The Sequel

Jean Hanff Korelitz’s novel The Sequel (2024) is the second installment of The Book series and is preceded by The Plot (2021). Like many of Korelitz’s previous novels, The Sequel is a satirical suspense and crime thriller. The novel focuses on Anna Williams-Bonner’s story in the wake of murdering her husband, bestselling novelist Jake Bonner. After Anna publicly mourns Jake’s alleged death by suicide, someone begins sending her threatening messages and excerpts from the manuscript of her late brother, Evan Parker. Anna has spent her life trying to cover up her past life as Evan’s sister, Dianna Parker, and she fears that the publication of Evan’s manuscript may reveal her manipulations and crimes. 

Written from the third-person limited point of view, The Sequel explores The Ethics of Storytelling, The Intersection of the Past and Present, and The Tension Between Truth and Fiction. Both The Plot and The Sequel are being adapted as limited television series by Hulu.

This guide refers to the 2024 Celadon Books hardcover edition.

Content Warning: Both the source text and this guide contain explicit descriptions of sexual violence, domestic abuse, homicide (including the violent death of a child), and suicide.