The Latecomer, by Jean Hanff Korelitz

An engrossing, highly entertaining late 20th/ early 21st century upper class New York novel, running through Brooklyn Heights, Martha’s Vineyard, IVF and frozen eggs, private school, Ivy League colleges, sibling rivalry, family dysfunction, trauma, lies, deceits, infidelity and scandals, class, race, politics, religion, art, lost and found relationships. A tragic accident at the outset has an impact on all 400+ pages. 

A chance meeting results in a marriage born out of sorrow and compassion, and then IVF triplets. The father is disconnected, the mother is anxious, clueless and in pain, and the siblings want no part of each other or of their parents. A fourth IVF child from the same batch of eggs that produced the triplets is born 18 years later (the “latecomer”). Each of the kids is quite different from the others. Korelitz has manufactured a bevy of mostly flawed and unattractive yet compelling and fully developed characters (Korelitz has called one of them  a “nasty piece of work”). It took a while to find characters to like, but it happened. Several turns of events brought either gasps or laughter, sometimes both. With Korelitz, there is always another wave to come crashing onto the beach. Dripping with satire. Highly recommended.