The Sequel by Jean Hanff Korelitz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Anna is the recent widow of a successful novelist. She resents much of what has happened to her in life, but now she’s wealthy and independent. She has no particular plans, but decides a writers’ workshop might be a fun break from the New York hustle and bustle. She didn’t actually intend to write while there, but she thinks, how hard can it be? Not that hard, it turns out, at least, not for her. Not with her rich life history of tragic loss. We soon find Anna to be a successful writer herself. Her book tour goes swimmingly … until it doesn’t. Someone appears and spitefully reminds her of her past, a past when she wasn’t Anna, literary widow.
That’s a great setup and the writing matched the concept. Anna feels herself undervalued and badly used; she is not one to suffer maltreatment lightly, or at all. I really enjoyed Anna’s dogged pursuit of those trying to take away her newfound happiness … until I didn’t. I should say, I still enjoyed the book, but the ending devolved quickly into a disappointing mishmash of absurdly unbelievable scenes of “justice” being dispensed. Overall, it kept me guessing kept me anxious for the next chapter, and wrapped things up tidily, if more in the realm of satire than fiction.