A brilliantly crafted novel that explores the dark underbelly of ambition and the consequences of deceit. With its intricate plot twists and complex characters, Korelitz delivers a suspenseful and thought-provoking tale that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. The characters in "The Latecomer" are flawed and multi-dimensional, making them feel authentic and relatable, captivating and twisted tale that explores themes of identity, ambition, and the consequences of our choices. With its skillful plotting, well-drawn characters, and richly textured prose, Jean Hanff Korelitz delivers a thrilling and thought-provoking novel

Thank you Celadon Books for the e-gallery of The Latecomer. This book offers so much to enjoy and think about, and it would be an excellent read for a book club. There are many themes that this book touches on: family, art, wealth and privilege, 9/11, education system, religion, hoarding, and more. Korelitz writes each chapter in a different voice and wrote so clearly that I never had to go back and figure out which character was speaking--they all became individuals that I wanted to learn more about. At the end of the novel, she pulls it all together to create an ending I could not imagine. Well written, engrossing, and leaves the reader with much to contemplate: a GREAT READ!


#TheLatecomerBook and #CeladonReads.

While I have seen a lot of good reviews about this book, I myself felt very overwhelmed by the story itself. Maybe there were too many POVs for me, or maybe it was just too much at one time. I felt like for how much I was having to read, I wasn't getting much in return.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one!

An epic family saga, The Latecomer follows the Oppenheimer triplets and their wealthy parents in NYC. The triplets have never been close to one another, and just as they are headed out on their own following high school, a fourth sibling is added to the mix. Over the following years, we find out the effect the new addition really has over this dysfunctional family.

The Oppenheimers are all an insufferable bunch, and yet I got a kick out of each one of them. The storytelling was well crafted, and although it’s a bit longer of a book, the narration kept me engaged right up until the end, and I looked forward to listening to it.

I would recommend this book if you’re a fan of literary fiction and family dramas!

I picked up The Latecomer because I loved Jean Hanff Korelitz’s novel The Plot (review hopefully coming soon.) The Latecomer is not a thriller like The Plot but I liked it just as much. It asks the interesting question about how it feels to be born from the “leftover” embryos after your parents go through IVF, several years after your siblings have been born. What would your life look like if you had been one of the triplets instead of the much younger singleton? It’s also about sibling dynamics. The triplets do not get a long at all, dashing their mother’s hope that they would always be a close family. That’s one of the reasons she decided to have a fourth child, thinking it would bring everyone together.

I really enjoyed The Latecomer. I could relate to the mother wanting her children to stay close to each other and to her. I have four kids and I hope they stay close. And my youngest is nine years younger than his closest sibling so he’s kind of a latecomer as well!

Jean Hanff Korelitz is on her way to becoming one of my favorite authors. Highly recommended.

I had high hopes for The Latecomer by Jean Haniff Korelitz after reading the synopsis and seeing some of the early praise come in. However; I found this novel to be dry and couldn’t get past the first twenty percent of the novel.

The Latecomer departs from Korelitz’s recent thriller genre, but hearkens back to the family entanglements of her first book, The White Rose. Following a family through the parents’ meeting during college through Manhattan of 9/11, Salo Oppenheimer carries his tragic past through life, with devastating results. How much do we choose? Has Fate already decided our lives? The characters of his family, mistress, and second family are vivid and complex.

A DNF for me. It was unnecessarily long and didn't hold my attention. I do think this could work for other readers but unfortunately wasn't for me.

Thank you Celadon Books and Netgalley for the gifted e-ARC to read and review!

Pub date: May 31, 2022

I'm a fan of Jean Hanff Korelitz’s writing and previous books; espeically The Plot. She writes literary fiction with complex characters and relationship dynamics. It can take a bit to get into the meat of the story, but it's worth the wait. The Latecomer is a study in privilege, giref, generational trauma, really complicated family dynamics, while also being a coming -of - age story (it will make sense once you read it). Dysfunctional rich family stories are a personal favourite of mine and this one brings in new elements and considerations. It's a big book, but thedetails, the plot and the character development makes it worth your time to spend 500 pages with the Oppenheimer family.

Might have been a case of bad timing but I just couldn’t get into this one. It’s a DNF for me. Thank you to the publisher for the advance reading copy.

I loved The Plot by Jean Haniff Korelitz, but this one was a bit of a slog. Not enough reward for all of the work or unraveling it.

I struggled a little reading this book, but after I finished it, I was glad I persevered and completed it.  I thought the second half of the book was better and more enjoyable and more interesting to read than the first half of the book.  The book is a lot about family dynamics.  There are incidents that occur in different characters lives that you feel like they have an impact on who that person is, etc. and while the incident was mentioned, I felt that a few of these incidents should have been further discussed/analyzed on exactly the impact.  I think the reader is left to interpret the impact and I think the first first half of the book would have been more interesting if this had been done.  There’s a lot of up front content in the first half that personally I didn’t think had as big of an impact on the characters as the items that weren’t really explored.  An example is the car accident on Salo throughout his early marriage and young life of the triplets. 

I found most of the characters in the book well defined. The author did a good job of making you feel like you knew the feelings in different situation - like I could feel the pain and stress at the clambake - I thought this part of the story was very well written.   

What I liked about the book - the ending - I liked how the author wrapped everything up in the end and Phoebe’s roll in the triplets lives and her conversation with her mother.  I liked the way the author lets you find out about what happened to Salo after his decision to leave for LAX. I liked the whole concept of the four eggs and the thought about which eggs were chosen and the impact it has on everyone’s feelings as well as the readers feelings. I loved Phoebe. 

What I would change about the book - I would spend some time understanding the impact of the accident on Salo as it relates to his marriage and the triplets.  I felt like the high school years for the triplets was also not very well defined - again, how the triplets did things in high school as it related to each other.

In an effort to shrink my physical and netgalley shelves, next up on my list was The Latecomer!

I was intrigued by the synopsis and looked forward to understanding what made this family so complex and interesting. I found, however, that the presentation and build up was just a bit too slow for my liking, and I decided to DNF after reading the first three chapters.

This book has a LOT of detail and I’m sure it all plays into a bigger overarching storyline, but it unfortunately didn’t work for me and was causing me to lose focus way too quickly. I will definitely check out other books by this author in the future, though!

Ok, this is a difficult book for me to rate. I loved the plot, even though it did take some time to get going. No doubt the author is a brilliant writer but I wish the first part of the book was as compelling to me as the last part.

This is the story of a large, wealthy family in New York, the Oppenheimers. The triplets Lewyn, Harrison and Sally are mostly unlikeable and grow up with what seems to be no love between them. They have privilege and education but no family bond. I love a family saga and it was the large time span of the book that I enjoyed. I also loved "the latecomer" to the family, and I loved her part of the book.

This is a lengthy book and I also sampled the audiobook read by the great Julia Whelan. I feel this is one of those sagas that might be more enjoyable as an audiobook. Overall, the characters are sharply drawn and the events of the book are very timely. This is not a thriller or suspense by any means but a good work of contemporary fiction. I adored the final section of the book and for that, I would recommend this slow-build family saga.

(Many thank to Celadon Books for providing a review copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.)

In my opinion, there's not a single likeable character to be found in The Latecomer - this is a book about people who are so caught up in their own worlds that they can't see the people they're hurting along the way. While it's a well-written book, and I enjoyed the style of writing, particularly in the first half, I struggled to actually care about any of these characters. I certainly wasn't rooting for any of them to get a happily ever after, so when the various storylines and threads were all neatly tied together by the end of the novel, I found myself really unsatisfied.

Triplets Lewyn, Sally, and Harrison are the much-wanted product of their mother's IVF.  Johanna, their mother, dotes on them, but is oblivious to them as actual people.  She insists that they love each other, and doesn't seem to notice that they prefer not to be in each other's company.  Salo, their father, is largely uninterested (although not unloving), preferring to spend his time with his art collection, and, eventually, his mistress, until he is killed on 9/11.  As the triplets are about to move out, Johanna decides that she wants one last chance at motherhood, and has the fourth embryo of the bunch implanted.  Enter Pheobe, who, at 17,  is the only member of the family able to see things (more or less) clearly.

After much excellent exposition setting up the family dynamic, the crux of the matter becomes apparent.  The details would spoil the experience, but suffice it to say that Pheobe must overcome her siblings' old resentments and her mother's hang-ups, all formed long before she was born.  Naturally, she'll uncover old secrets and learn a few things about herself along the way.  But Phoebe is quite determined and not about to let her family members hide behind their usual evasive tricks.

Phoebe's narrative voice makes this book worth reading, even if, for most of the book.  A strong and surprising young woman, you may find yourself wishing that she would bring her considerable talents and persistence to solve the problems in your life.

Having enjoyed The Plot, I was excited to get my hands (and eyes) on The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz. This family drama focusing on sibling relationships was a fascinating character study. I love my brother to bits, so it was interesting to read a portrayal of siblings who were generally disinterested in each other for a large portion of the book.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

Wow, this book! The layers of storytelling is simply impressive in this one. Johanna desperately wanted children but it was proving to be almost impossible. It was the early days of IVF and she eventually found herself pregnant with Triplets.
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These three have no real bond with each other and are truly awful during most of this book, yet I was sucked into this book. It’s always an interesting dynamic when I can’t stand a character, let alone three but I was really into this story. I don’t want to give too much away because I was really surprised by parts. If you are into books with complex family dynamics then look no further!
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Thank you @celadonbooks and @netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first book by Jean Hanff Korelitz, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m excited to have found such a great new (to me) author.

What a great book! I love everything by this author and this book was no different! I couldn't put this down and was up all night waiting to see how it ended!