Synopses & Reviews
At once light of touch, laugh-out-loud funny, and packed with the emotion and depth of character that made Peter Hedges's first novel,
What's Eating Gilbert Grape, a classic,
The Heights is a smart, insightful comedy of manners about the risks of losing everything and the bittersweet search to find what you most want in life.
Tim Welch is a popular history teacher at the Montague Academy, an exclusive private school in Brooklyn Heights. As he says, "I was an odd-looking, gawky kid but I like to think my rocky start forced me to develop empathy, kindness, and a tendency to be enthusiastic. All of this, I'm now convinced, helped in my quest to be worthy of Kate Oliver."
Now, Kate is not inherently ordinary. But she aspires to be. She stays home with their two young sons in a modest apartment trying desperately to become the parent she never had. They are seemingly the last middle-class family in the Heights, whose world is turned upside down by Anna Brody, the new neighbor who moves into the most expensive brownstone in Brooklyn, sending the local society into a tailspin.
Anna is not only beautiful and wealthy; she's also mysterious. And for reasons Kate doesn't quite understand, even as all the Range Rover-driving moms jockey for invitations into Anna's circle, Anna sets her sights on Kate and Tim and brings them into her world.
Like Tom Perrotta, Peter Hedges has a keen eye for the surprising truths of daily life. The Heights is at once light of touch and packed with emotion and depth of character.
Review
"[T]he most successful novel yet from Hedges....Warm-hearted yet unsentimental, a smooth weave of marital and neighborhood dynamics." Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Review
"If you like your male-driven domestic novels dark...The Heights may lack bite. But if you've had enough suburban nihilism, Hedges brightens things up, even if his conclusions are not all sweetness and light." The Washington Post Book World
Review
"The Heights' witty and honest take on marital claustrophobia shows the virtue of taking your time." GQ Magazine
Review
"The somewhat predictable outcomes are ameliorated by the charm of his characters and his obvious fondness for them....[A]n enjoyable novel of modern manners." Booklist
Review
"The Heights stays with you. As much a metaphor for being swept off your feet by lofty people or aspirations or location, The Heights delves into the marriage of a futurist woman working for a nonprofit and a history teacher at a Brooklyn Heights private school taking a sabbatical to finish his dissertation on the history of loss." New York Daily News
Review
"Hedges has a knack for taking everyday life and making it fascinating....The Heights us a no-holds-barred expose of suburbia and the strains of marriage and childrearing, but Hedges deftly transforms this weighty subject matter into an addictive blend of melodrama carefully balanced with comedy...creating a novel that is devilishly delightful." BookPage
Synopsis
The Welches are seemingly the last middle-class family in the Heights whose world is turned upside down by a new wealthy neighbor. The author of What's Eating Gilbert Grape once again turns his keen eye to the surprising truths of daily life.
Synopsis
Tim Welch is a popular history teacher at the Montague Academy, an exclusive private school in Brooklyn Heights. As he says, "I was an odd-looking, gawky kid but I like to think my rocky start forced me to develop empathy, kindness, and a tendency to be enthusiastic. All of this, I'm now convinced, helped in my quest to be worthy of Kate Oliver." Now, Kate is not inherently ordinary. But she aspires to be. She stays home with their two young sons in a modest apartment trying desperately to become the parent she never had. They are seemingly the last middle-class family in the Heights, whose world is turned upside down by Anna Brody, the new neighbor who moves into the most expensive brownstone in Brooklyn, sending the local society into a tailspin.
Anna is not only beautiful and wealthy; she's also mysterious. And for reasons Kate doesn't quite understand, even as all the Range Rover- driving moms jockey for invitations into Anna's circle, Anna sets her sights on Kate and Tim and brings them into her world.
Like Tom Perrotta, Peter Hedges has a keen eye for the surprising truths of daily life. The Heights is at once light of touch and packed with emotion and depth of character.
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Synopsis
A "devilishly delightful" (Bookpage) new novel from an Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and the author of What's Eating Gilbert Grape. Tim and Kate Welch are seemingly the last middle- class family in the exclusive neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights, NewYork. Tim is a popular history teacher, and an ordinary guy. Kate is not ordinary, but she aspires to be. Brought up by a hippie mother, Kate stays home with their two young sons trying to be the responsible parent she never had. But their neat and tidy world is turned upside down when Anna Brody- beautiful, wealthy, and impulsive-moves into the most expensive brownstone in Brooklyn, and draws Kate and Tim into her world.
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About the Author
Peter Hedges wrote both the novel and the screenplay What's Eating Gilbert Grape, and is the writer-director of Pieces of April and Dan in Real Life. His screenplay for About a Boy was nominated for an Academy Award.