. The book bounces back and forth between different family members and how they are coping with this horrible disease. I have seen some phenomenal reviews for this one but unfortunately it just didn’t cut it for me. The transitions felt very abrupt and I desperately wanted more depth from even just ONE of the characters. As a character driven novel (with virtually no “action”) I felt there was plenty of opportunity for the author to do this. There were some heart-warming moments but the short, clipped sentences made it hard to truly dive into the feelings I think the author was going for. My ARC was missing some key paragraphs and sentences so I’ll probably read this one again once it’s fully published next year because the premise definitely intrigued me.

Thank you @netgalley and @pantheonbooks for the gifted copy of this book!

This is such a captivating story! My first time to read anything by this author but this book left me excited to read all the books he has to offer!

I was thrilled to be approved for a copy of this book. I am a huge fan of Joshua Henkin’s other books and was eagerly anticipating Morningside Heights. I was not disappointed. This is a 5 star read.
The love story of Spence and Pru was beautiful and heartbreaking. The book tells their story, from their meeting at Columbia University, where Pru was a student of Spence’s, through the end of their years together. I felt genuine affection for the immensely likable characters in this book. Each character was three dimensional and relatable.
Now I’m ready for Mr. Henkin’s next novel!