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There are currently 25 member reviews
for Morningside Heights
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Mary S. (Hilton Head Island, SC)
Realistic and Compelling
Seldom does a story about a family attain the realism that the author did in this book. Perhaps I am at an age when the storyline depicts situations similar to my own, but I identified with each of the characters completely. The author's use of parallel timelines captured my attention and made me want to read on and learn "what happens next". The life situations were believable and enduring-- I highly recommend this book as a quick, enjoyable read!
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Cynthia V. (New York, NY)
Surprisingly Uplifting
A novel about a literature professor's battle with early onset Alzheimer's does not sound like something I'd ordinarily be drawn to. But this book is so much more. The setting is contemporary Upper West Side New York in the environs of Columbia University. The family members experience complex and sometimes contradictory emotions, which are honest and unsentimental. I found the author's writing of the family dynamics lovingly natural and unselfconscious. The time frame goes back and forth, but easily understood and serves character development well. Reading this compassionate, well-written and ultimately life affirming novel was a pleasure.
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Judith Guffey
Everyman’s story
The revolving doors of these families kept me engaged and eager to read the next part. A story of love, mistrust, abandonment, forgiveness, and care for one another. Poignant and bittersweet. I devoured this book in a few hours.
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Beth B. (New Wilmington, PA)
Remniscences in Morningside Heights
Do not miss reading this novel! Its colorful cast of characters impart wisdom that is insightful and unforgettable. Issues span a wide range of topics from family interaction to education to illness and its effects on this family to caregivers and forever friends. The author, Joshua Henkin, addresses how we appear and disappear, fading in and out of vitality and purpose. It would be difficult to name a favorite character; all are rich in their own right. How rare to discover such texture and perspective in a novel! I look forward to reading it again immediately, this time making journal entries of favorite sections.
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Gail K. (Saratoga Springs, NY)
Morningside Heights, a Love Story
Although it sounds like a cliché, Morningside Heights is a love story. It is the love story of a husband and a wife, parents and children, even caregivers and the person needing care. These relationships are at times difficult, tender, poignant and sometimes humorous. In spite of the fact that there is tragedy at the core of this novel, Henkin's handling of it is authentic without being maudlin. I finished this book with a sigh, knowing these characters will remain with me well beyond the last page. Now I look forward to reading Henkin's earlier work.
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Suzanne G. (Tucson, AZ)
Morningside
The story kept my interest with the characters intertwined with love and consideration. It was a plot that was hard for me to read as our family is beginning to deal with my husband's similar dementia. The book introduced me to a concerning progress situation that has nowhere to go but backwards. I certainly gave Pru credit for control; I end up with anger at times. I will recommend Morningside Heights to my book club — much we can discuss.
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Rebecca R. (Las Vegas, NV)
Very Realistic and Engaging
I enjoyed this novel about the culture-loving Braithwaite family (dad- an opera singer) in New York because the so-called revitalization or gentrification of neighborhoods has been a very real issue for people I know. Quaint neighborhoods with lovely backyards are suddenly areas where a single-story home's back yard never has any sunshine because you are surrounded by two and three story McMansions. In the case of this book, it is New York apartment life, and the activities of the residents are fun, American social commentary. Part of the interest in this book is the fact that Morningside Heights is part of the real Manhattan, New York.
