"From the New York Times bestselling author of The Plot (a Tonight Show Summer Read pick) and You Should Have Known, adapted as HBO's The Undoing, Jean Hanff Korelitz's The Latecomer is the story of three siblings, desperate to escape one another, and the upending of their family by the late arrival of a fourth. The Oppenheimer triplets have been reared with every advantage: wealth, education, and the determined attention of at least one of their parents. But neither Harrison (the smart one), Lewyn (the weird one) nor Sally (the girl) suspects the devastating event that first set their family in motion, or understands how fully it has already formed them. Now, on the verge of their departure for college and desperate to escape one another at last, the triplets are forced to contend with an unexpected complication: a fourth Oppenheimer sibling, formerly a leftover embryo from their own long ago in vitro genesis, has just been born. What has possessed their parents to make such an unfathomable decision? How can the triplets begin to imagine the impact this unwanted latecomer will have on their lives, and the ways she will work to bring them home? The Latecomer is a tender and witty family story from an accomplished author, known for the depth of her character studies and her love of a plot twist"--
*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 Korelitzs The Latecomer is a layered and immersive literary novel about three siblings, desperate to escape one another, and the upending of their family by the late arrival of a fourth.
The Latecomer follows the story of the wealthy, New York City-based Oppenheimer family, from the first meeting of parents Salo and Johanna, under tragic circumstances, to their triplets born during the early days of IVF. As children, the three siblings Harrison, Lewyn, and Sally feel no strong familial bond and cannot wait to go their separate ways, even as their father becomes more distanced and their mother more desperate. When the triplets leave for college, Johanna, faced with being truly alone, makes the decision to have a fourth child. What role will the latecomer play in this fractured family?
A complex novel that builds slowly and deliberately, The Latecomer touches on the topics of grief and guilt, generational trauma, privilege and race, traditions and religion, and family dynamics. It is a profound and witty family story from an accomplished author, known for the depth of her character studies, expertly woven storylines, and plot twists.
