The Heirs, by Susan Rieger

REVIEW:  This was a great read!  I enjoyed every minute of it and, when not reading, was longing to get back into the book.  The author created very interesting and complex characters who I wanted to learn more about.  At times, the story line jumped over a several years span in a chapter and, in one case, on one page, but due to the skill of the author I was always able to follow and never got lost.  There was only one instance where I was confused and that was when wives changed from the beginning of the story to the obituary without any explanation that I found, but this did not impact my enjoyment at all.  The author did an amazing job of tying all of the various story lines together.  Sometimes starting a new chapter (all of the chapter titles are the characters’ names) I would wonder how this was all going to fit together, but it always did and masterfully so.  I highly recommend this book, especially for book groups.  It will lead to interesting and meaningful discussions.  I received a complimentary copy of the book for this review.  

Characters
Falkes	Others
Rupert Eleanor Harry – law professor, Columbia, “the blurter”, affair with colleague Lea – wife Will – Editor, Random House; talent agent Francine – wife Mary - daughter Sam – scientist, MD/ PhD Andrew – partner, separated Gemma – daughter with Susanna Jack – jazz trumpeter, music always came first, could not play when not happy Katherine – wife Ingrid - daughter Tom, federal prosecutor Caroline – wife Lila – daughter, adopted age three	Edward and Virginia Phipps – Eleanor’s parents Marina Cantwell – affair with Edward Louisa - daughter Susanna Goffe – Sam’s best friend since childhood Eleanor’s previous boyfriends: Carlo Benedetti – lawyer Dr. Jim Cardozo Anne Lehman – married Jim Cardozo Ethel – mother Vera Wolinski Hugh and Iain – sons Hannah Bigelow – Looking for lost brother, Anders, four years after Rupert’s death Helen Sonnegaard – late mother Dominic Byrne – Will’s tutor at Cambridge

 For discussion:

NOTE: The page numbers are from the hardback edition.

1. Would you be charmed or annoyed with Ethel Lehman’s endless use of quotes?  Why?
2. On pages 98 and 99 Eleanor told Will that when husbands buy gifts for their wives they are either really buying what they think their mothers would like or what they themselves would like.   She called this “The old spousal gift fallacy.”   Do you agree?  What about wives buying gifts for their husbands gifts?
3. Why did Eleanor set up a trust for Vera?   Do you think Hugh and Iain are Rupert’s sons?
4. Discuss the benefits and negatives of being rude:
1. Rupert was rude all of his life and people did not take offense.
2. On page 222, Eleanor said that she was going to be sixty and that she was going to stop being so accommodating and start being rude because, “Rudeness is sometimes the only proper response.”
3. On page 229, when Rupert was dying Eleanor decided to temporarily give up her “budding rudeness” because they needed the kindness of so many people.
4. Also on page 229 Eleanor reflected that rudeness grows “exponentially with each eruption.”
5. Do you think Louisa was Eleanor’s half-sister by Marina Cantwell and Edward?  Why?
6. What were your thoughts about Eleanor as the story unfolded?  On the one hand, she was a dedicated wife and mother but on the other she was secretly meeting Jim at the movies.
7. Discuss the five sons and their differences.   For example, Harry was called “the blurter” because he said what he thought without any filters. Do you think he should have been able to control these impulses?
8. What do you think your reaction would have been to Vera’s letter about her two sons being Rupert’s children?  
9. It seemed like most of the men in the novel were either in love with or entranced by Eleanor.  Why?
10. What part did Dominic Byrne play in the story?  He only appeared twice, once when Will was at Cambridge (page 108) and at the end when he wrote a letter to Eleanor telling her he was getting married and implying that he was always in love with her but she would not have him (page 244).
11. What did you think about the ending?  What will happen next?

*****

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