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A review by punkinmuffin
You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz
4.0
How good is it when you find a new-to-you writer? I happened to be listening to the New York Times Book Review podcast, and they had Korelitz on as a guest, talking about her latest novel, [b:The Plot|55315487|The Plot|Jean Hanff Korelitz|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1622126972l/55315487._SY75_.jpg|78569619] (which I am totally going to read). I vaguely remembered that I'd put You Should Have Known on my want-to-read list a while ago, and as it happened, my local library had an available copy.
It's kind of funny that I had also recently read Taffy Broedesser-Akner's [b:Fleishman Is in Trouble|41880602|Fleishman Is in Trouble|Taffy Brodesser-Akner|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1556374309l/41880602._SY75_.jpg|70634699]. Also set in New York. Also centred around an upper middle class Manhattan Jewish couple. Also featuring a disappearing spouse. But the books are very different otherwise. Grace, the narrator of You Should Have Known, is a very different character to Toby Fleishman. And while both books are close-ups of marriages, You Should Have Known is much more, well, forensic. Without spoiling anything, this is a fantastic portrayal of someone whose world, essentially, ends. And things don't necessarily go where you might predict, all of the time. Much of the drama is excruciating, because we're seeing things from Grace's point of view, and she is experiencing something catastrophic. And it takes an incredibly deft writer to keep her reader with the narrative, in the face of so much awfulness. I stayed with it because I got really invested in Grace, and wanted to see her come out the other side.
Definitely recommend this one, especially if you like a literary page turner.
It's kind of funny that I had also recently read Taffy Broedesser-Akner's [b:Fleishman Is in Trouble|41880602|Fleishman Is in Trouble|Taffy Brodesser-Akner|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1556374309l/41880602._SY75_.jpg|70634699]. Also set in New York. Also centred around an upper middle class Manhattan Jewish couple. Also featuring a disappearing spouse. But the books are very different otherwise. Grace, the narrator of You Should Have Known, is a very different character to Toby Fleishman. And while both books are close-ups of marriages, You Should Have Known is much more, well, forensic. Without spoiling anything, this is a fantastic portrayal of someone whose world, essentially, ends. And things don't necessarily go where you might predict, all of the time. Much of the drama is excruciating, because we're seeing things from Grace's point of view, and she is experiencing something catastrophic. And it takes an incredibly deft writer to keep her reader with the narrative, in the face of so much awfulness. I stayed with it because I got really invested in Grace, and wanted to see her come out the other side.
Definitely recommend this one, especially if you like a literary page turner.