Morningside Heights

Prior to reading this book, gentrification seemed to me to be a racial issue. White people moving into a previously black or Hispanic neighborhood and buying up all the property and pushing the old residents out. However, now I see that it is also about class and age and interests.
The main characters of this book reside in the Upper West side of New York City, in the late nineties, just prior to an influx of money that turned much of the neighborhood, long home to old radicals and artists, into a large shopping. Anne, a former piano prodigy who now is happily raising a large family, and her husband, Charles, an opera singer who has a workmanlike career that leaves the family strapped for cash, are finding themselves on the brink of show more being priced out of their beloved neighborhood when the new money starts rolling in. They then begin to see a flicker of hope when they are named in one of two possible wills of an elderly neighbor.
I really loved this book for a number of reasons. First of all, I am in love with the Upper West Side. There is a scene describing Anne and Charles and their kids eating bagels and lox and reading that Sunday papers that seems quintessentially of this neighborhood and like heaven to me. I also was really surprised to find an engaging murder mystery threaded through the book. In addition, there were insightful ruminations on a variety of topics including the institution of marriage, the horrors of growing old when poor and alone and the scientific method. show less

Anne and Charles Braithwaithe are native New Yorkers who are raising three children in a two-bedroom apartment in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. But Charles’ income as a second-tier concert singer has never kept up with the cost of private school, organic apples, “tiny old violins” for the children, and most of all, the ever-increasing maintenance fees on their co-op, in a building increasingly inhabited by richer and richer people. When Anne becomes pregnant again, a move to the suburbs seems inevitable. Their friends—especially their single friends, Merritt and Morris—are almost as distressed as the Braithwaithes themselves. Meanwhile, they’re drawn into an investigation into the financial affairs of show more the very old lady across the hall who has recently died. Can their privileged, cultured city life be saved?

Morningside Heights is detailed, thought-provoking, and well-plotted. The characters are well-drawn and fleshed out; all are likable, but none are perfect. The neighborhood is almost a character in itself, and the Braithwaithe’s marriage comes under the microscope, too, as the life they tried to build together begins to come unraveled. A subplot involving their single friends, Anne’s friend Merritt and Charles’ friend Morris, adds an element of old-fashioned romantic comedy. This is the first of a trilogy (the second novel appears to be focused on a different family, while the Braithwaithes take center stage again in the third) but the plot is actually wrapped up quite tidily by the end, so don’t be worried about getting “sucked in” to reading three books—this one stands on its own. show less

I'm very familiar with Morningside Heights, though I'd like to think I don't resemble some of the talky, intellectual, self-analyzing characters in this novel whose musings sometimes made my head explode (the author is a philosophy Ph.D. and lawyer, so probably can't help it). Still, there was enough plot to make this enjoyable and I look forward to reading the other books in this trilogy.

Very readable, and a seductive world. Chick lit for the Woody Allen set. I'm sure some readers will accuse Mendelson of anti-suburban snobbery. Yeah, so what?

Morningside Heightsis the first of a trilogy of novels about an area of New York City called Morningside Heights. Like Astoria is a part of Queens, Morningside Heights is a neighborhood in Manhattan. For as long as anyone can remember it has been a quiet, affordable community but lately, as older residents pass away, their apartments are being sold to upscale "suits" creating an economy the lifelong tenants ca no longer afford. The story centers around Anne and Charles Braithwaite and their circle of family and friends. As the neighborhood changes so does the social structure that the Braithwaites have come to rely on. Everything they hold sacred - their culture - is compromised until finally they are forced to consider a new life...in show more the suburbs. show less

I liked this book a lot. It was interesting to read about NYC people - they are very different from Mid-westerners in many ways. But some human qualities transcend geography.

From Booklist:
In the first entry in a projected trilogy set in the Manhattan neighborhood of Morningside Heights, first-novelist Mendelson homes in on a charmed and charming circle of friends with the zeal of an anthropologist. For the first time in their placid marriage, the Braithwaites are experiencing serious tension. The overambitious gentrification plans of their co-op's new board of directors and the impending birth of their fourth child have pushed the couple's precarious finances past the breaking point. Charles, an opera singer, and Anne, who has turned domesticity into a deeply creative act, must now seriously consider a dreaded move to the suburbs. In addition, they are concerned about their best friends, a brilliant but show more lonely scientist and an acclaimed writer still reeling from yet another disastrous relationship. Readers will find it hard to resist Mendelson's radiant optimism, for she creates a world in which people naturally find and follow the arc of their true talents, lovers' defenses miraculously melt away, and decency and compassion are richly rewarded. This is one seductive novel. show less