The Heirs: A Novel

An “original and moving” (The New York Times Book Review), “must-read” (People) portrait of an unforgettable, patrician Manhattan family and the tangled nature of inheritance and legacy, from the author of Like Mother, Like Mother
 
“An absorbing page-turner, full of sex and secrets . . . I loved getting to know the entire Falkes clan.”—New York Times bestselling author Emma Straub

AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
 
When English-born lawyer Rupert Falkes dies, his wife and five adult sons are bereft—even more so when six months later, their grieving is interrupted by an unknown woman suing Rupert’s estate, claiming that he was also the father to her two sons. 
 
The Falkes brothers are pitched into turmoil, at once missing their father and feeling betrayed by him. In disconcerting contrast, their mother, Eleanor, is cool and calm, showing preternatural composure. Eleanor and Rupert had made an admirable life together, and they were proud of their handsome, talented sons: Harry, a brash law professor; Will, a savvy Hollywood agent; Sam, an astute doctor and scientific researcher; Jack, a jazz trumpet prodigy; Tom, a public-spirited federal prosecutor. The brothers see their identity and success as inextricably tied to family loyalty—a loyalty they always believed their father shared. 
 
Struggling to reclaim their identity, the brothers find Eleanor’s sympathy toward the woman and her sons confounding, and they begin to question whether they knew either of their parents at all.

Susan Rieger is a graduate of Columbia Law School. She has worked as a residential college dean at Yale and as an associate provost at Columbia. She has taught law to undergraduates at both schools and written frequently about the law for newspapers and magazines. She is the author of The Heirs and The Divorce Papers. She lives in New York City with her husband.