You should have known
Reviewed By Grasshopper2 July 6, 2014
Author Jean Hanff Korelitz
Distributor:
ISBN: 9780571307524
Publisher: Faber
Release Date:
Website: http://www.allenandunwin.com
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This book was a cracker of a read! It has been very well crafted with characters rounded and familiar to the reader. The settings were wonderfully highlighted and varied (from N.Y.’s most exclusive homes, to a cold log cabin) and the plot has many unexpected progressions.
Grace was smart, intellectual and caring psychotherapist. For twenty years she had helped people adjust and progress from various traumas in their lives. It became increasingly obvious to Grace that almost all of the domestic catastrophe’s that had occurred in people’s lives could have been avoided. There always seemed to be a clue in the beginning of the relationship, which she believed men and women both dismissed although they recognized the pattern for what it was. “He was so rude to the waiter”, she did seem to drink a lot”, but this was disregarded.
Grace decided that she could help people to avoid the pitfalls of broken marriages and dreams if she wrote a book that outlined how to trust your instincts in early relationships. The book she subsequently wrote was cleverly titled “You Should Have Known,” a clever play on this book’s title.
Her book was about to be published and had already received good reviews for clear and concise structures to follow when considering a lifetime relationship. Life was very rewarding for a happily married mother of an eleven year old son Henry, and a devoted husband who was a paediatric oncologist.
Parents from the elite N.Y. School that her son Henry attended were going to have a meeting to plan an auction and dinner to raise money for the school. This was no ordinary function though. It was to be held in the apartment of parents who donated the food, wine and catering staff for the several hundred guests who attended paying $300 per ticket.
It was during the planning session in a Parent’s garden that a woman was brought to the table by a maid. She was Hispanic and carried a small baby. The mothers recognised her as the mother of a boy who had been given a scholarship to the school. She began to breast feed the baby at the table to the discomfort of the parents who quickly finished the planning session.
It is at this point in the book that there are some amazing descriptions of the wealthiest people in their luxurious surroundings. It is also at this point in the book that a radical change is about to take place. The Hispanic woman has attended the function seeming to attract male admirers with her voluptuous good looks and friendly smile.
Grace always appeared to be an onlooker, not involved in any way with other people. As she was at the function alone, her husband having had to rush off to a sick patient, she leaves early returning home alone.
When her husband tells her the next day he will be away again she is not surprised as he is often away attending conferences. Life is busy and full.
Two days later the school is regaled with the news that Malaga Alves, the Hispanic woman, has been brutally murdered. Grace is devastated by the news and tries to contact Johnathon to tell him of the Hispanic woman’s death.
After a day of trying to contact him she flops on her bed in despair and begins texting him again. On sending the message, she hears a beep from the bedside table and reaches in to find her husband’s mobile.
Hmm! What a twist. What has happened to the wonderful caring doctor of such sick children and the close and loving husband of Grace?
The police become involved and suddenly Grace discovered the man she knew so well and loved so much was not at all as he had seemed. So now the author of the book “You Should Have Known” is faced with exactly the problem that she could predict for her clients. ..
Where to from here?
Again, this is a great read with characters easily identifiable and real life situations made familiar.