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Carnegie Hill: A Novel Kindle Edition

3.7 3.7 out of 5 stars 310 ratings

Town & Country Magazine's Must-Read Books of Summer 2019 | She Reads' Best Books for Your Summer Roadtrip

"Carnegie Hill
has got to be one of the most charming, hilarious, and insightful books I've read in ages. When it comes to New York's (often befuddled) elite, Vatner has an eagle eye for detail, and an ear for whip-smart dialogue. This is an assured, heartfelt debut." –Grant Ginder, author of The People We Hate at the Wedding and Honestly, We Meant Well

Deception is just another day in the lives of the Upper East Side's elite.

At age thirty-three, Penelope “Pepper” Bradford has no career, no passion and no children. Her intrusive parents still treat her like a child. Moving into the Chelmsford Arms with her fiancé Rick, an up-and-coming financier, and joining the co-op board give her some control over her life—until her parents take a gut dislike to Rick and urge Pepper to call off the wedding. When, the week before the wedding, she glimpses a trail of desperate text messages from Rick’s obsessed female client, Pepper realizes that her parents might be right.

She looks to her older neighbors in the building to help decide whether to stay with Rick, not realizing that their marriages are in crisis, too. Birdie and George’s bond frays after George is forced into retirement at sixty-two. And Francis alienates Carol, his wife of fifty years, and everyone else he knows, after being diagnosed with an inoperable heart condition. To her surprise, Pepper’s best model for love may be a clandestine gay romance between Caleb and Sergei, a black porter and a Russian doorman.

Jonathan Vatner's
Carnegie Hill is a belated-coming-of-age novel about sustaining a marriage—and knowing when to walk away. It chronicles the lives of wealthy New Yorkers and the staff who serve them, as they suffer together and rebound, struggle to free themselves from family entanglements, deceive each other out of love and weakness, and fumble their way to honesty.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[An] effervescent debut...entertaining and profound." ―People

"Absolutely charming and heartfelt."
―New York Post

"A perfect beach read."
Town & Country Magazine

"Sitting in the sun in between travel days with a glass of lemonade (or maybe a martini) with this book is an excellent escape."
–She Reads

"Vatner's debut novel is absorbing and comforting in its omniscient perspective and delicate handling of its carousel of characters."
Kirkus

"Vatner brings to light how the other half lives, and, contrary to popular belief, how money does not buy happiness but can certainly give that impression...An excellent read for those seeking an exploration of marriage in all of its various stages."
Library Journal

"Vatner’s keen eye for domestic dissatisfaction will remind readers of Laurie Colwin. He populates the Chelmsford Arms with a delightful cast of characters, but best of all is Pepper herself, a charming, contemporary update of an Edith Wharton character. This debut will entertain and satisfy readers." –Publishers Weekly

“[A] charming, comically observant debut… it’s [Vatner’s] consistently wry wit and obvious affection for his deluded, struggling characters that are this novel's propelling forces, and which will win readers over with delight.”
–Booklist Starred Review

"The Chelmsford Arms, the apartment building at the center of Jonathan Vatner’s debut novel, is a bubble within a bubble, a Galapagos of the rich, full of beautifully bizarre mutations that exist nowhere else. A shrewd comic tale of old lovers, young lovers, and the blanket of privilege that both warms and binds them all. A marvelous book.”
–Jonathan Dee, Pulitzer Prize finalist for The Privileges

“Wit and high hilarity propel us through the pages of this tale of irrepressible lovers who are never on secure ground for long. There’s wisdom at the heart of this wonderfully buoyant novel.”
–Kathleen Hill, author of New York Times Notable Book Still Waters in Niger

"In
Carnegie Hill, Jonathan Vatner's array of terrifically drawn residents of a New York City co-op tackles race, homophobia, income disparity, and romance old and new. Readers of Cynthia Ozick and Amor Towles will love this witty and heartrenching chronicle of modern manners. Through Vatner’s sharp evocation of present-day Manhattan, we pity the rich, admire the struggling, and root for them all." –Bethany Ball, New York Times Editor's Choice author of What to Do About the Solomons

"A shrewd confection of a novel, fun to read and warm at heart―full of neighborly sideswiping, unfeedable appetites, and an overview that sees the pride and fragility of it all. The vibrant cast makes this a page-turner―you won’t envy these people for a second but you’ll have a great time watching them undo and fix themselves." –Joan Silber, 2017 National Book Critics Circle Award winner and the PEN/Faulkner Award winner for Improvement

"A richly imagined story, teeming with life, and a subtle exploration of the ways in which we grow or fail to grow. Jonathan Vatner has given us a wise and funny novel with a compassionate heart."
–Brian Morton, author of New York Times Notable Book Starting Out in the Evening

"
Carnegie Hill is that rare thing: A deft, delightful comedy of manners that also gets at dark, complicated truths about race, class, gender, and age. I loved it." –Joanna Rakoff, award-winning international bestselling author of My Salinger Year

"Carnegie Hill is pure reading pleasure. Like a warm-hearted Tom Wolfe, Vatner portrays the foibles of the upper crust with affection and panache―and gets all the details outrageously right. He imbues the elite residents of the Chelmsford Arms with the breath of life, and by the end we know them as family. He's a wise, wry writer, and this is an uplifting, irresistible debut." –Lauren Acampora, Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers author of The Paper Wasp

About the Author

JONATHAN VATNER is an award-winning journalist who has written for The New York Times; O, The Oprah Magazine; Poets & Writers; and many other publications. He has an MFA in creative writing from Sarah Lawrence College and a BA in cognitive neuroscience from Harvard University. He lives in Yonkers, NY with his husband and cats. Carnegie Hill is his first novel.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07HWPH6Y4
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thomas Dunne Books (August 20, 2019)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 20, 2019
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2567 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 337 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.7 3.7 out of 5 stars 310 ratings

About the author

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Jonathan Vatner
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JONATHAN VATNER is the author of THE BRIDESMAIDS UNION, launching June 14, 2022, from St. Martin's Press. His first book, CARNEGIE HILL (Thomas Dunne Books, 2019) earned praise from People, Town & Country, The New York Post, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. He teaches creative writing at New York University and the Hudson Valley Writers Center.

Customer reviews

3.7 out of 5 stars
310 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book's plot engaging and touching. They appreciate the well-developed characters and the sensitive way the author handles older ones. The book is described as an enjoyable, delightful read with well-crafted writing and humor. Readers appreciate the insightful portrayal of the characters and their struggles.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

8 customers mention "Plot"8 positive0 negative

Customers find the plot engaging and touching. They describe the story as moving, with well-developed characters and a compelling narrative that explores love and relationships in an intimate setting. The book is described as beautifully written and depicting modern marriages.

"This book was both poignant and fun...." Read more

"...employees of the building—and more importantly, it focuses on their romantic relationships...." Read more

"...While some of the story lines were interesting, this was not an uplifting book." Read more

"...The coop board meetings are fun and dramatic while the love described in the book between several couples is deep and honest and at times painful..." Read more

7 customers mention "Character development"7 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the character development. They find the characters fascinating and each has a distinct voice. Readers feel for the characters and their struggles and flaws. The author handles older characters sensitively.

"...what makes Carnegie Hill so much more is the complexity and depth of Vatner’s characters...." Read more

"I liked the sensitive way the author handled the older characters and the types of characters he included...." Read more

"...Characters likeable enough, and nicely tied up at the end, without being trite." Read more

"...As a resident of the UES, I actually found the characters true to form...." Read more

7 customers mention "Enjoyment"7 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy reading the book. They find it delightful, poignant, and fun.

"This book was both poignant and fun...." Read more

"I loved reading this book, getting to know and deeply feel for these characters, their struggles, their flaws, and their triumphs...." Read more

"I enjoyed reading this book...." Read more

"I like the book it is a good read" Read more

5 customers mention "Writing quality"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well-written and touching. They describe it as a stunning read with well-crafted characters.

"...Nicely done!" Read more

"Carnegie Hill is a beautifully written and engaging novel that captures the imperfect challenge of life and love in New York City — or anywhere...." Read more

"Carnegie Hill is a stunning read. The characters are fascinating and each speaks with a distinctive voice...." Read more

"...Well written I must add." Read more

3 customers mention "Humor"3 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the humor in the book. They find it well-written and a fun story for summer reading.

"...It is charming and hilarious, but I think some may judge this book by its cover and assume it’s an updated Sex and the City, portraying a world of..." Read more

"I began reading Carnegie Hill thinking it was a fun story, a simple summer read. However, I found it was much more...." Read more

"...Well-written, funny and touching and full of perceptive insights into what makes the characters (and all of us) tick...." Read more

3 customers mention "Insights"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book insightful about its characters and their depths. They also mention it's funny and touching.

"...excellent plot and character development, this book delivers great insights into human behavior." Read more

"...Well-written, funny and touching and full of perceptive insights into what makes the characters (and all of us) tick...." Read more

"Beautiful book about love, the depths of different people, and discovering oneself..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2020
    This book was both poignant and fun. The author takes us into the community of a stuffy coop apartment which surprisingly is home to a broad range of personalities. While being amused the reader learns some life lessons on marriages that vary from gay, to elderly, to newlyweds.
  • Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2019
    Carnegie Hill is wonderful. It is on a basic level centered on a young woman, Pepper, in her early 30s and her experiences on the board of the exclusive Chelmsford Arms, a Carngie Hill coop. But that is the mere framework. The novel consists of engrossing portraits of ten or so residents and two employees of the building—and more importantly, it focuses on their romantic relationships. He movingly describes the struggles, misunderstandings, and, yes, love. The book is also a flawless portrait of Manhattan at the current moment thanks to Vatner’s ability to perfectly capture details, foremost among them the politics of coop boards, but also streetscapes of revolving businesses, society fundraisers, and even asides about particular restaurants (Masa’s, Emack & Bolio’s). They effectively set the novel in its time and place without it ever feeling forced.

    I have one major problem with the book: the way it was marketed, from the whimsical cover illustration to the “charming and hilarious” quote right above the title on the dust jacket. It is charming and hilarious, but I think some may judge this book by its cover and assume it’s an updated Sex and the City, portraying a world of wealthy Manhattanites who subsist on cupcakes and cosmopolitans.

    It shares that basic setting, but what makes Carnegie Hill so much more is the complexity and depth of Vatner’s characters. Their lives are not interesting because of their privileges, but because Vatner portrays the lies, deceptions, disappointments, and loneliness, even in marriages that have lasted for decades. I glanced at a few other reviews and saw occasional comments that the characters aren’t likable. I couldn’t disagree more. All of them are flawed, but it is those flaws that, for me, made them feel human and fully developed. It is what kept me rooting for them in their struggles to build and sustain marriages, even when their choices are cringe-worthy, and turning the pages to find out how each story would end.
    9 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2019
    I bought it because it was "about life on a NYC Coop Board," something I've had long experience with. That was one aspect, obviously, in a million years nobody (including me) should buy a book about life on a coop board.
    :)
    My mistake. What the author does get right is that the building (Upper East Side, all white, wealthy) has a range of people and the coop board is a microcosm of that, money does not make anyone nicer, better mannered, smarter, or anything else. One board member (Dougie) is described mid-meeting as sniffing a bit of skin he's picked off before flicking it away, The coop President, Patricia, stockpiles the wine our naive protagonist, Penelope, has brought to the meetings, everyone knows everyone's secrets, etc. If, like me, you care about coop life, the author missed that meetings involve the super and the managing agent---another set of potential kook complexities! But here we have a series of lumpy, flawed residents, sometimes brought to life by the author, sometimes just lumpy and flawed, including Penelope and her husband. We see everything through either Penelope's eyes--and man, is she dim--how could anyone be so sheltered?--or through Caleb, the black bulding porter and truly the most nuanced character, negotiating his relationship with a closeted co-worker, and with his wacky white employers. Caleb is the true NY heart of the book, and through him, you get a sense of the complexity of NYC life, the understanding that dignity, hurt, loneliness, love and self acceptance are not one color, one economic class, one neighborhood. You can move your generic self into an expensive apartment and go out to "art openings" or whatever BS Penelope and her husband Rick unconvincingly fill their leisure hours with (when he;s not cheating and she;s not spying on her neighbors through a hole in the wall that just happened to be there) but they are just flat characters passing through. Since 9/11, this New Yorker has put everyone in one of two categories: the WTC firemen who died trying to save their fellow New Yorkers, and "everyone else". In this book, three stars to everyone else, but FOUR STARS FOR CALEB , who gets my vote for achingly real realness.
    12 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2021
    I was attracted by the cover and the name. Also by the NYC setting.. But there really was not muchlocal detail at all It could have been set anywhere really. I bought it after reading the kindle sample but the story never really developed, nor did the characters much. I never understood what was the major problem with Pennys husband. Seemed like he worked hard to earn $$ for her and she did nothing but bad mouth him. In the end the story left me feeling dissatisfied.
  • Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2019
    I liked the sensitive way the author handled the older characters and the types of characters he included. The range of social classes represented, from rich socialite to doorman, could make the book the genesis of an American version of "Downton Abbey."
  • Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2021
    I began reading Carnegie Hill thinking it was a fun story, a simple summer read. However, I found it was much more. The main character Pepper seems to have no direction in her life, yet she's such a fighter and rises above so many of life's idiocies. By the end of the story, Pepper, in her own special way, reminded me to take advantage of today, no matter where one is at in their life journey, and that somehow the rest will work out maybe not as we expect but with hope and grace. Nicely done!

Top reviews from other countries

  • Heather
    5.0 out of 5 stars A fun, happy book
    Reviewed in Canada on May 11, 2021
    I enjoyed the richness of the characters and the setting of this book in NYC. Delightful reading for difficult times.

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