Salo and Johanna Oppenheimer are living a life of wealth as they start their marriage. Salo comes from a wealthy family that donates Old Masters to various museum. Salo doesn't really care; when the two of them meet he doesn't care about much of anything. His life is overshadowed by a car wreck in which he was the driver and his girlfriend and best friend were killed. One other girl survived but was hospitalized. How can he go on after such an event?

But life must go on and Salo's does. He married Johanna even if he doesn't exactly love her. She is head over heels for him and devotes her life to him. The two want children but it isn't happening. Eventually they go the IVF route and end up with triplets; Sally, Lewyn and Harrison. One would think the triplets would be close but they grow up sharing almost nothing; each one just wants to be a person on their own instead of part of a group. Johanna devotes herself to her family while Salo's passion is art and he collects paintings that end up being worth a fortune.

The rest of the novel follows the lives of the Oppenheimers. The twins grow up and head off to college. Salo falls in love with another woman from his past and for years he moves between the two women. Johanna realizes his affair about the time the triplets are leaving the home and she decides to use the last fertilized egg that remains in storage and thus Phoebe is born. Phoebe grows up and an only child due to the age difference and before she in turn leaves she is determined to get the entire family together and end all the family secrets. Will that work?

This novel won much acclaim. It was a New York Times Notable book, an NPR Best Book Of The Year and a Washington Post Notable Work Of Fiction. Balancing the lives of all these characters and bringing all the secrets into the open is a difficult feat that Korelitz pulls off with grace. The reader will cheer for some characters, dislike others and feel sorry for some. I listened to this novel and the narrator has the perfect voice to draw the reader into the Oppenheimer life. The novel explores what is it that makes a family and why are family secrets left to fester and ruin lives? This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz is a beautifully woven family drama that explores themes of grief, privilege, guilt, and generational trauma. The story revolves around the Oppenheimer family, starting with the tragic circumstances that bring parents Salo and Johanna together, and following their triplet children—Harrison, Lewyn, and Sally—as they grow apart and struggle with their family dynamics. When the triplets leave for college, Johanna, feeling more isolated than ever, decides to have a fourth child, the "latecomer," in hopes of reconnecting with her fractured family.

Despite its length, this novel is surprisingly easy to get lost in. Korelitz’s writing pulls you in with its depth and complexity, making you care deeply about these messy, imperfect characters. The story delves into the intricacies of family, identity, race, and the way the past can shape the future. The audiobook, narrated by Julia Whelan, is a real treat—she brings the characters to life with her fantastic performance. Overall I thought this was an engaging, thought-provoking dysfunctional family saga.

Oh rich people problems.

This one is such a slow build- like super slow. The absolute TENSION between the siblings is a lot- like at first it was entertaining and expected, but it quickly turned into an 'ugh, this again' reaction from me.

Overall this was a complex family drama and a great character study,

Give me a multi-layered dysfunctional family drama any day and I will gobble it up. Chock full of unlikeable characters I don’t know why I was compelled to keep reading but I devoured this in a day and loved the themes of identity, class, sexuality and race. Although it was a slow burn I felt the pacing was perfect to help understand the complexity of the characters and I felt overall satisfied with how their stories concluded.

Couldn’t get into this one - good premise but just wasn’t for me! I would try reading another book by the author, but this one just didn’t work for me.

I tried so hard to get into this one but it just wasn't holding my attention. I ended up giving up on it about half way through.

The latecomer was a very slow burn book for me. I think that it was quite different from what my expectations were for this author. I was thinking mystery/suspense but this one turned out to be a family drama. I love Julia Whelan as a narrator and I think a lot of people will enjoy this book - it was just not for me. I did like the authors previous book very much.

I’d describe The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz as a family drama on steroids. I really only have three words to sum up this book: SO MUCH DRAMA! Yeah sure, the members of the Oppenheimer family are very wealthy and prestigious, but they’re also extremely dysfunctional, disconnected, and distant. I don’t think I’ve ever read about a family quite like this one before. I’m going to be very honest about my first impression of this book. I almost DNFed it! The first two or three chapters really dragged for me. I was completely bored and disinterested. The writing style just wasn’t working for me. I found it very wordy and overly descriptive. It also took a long time to get to the real guts of the story. But once it got there…OMG. So incredibly worth it. I was totally engrossed with each member of the Oppenheimer family. The constant twists, turns, and big reveals provided plenty of entertainment value, and many layers to the story. I was impressed! In my opinion, the author spent too much time on the backstory of a few secondary characters. In all honesty, this book could have been shortened by 100 pages or so. For that reason, and because of my issue at the beginning, I had to knock my rating down a bit. I’m settling on 3.5/5 stars for The Latecomer! Definitely worth the read!

SYNOPSIS: Three siblings are desperate to escape one another and the upending of their family by the late arrival of the fourth.

REVIEW: I love family dramas. They are my favorite genre, and if you tell me something is going to be about complex family relationships or family strife, I'm automatically in. So when I saw the synopsis for this book, I knew I had to have it. I have to say, it did take me a minute to get into; I had to give it up for a bit and return. However, when I did, I'm glad, because I loved this literary piece. It's not enthralling, by any means, and won't capture your attention from the very start; but the story and plot is good, and if you're into family dramas like me, the complexity in which this family story is woven is going to grab you.

All in all, it was an enjoyable piece, and I'd read more from this author again.

VERDICT: 4 STARS

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 via audio.

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.

Picked this up after loving the Plot by this author. Clearly a talented author. I found this to be stimulating enough but a little forgettable

DNF. Unfortunately, this was a book I started multiple times but could just not get into. I appreciate having the opportunity to read this book, it was just not a good fit for me as a reader. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my gifted review copy.

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. It follows the story of a wealthy NYC based Oppenheimer family, Salo and Johanna, under tragic circumstances to their triplets born during the early days of IVF.

With themes of guilt, generational trauma, privilege and race, traditions and religion, and family dynamics at the center of the story.

Overall I enjoyed this character driven story, and the audiobook was done well, narrated by one of my absolute faves, Julia Whelan.

*many thanks to Celadon and Macmillan Audio for the gifted copy for review

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for sending me an arc of The Latecomer. I was interested in the family and especially the triplets. I’d say this book is literary fiction and to be honest that’s my least favorite genre. Overall it was interesting but it was very character driven and quiet slow.

"The Latecomer touches on the topics of grief and guilt, generational trauma, privilege and race, traditions and religion, and family dynamics."

This was just a book I really didn't jive with. I didn't love the characters and found it hard to feel invested. I think this one just wasn't for me not that the book did anything wrong. It felt like so much was happening at once and yet nothing at all was happening for the plot. Definitely more character driven than plot given, like many generational novels. I think that I may enjoy the authors other work and it is clear that her writing is established and done well.

The narration of this book was great, no complaints about the narration.

Convoluted family drama that was hard to follow listening to the audiobook. Slow burn and a bit too long for me. Missed the mark for me, glad so many others loved the book.

I loved The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz, so I was excited to read The Latecomer. This book is a character-driven family story that takes place over 20 years. The narration was good but it was difficult at times to follow the multiple POV. I needed to really focus as I listened.

Thank you, Macmillan, for my gifted copy.

A family drama with so much going on (maybe a little too much going on!), with a slow burn. I think it was ultimately a bit long for what it was!

Thank you Netgalley for this audio edition of The Latecomer by Jean Haniff Korelitz.

Wow, what a story! I just love a long family saga, especially when it is as complex and intertwined as this one.

You would think that being a triplet would mean that you have close sibling relationships, but if you are an Oppenheimer triplet, that is not the case. And as much as Johanna would love to see her set of three leave the house for college together and bonded, they instead leave as practically strangers. Desperate for one more chance at getting it right, Johanna has one more baby late in life, Phoebe. And maybe through this latecomer, this family can finally set free some of it's secrets and find each other.

This novel plays the long game, so go forth with patience, it takes a minute to really take off. Once it did though, I was HOOKED. It's not heading anywhere fast, you go for the journey, the relationships, the hurt, and the healing. I enjoyed this a lot.