Rating: 3 1/2 stars

Meet Kate and Tim Welch. Married for nine years with two small boys, the Welch’s live on a beer budget in the caviar neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights. Cramped in their tiny one-and-a-half bedroom apartment they do a monthly balancing act of keeping food on the table while fielding threatening phone calls from the phone company.

In the beginning, Tim is the breadwinner; serving as the history teacher for the local private school, while Kate stays home and raises their two young sons. While Tim believes that Kate “married down”, Kate notes that Tim brought an innocence and sensitivity that she craved—evidenced by Tim’s penchant for crying at the most basic occurrences—during her debauchery-filled college years.

While Kate and Tim’s relationship, viewed from the outside, seems to be one for the ages. From the inside, their marriage resembles two people just trying to get through it; using each other as a type of buddy-system. Tim and Kate don’t exude passion, so much as a quiet acceptance. One scene stood out as defining the marriage of two people who lost themselves in their kids and the monotony of each day: When their youngest son poops without assistance, Kate calls Tim to deliver the great news; Tim cries and Kate promises not to flush until he gets home.

So, it was no surprise when Kate’s old boss, Bruno Schwine, called offering a six-figure income that Tim and Kate jumped at the chance to change places; Kate becoming the breadwinner, while Tim takes care of the boys. Then, to raise the heat on an already-boiling pot, a beautiful, incredibly rich woman (Anna Brody) moves in with her family and begins spending a lot of time with Tim in the form of play-dates. Anna pulls the Welch’s into her world of money and excess, while craving the simplicity of their lives. Meanwhile, an old flame of Kate’s, now a rich and famous actor, is bent on changing Kate’s status from the one that got away to the one that’s here to stay. Now, Tim and Kate must rely on themselves to navigate through tempting waters. The only question being, will they emerge intact?

Tim and Kate Welch were very real, accessible and grounded despite—or maybe in spite—of their surroundings. I’m not sure they were meant to be envied, so much as viewed as a cautionary tale. Told in an alternating point-of-view between Kate and Tim and on occasion, Bea Myerly—a portly, former student of Tim’s who harbors a huge crush. With many unexpected twists and turns, The Heights is incredibly well-done; but one would expect nothing less from Peter Hedges.
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Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Dutton Adult (March 4, 2010)
ISBN-13: 978-0525951131