"Sequels are notoriously tricky. Even the characters in The Sequel acknowledge it. "They're never as good as the first book, are they?"... Well, this one is. By shifting the focus to Anna, Korelitz gives the novel what many sequels lack: a sense of newness. While the story grows more intricate, she remains in control. Her plot ― ha! ― is propulsive, her prose precise."
―The New York Times
After the "insanely readable" (Stephen King) and "perfectly told" (Malcolm Gladwell) New York Times bestseller The Plot comes Jean Hanff Korelitz's equally captivating new novel: The Sequel.
Anna Williams-Bonner has taken care of business. That is to say, she's taken care of her husband, bestselling novelist Jacob Finch Bonner, and laid to rest those anonymous accusations of plagiarism that so tormented him. Now she is living the contented life of a literary widow, enjoying her husband's royalty checks in perpetuity, but for the second time in her life, a work of fiction intercedes, and this time it's her own debut novel, The Afterword. After all, how hard can it really be to write a universally lauded bestseller?
But when Anna publishes her book and indulges in her own literary acclaim, she begins to receive excerpts of a novel she never expected to see again, a novel that should no longer exist. That it does means something has gone very wrong, and someone out there knows far too much: about her late brother, her late husband, and just possibly... Anna, herself. What does this person want and what are they prepared to do? She has come too far, and worked too hard, to lose what she values most: the sole and uncontested right to her own story. And she is, by any standard, a master storyteller.
With her signature wit and sardonic humor, Jean Hanff Korelitz gives readers an antihero to root for while illuminating and satirizing the world of publishing in this deliciously fun and suspenseful read.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
October 1, 2024 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781250875488
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781250875488
- File size: 2001 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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July 1, 2024
Bestselling Korelitz, with two novels heading to TV and two already adapted, issues a psychological thriller featuring an author whose fame from her new bestseller leads to anonymous accusations that threaten to expose the truth about her life. With a 150K-copy first printing. Prepub Alert.
Copyright 2024 Library Journal
Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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Starred review from August 1, 2024
A less-than-grief-stricken widow follows in her novelist husband's bestselling footsteps but finds that someone knows more about her than is safe--for either of them. Anna Williams-Bonner has no burning literary vocation, and she certainly has no need to bury herself in work to recover from her spouse's tragic supposed suicide. But an idle remark while she's on the road promoting Jacob Finch Bonner's posthumously published final work prompts her powerhouse agent--the one she inherited along with Jacob's royalty checks--to get her into an artists' colony; Anna, whose years working on a Seattle radio show prepping a lazy boss for author interviews have given her zero respect for the literary world, figures it can't be all that hard to produce autobiographical fiction exploiting her alleged bereavement. Readers ofThe Plot (2021) already know that Anna is not at all what she seems, and this successor volume's deliciously nasty narration (third-person, but from Anna's point of view) creepily depicts the inner life of a perennially aggrieved, viciously vindictive, and alarming resourceful sociopath. At a signing for her novel, a Post-it note stuck inside one copy of the book warns Anna that someone knows about the past she has worked assiduously to bury. Tracking down this threat to her new prosperity and status requires Anna to revisit that past, and as she does readers learn in grim detail about the long trail of misdeeds she's left behind her. One wonderfully ironic plot twist plays on the publishing world's infamous slush piles, unsolicited manuscripts that molder unread for years in editorial offices; another reveals a rare misstep by Anna. A slew of barbed characterizations--there are no good guys here--add to the mean-spirited fun. The conclusion suggests that Korelitz may decide to emulate Patricia Highsmith and keep her antisocial protagonist around for more enjoyably amoral outings. Wicked entertainment.COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Starred review from August 5, 2024
After the death of her novelist husband, Anna Williams-Bonner fights to protect his legacy—and hers—in Korelitz’s powerhouse sequel to The Plot. Pushed by the agent she inherited from her late husband, Jacob Bonner, to write a book inspired by Jacob’s death, Anna publishes a weepy debut novel called The Afterword. It’s a hit, but at a book signing, she receives an anonymous note indicating someone knows about the dirty truths her manuscript is masking. Certain she’s being stalked, Anna turns the tables and begins to pursue her pursuers, working tirelessly to keep her past hidden as the death toll mounts. Korelitz makes hay with her satirical depiction of the publishing industry’s ego parade—untended slush piles play a pivotal role—and she brilliantly ushers the action toward a shocking conclusion. She also offers satisfying glimpses into what makes Anna tick, placing her alongside Tom Ripley in the pantheon of amoral antiheroes. It’s another taut and compulsively readable spellbinder from Korelitz. Agent: Suzanne Gluck, WME. -
September 1, 2024
The aptly titled follow-up to The Plot (2021) focuses on Anna Williams Bonner, now the widow of the much-lauded author, Jacob Finch Bonner. Anna decides to pen her own novel, largely based on the story she shared with the world about how Jacob died, which she works on at writing retreats described in cringe-inducing and hilarious detail. The Afterword manages to be both critically acclaimed and a best-seller, but mysterious excerpts of the novel cribbed by her late husband and originally penned by her late brother, start to arrive in her mail, hinting that she has left a loose end somewhere and that her many lies, deceptions, and crimes will perhaps be exposed. While Anna is a deeply unsympathetic antihero, Korelitz so expertly depicts how Anna is convinced of her own righteousness and that her being deeply wronged justifies heinous acts that Anna's flimsy justifications are almost convincing. Korelitz presents a compelling and worthy sequel, another rip-roaring thriller full of very amusing scenes of delusional writers and their awful prose and many twists and turns.COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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