You Should Have Known

There was so much in this book that just didn't matter. It should have been 100 pages long instead of over 400. At one point, she said, "Hi" to her stepmother on the phone and then packed in two or three paragraphs about his the parents didn't like cell phones and technology before her stepmother responded, "How are you?" This, coupled with the fact that the main character is an intolerant, condescending snob makes this book hard to finish. It's hard to root for a character who thinks she's so above it all that she writes a book about how other women should have known their husbands weren't marriage material.

SPOILER ALERT QUESTIONS: If anyone who's read this book can anwer these questions for me, I'd want to hug you! First, why was Malaga Alves invited to the school's committee meeting that took place in the first part of book? She clearly was invited, but it was never indicated why she would have been since she didn't participate in the committee. Also, what was the point of the graphic depiction of the breastfeeding scene? At the school fundraising party, what was the point that Jonathan (the husband) showed up but then left without his wife ever having seen him? At first, I thought he'd lied about it, until one of the party-goers indicated he'd been seen there. Also, at the party, what was the point about the woman, who was never identified, crying in the bathroom? Are we to assume it was Malaga Alves? Maybe she'd seen Jonathan, and that's why she was crying? And maybe he left the party because he saw her there? (Since these topics were never addressed again, I could only make those assumptions.) So many more questions. How exactly did the murder occur? How did the detectives connect Jonathan to the murder? I don't know how Grace, as the wife, wouldn't be asking more questions. And it seemed whenever something wanted to offer up something useful (like when the doctor asked how her husband had been), she always just fled the scene instead of asking anything. So frustrating!I was torn whether to give this book one or two stars, but decided on two because of the fact that it kept my interest and kept me reading throughout. So, while there were obvious plot holes and shortcomings, as noted in all of the other one and two star reviews, I gave it an extra just for the interest factor. But the fact still remains that this book fell way flat. I'd say about 50 paragraphs too many were given to Grace's constant droning about what a wonderful, caring, giving doctor her husband was. I just started glossing over those after a while, since they were so repetitive.Also, I couldn't help but note how often Grace would scoff at how pretentious and judgmental her fellow private school parents were, but that she often conveyed the same level of snobbiness, arrogance, and judgment as they did. One instance was in how she immediately judged the quality of one detective's suit. And how obviously jealous she was of one woman's collection of Birkin bags, especially since she herself only had one - one that she'd so desperately wanted and finally received from her husband. Those are just a couple of examples. She, for the most part, was just completely unlikable to me, and I felt no compassion for her or connection to her.This book had potential to be good, but it just wasn't. It's like it was a draft that was completed haphazardly in time to meet a deadline. I'd love to see a well-refined do-over on this one!

I ordered this as a Kindle 1st book and then was kind of disheartened by the negative reviews so I waited to read it. Well, I really enjoyed it. Yes, she is verbose and sometimes I just stopped reading because I didn't want all that extra detail, but I thought it was a well-drawn character study of a woman who thought she knew her life - made a profession out of helping others know their lives - and was wrong. I could totally relate to Grace's character, as someone in a marriage that turns out not to be what she thought it was. Also, I have a sibling who lives in NYC and shares the same snobbishness Grace has, so related to that as well. And the family dynamic - if you're from the northeast (specifically New England area) you keep a stiff upper lip and present a good front. As for the ending, to me it represented hope. No cleanly tied up ends, but what in real life offers that? I enjoyed it - looked forward every day to reading more.

I read a lot of reviews before I purchased this book on my Kindle, and knew I was either going to enjoy it a lot or hate it, and I'd say my reaction was mostly on the enjoyable side. I loved the premise - I think a lot of the things the main character states at the beginning of the novel about how (she feels) women in bad relationships should have known things would turn sour based on things they intuited about their partners when they were first dating is dead on - I can't count the number of times a female friend or acquaintance has said something similar (or exactly the same!) to me following a bad break-up/divorce. It is patently obvious from the beginning that the main character is going to be hoisted on her own petard, so to speak, but the book was well-written enough that I was interested to see just how that was going to take place. I had no trouble believing that the man character was instantly ostracized by her "friends" after the mysterious murder of a fellow "mom" who turns out to have been involved with her husband - especially since she freely admits in the book that they aren't really friends, but rather people she needs/likes to stay "in good" with because of her family circumstances. The depiction of her friends is a bit skewed - they almost all seem like shallow, gossipy vultures, and I did have some difficulty believing that no one, especially perhaps the head of her son's school, spilled the beans about her husband's illegitimate son after her husband disappeared and was clearly a suspect in the death of his mistress, but that omission is required to move things along. The reveal at the end about her husband's family was expected, but I thought it was described well. The almost seamless acceptance of her son regarding his father's actions and personality are far-fetched - I can't imagine a child his age more or less shrugging and saying it's all OK; I feel an adverse reaction would have suited the story better. The main character's reaction to the truth is more believable - she feels like a fool, she (sort of) runs away to escape the publicity and scrutiny and begins to come to terms with the fact that "she should have known" about her husband. I did like the fact that her book was going to be published, anyway, at the end, with her as a prime example of the women she describes in it. All that said, I can understand why some people reacted negatively to the story line, because it does make the main character, who is a very intelligent woman, look foolish and naive, and this book is, in the end, just another version of "woman meets man and is taken in by him and comes to regret it", but as I said, I did enjoy the journey enough to keep reading to the end.

I found this book so badly written it was laughable. Here is a typical exert 'and then, in a location so deep inside her that she had not known of its existence, really, let alone it's whereabouts, something heavy and metallic chose this moment to creak the tiniest bit open, with a grating of rust and the release of a new, terrible thought: that everything rising around her was about to converge' I think the author is trying to be clever, but it is just ludicrous. I felt I was being lectured in the first chapter (was the author a teacher at some point?). The main character did not ring true. I do not recommend this book at all.

Grace is a psychotherapist who has just finished writing a book titled "You Should Have Known". Many of her patients are in disastrous relationships and Grace feels that, had they really listened to what their partners had been trying to tell them the beginning, a lot of unnecessary heartache could be avoided. She says the clues are almost all there and that people really need to pay attention to what their prospective husband/wife is trying to convey. She smugly preaches about how the warning signs are all there yet women (n particular) choose to ignore their instincts and marry someone totally unsuitable or uncaring. In her own life, Grace is happy and irritatingly self-satisfied. Her husband, Jonathan, is a successful doctor, specialising in childhood cancer and her son, Henry, is a gifted violinist. They live in the same New York apartment that Grace grew up in, it was gifted to her by her father and she also has a lake house which was passed down on her mother's side, life seems to come easy to the family. Grace's writing career is just about to take off with appearances booked on all sorts of high-profile TV shows. Her life consists of meetings with her publicist and ferrying her son to his violin lessons. Jonathan is largely absent, he is dealing with sick and dying children and Grace is full of pride about this. She feels that they are both doing important work in their careers.One day Grace is at a fund-raising committee meeting at the luxurious home of another mother at her son's prestigious private school when she meets a sensuous and uninhibited woman called Malaga Aves. Malaga is breastfeeding her baby without any hint of self consciousness, and this embarrasses the other women, it simply isn't viewed as appropriate behaviour.. Malaga doesn't fit in to the snobbish environment and isn't even acknowledged with the other committee members at the school fund raiser. During the evening Malaga swans in, without seeming to have purchased a ticket, and soon has the men flocking round her. It is shortly after this that Grace's life begins to fall apart.I found myself unable to put this book down. The snobbery around Henry's private school was very convincing and I really warmed to the character of Grace once she realised that perhaps she has failed to take her own advice. Her tentative approach to her husband's estranged family is particularly moving. I also enjoyed reading about life in New York.Jean Hanff Korelitz does have a rather meandering style of writing and it does seem to take a long time to make any progress with the story. If you like your author's to get straight to the point then this isn't the book for you. I was sorry when I came to the end of "You Should have Known" and have already ordered another book by the same author. This is an interesting and unusual thriller.

I should probably give this book 3.5 stars as, like many other readers, I think it takes too long to get going. It's important to get the feel/atmosphere/background to the story but we're 23% of way through before 'something big' happens. On the other hand the writing was good enough and the characters fascinatingly unpleasant enough to keep me reading.It's impossible to sketch out the story without spoiling it for those who haven't read it but it's basically about a marriage seen from the point of view of the wife - Grace Sachs who is a relationship counsellor. Grace has written a book - 'You Should Have Known' - which is about to be published. The book warns women (and men, I suppose) that they should think carefully before committing to a relationship. If they're about to make a dreadful mistake - Grace counsels so many women who do - the signs/clues will be there if they're brave/smart enough to see them.The story, set in the Manhattan of the well-heeled and very well-heeled, is a tale of hubris and redemption. The opening third is slow, the middle third gripping, the ending a bit too neat for my taste. However, as I say it did keep me reading and by the end I did empathise - just a little - with Grace.

Other reviews do say that this book is too long but now that I've finished it, I'd disagree. Without lots of bells and whistles it tells the story of Grace - a woman who thinks she has everything. She loves her doctor husband, has her lovely 12 year old who goes to a good school. They want for nothing. She is a marriage counsellor who comes across as quite arrogant at the start of this book. She feels that if your life doesn't turn out to be what you wanted, well the clues were there all along and you chose to ignore them. She even writes a book saying as much.Naturally, it turns out that her life starts to fall apart and isn't how she thought it was. The book takes time to build the whole picture of a life that actually was pretty much a lie. It tells you how Grace comes to accept this and now focus on sorting out a life for her and her son. It's very subtle - no screaming, shouting or huge drama but that's exactly how it would play out.I wouldn't say it's a book I couldn't put down, but it's been a book I have enjoyed and wanted to keep reading.

I had great expectations about this book from the snopsis but unfortunately I was disappointed. I never identified with the main character as at first she came across as patronising. There are way too many pages at the start where she talks about the book the character has written and her fantastic family. I initially got the impression that the character was independent and strong and would probe and ask questions when faced with adversary but when everything goes wrong the character does a 180 and turns into this weak women that runs away from what people are saying and hides, I can understand that this could happen in real life, but the way it is described in the book it is completely unbelievable and very frustrating to read. I made myself finish the book just to see if it would get better but it didn't and I really didn't like the book