You Should Have Known (Korelitz)

Book Reviews
[S]mart and devious…Ms. Korelitz is able to glide smoothly from a watchful, occasional sinister comedy of New York manners into a much more alarming type of story.
Janet Maslin - New York Times


Dramatic irony isn't the only pleasure of You Should Have Known; Grace's husband's pathology is erratic enough for behavior that holds genuine surprise. But the real suspense here lies in wondering when Grace will catch up to the reader. When and how will she come to know what she should have known and at some level maybe already did? The momentum of the novel, not to mention the writing, takes off just as Grace starts stumbling her way, arms outstretched, toward a glimpse of her husband's true nature.
Susan Dominus - New York Times Book Review


(Starred review.) This excellent literary mystery...with authentic detail in a rarified contemporary Manhattan.... The novel’s first third offers readers an authoritative glimpse into the busy-but-leisurely lives of private-school moms.... [until] one....was found murdered.... The plot borders on hyperbole when it comes to upending what we know about one character, but that doesn’t take much away from this intriguing and beautiful book.
Publishers Weekly


[I]n the vein of Gone Girl or The Silent Wife; unfortunately, the suspense is marred by the overwritten prose. The book tends to be very New York-centric, so readers unfamiliar with the vagaries of life in Manhattan may find little to enjoy; still, fans of Korelitz's first novel may be curious enough to give this a shot. —Robin Nesbitt, Columbus Metropolitan Lib., OH
Library Journal


Grace Reinhart Sachs...lives the perfect life.... Karma being what it is, it only stands to reason that the perfection of her life...will fall apart at the mere hint of scandal. And so it does.... Korelitz writes with clarity and an unusual sense of completeness.... A smart, leisurely study of midlife angst.
Kirkus Reviews