Author: Therese Anne Fowler
Pages: 352
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Release Date: 4th February 2020
Genre: General Fiction Adults
Format: Kindle
Good Reads Synopsis of A Good Neighborhood:
In Oak Knoll, a verdant,
tight-knit North Carolina neighborhood, professor of forestry and
ecology Valerie Alston-Holt is raising her bright and talented biracial
son. Xavier is headed to college in the fall, and after years of single
parenting, Valerie is facing the prospect of an empty nest. All is well
until the Whitmans move in next door―an apparently traditional family
with new money, ambition, and a secretly troubled teenaged daughter.
Thanks to his thriving local business, Brad Whitman is something of a celebrity around town, and he's made a small fortune on his customer service and charm, while his wife, Julia, escaped her trailer park upbringing for the security of marriage and homemaking. Their new house is more than she ever imagined for herself, and who wouldn't want to live in Oak Knoll? With little in common except a property line, these two very different families quickly find themselves at odds: first, over an historic oak tree in Valerie's yard, and soon after, the blossoming romance between their two teenagers.
Told from multiple points of view, A Good Neighborhood asks big questions about life in America today―What does it mean to be a good neighbor? How do we live alongside each other when we don't see eye to eye?―as it explores the effects of class, race, and heartrending star-crossed love in a story that’s as provocative as it is powerful.
Thanks to his thriving local business, Brad Whitman is something of a celebrity around town, and he's made a small fortune on his customer service and charm, while his wife, Julia, escaped her trailer park upbringing for the security of marriage and homemaking. Their new house is more than she ever imagined for herself, and who wouldn't want to live in Oak Knoll? With little in common except a property line, these two very different families quickly find themselves at odds: first, over an historic oak tree in Valerie's yard, and soon after, the blossoming romance between their two teenagers.
Told from multiple points of view, A Good Neighborhood asks big questions about life in America today―What does it mean to be a good neighbor? How do we live alongside each other when we don't see eye to eye?―as it explores the effects of class, race, and heartrending star-crossed love in a story that’s as provocative as it is powerful.
My Review of A Good Neighborhood:
The topics this novel approaches are hot ones! Environmental issues, race, class - it's all in there. The plot enraged me, let me say that! However, for a novel tacking so much, it delivered. Don't expect nice characters and a happy ending tied with a bow - it's not there.
The GoodReads synopsis says the story is told from multiple points of view. I disagree. There is one narrator always making observations as "we". The multiple points of view are in fact the chapters told focusing on various characters, not all at once. The narrator's unreliable, but at the same time it has a lot of intel on characters' thoughts and feelings. It makes little sense, but the constant references to "we" and "us" and things that happened later on helped create the mystery and suspense. I liked this We narrator, despite the far-fetched omniscience it tried to show off.
The build-up of the plot is not boring, although it's lengthy. When you think things unfold calmly and quite naturally for a small town America, that's when the narrator makes an allusion to what's coming next. In the very first few pages there's a mention of a funeral and things the neighborhood would find out about only later. That's suspenseful build-up in my book. But! The ending is rushed. I keep saying this about many books, but this one was RUSHED! Looking back on it, two days post having read the novel, I think this was the point: you start out normal, nothing you don't see in real life or hear on the news, but then everything speeds up! In the last 25%/ quarter of the book everything moves so quickly. I could barely keep up. Advice: don't read this part in pieces, but read it all at once so you can fully experience the shock of it all. Because shock I felt.
The characters are true to their nature. I can't say I have favorites; they are normal, every day people, you just accept them as they are. Julia is the weakest, in my opinion, because she seems more preoccupied with keeping a small, meak life, enjoying the finally found good, carefree life. By the time she wakes up to what's been happening around her, it's too late. I need to say here that the angle with Brad having sexual thoughts towards his step daughter is the sickest thing, no matter how I look at it. I am aware this could/ did happen in real life, but I wish this wasn't the direction it took. Then again, if this hadn't happened, the novel wouldn't have existed because this is the whole catalysis.
As for the themes, as I mentioned, there's everything. It's almost laughable to see so many threads woven together: environmental issues and a problematic tree; class issues; rape and paedophilia tendencies; racism and bias. That in the end the bad guy "wins" is infuriating and at the same time you see it coming. This didn't stop me from hoping for a different, better ending. Although I read "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas, this is the first novel that made me mad! Mad at the injustice, at the poor handiling of things, at the unfair treatment of full-rights citizens of a country that brags on its fairness and liberty, at the white supremacy that's still high and mighty. As a white woman in the XXIst century, I'm mad. Unfortunately, I don't think my feelings make a difference in the lives of real people. Although this is a novel, everything it tells could very well be the reality of somene in US. And isn't that maddening?!
Despite the heavy themes and the way things unfolded, the novel is engrossing and entertaining. Not in a feel good way, obviously, but in a keep-you-interested-and-wanting-to-read-one-more-chapter way. I am glad I read this, and even gladder that it made me see things outside my comfort zone.
I received a free e-book copy of the novel from the publisher via Net Galley. All thoughts expressed here are my own.
The GoodReads synopsis says the story is told from multiple points of view. I disagree. There is one narrator always making observations as "we". The multiple points of view are in fact the chapters told focusing on various characters, not all at once. The narrator's unreliable, but at the same time it has a lot of intel on characters' thoughts and feelings. It makes little sense, but the constant references to "we" and "us" and things that happened later on helped create the mystery and suspense. I liked this We narrator, despite the far-fetched omniscience it tried to show off.
The build-up of the plot is not boring, although it's lengthy. When you think things unfold calmly and quite naturally for a small town America, that's when the narrator makes an allusion to what's coming next. In the very first few pages there's a mention of a funeral and things the neighborhood would find out about only later. That's suspenseful build-up in my book. But! The ending is rushed. I keep saying this about many books, but this one was RUSHED! Looking back on it, two days post having read the novel, I think this was the point: you start out normal, nothing you don't see in real life or hear on the news, but then everything speeds up! In the last 25%/ quarter of the book everything moves so quickly. I could barely keep up. Advice: don't read this part in pieces, but read it all at once so you can fully experience the shock of it all. Because shock I felt.
The characters are true to their nature. I can't say I have favorites; they are normal, every day people, you just accept them as they are. Julia is the weakest, in my opinion, because she seems more preoccupied with keeping a small, meak life, enjoying the finally found good, carefree life. By the time she wakes up to what's been happening around her, it's too late. I need to say here that the angle with Brad having sexual thoughts towards his step daughter is the sickest thing, no matter how I look at it. I am aware this could/ did happen in real life, but I wish this wasn't the direction it took. Then again, if this hadn't happened, the novel wouldn't have existed because this is the whole catalysis.
As for the themes, as I mentioned, there's everything. It's almost laughable to see so many threads woven together: environmental issues and a problematic tree; class issues; rape and paedophilia tendencies; racism and bias. That in the end the bad guy "wins" is infuriating and at the same time you see it coming. This didn't stop me from hoping for a different, better ending. Although I read "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas, this is the first novel that made me mad! Mad at the injustice, at the poor handiling of things, at the unfair treatment of full-rights citizens of a country that brags on its fairness and liberty, at the white supremacy that's still high and mighty. As a white woman in the XXIst century, I'm mad. Unfortunately, I don't think my feelings make a difference in the lives of real people. Although this is a novel, everything it tells could very well be the reality of somene in US. And isn't that maddening?!
Despite the heavy themes and the way things unfolded, the novel is engrossing and entertaining. Not in a feel good way, obviously, but in a keep-you-interested-and-wanting-to-read-one-more-chapter way. I am glad I read this, and even gladder that it made me see things outside my comfort zone.
I received a free e-book copy of the novel from the publisher via Net Galley. All thoughts expressed here are my own.
Characters List (contains spoilers!):
Oak Knoll - the quiet, small town North Carolina neighborhood.
Brad Whitman - White man. HVAC company. Married to Julia Whitman, with whom he has a daughter Julie, and they also raise his step-daughter, Juniper, for whom he develops inappropriate thoughts as she becomes a teenager.
Julia Whitman - White woman. had Jupiner young as a rape result. When Juniper's 9 y/o, she marries Brad. Loves her new good life with nothing lacking.
Juniper Whitman - White young woman. 17 y/o. Made a purity pledge at the age of 14, at her parents' suggestion, to protect her of bad things&men. Falls in love with the boy next door, Xavier Alton-Holt. Wants to graduate earlier so that she can leave home and move to San Francisco where Xavier was accepted into college.
Lily Whitman - 10 y/o, Brad and Julia's daughter
Valerie Holt-Alston - Black woman. Michigan native. College professor of forestry and ecology, and into all things environment. Cares about the centuries old tree in her yard very much, so much that she sues the builder of the house next door and Brad Whitman because the construction of the house affected the tree's health. Drops the charges when there's a chance Xavier will not be accussed of rape and assault.
Xavier Holdt-Alston - Valerie's only son. 19 y/o. Music is his passion. Plays classic guitar, accepted into college in San Francisco with a partial scholarship. Falls in love with Juniper. Accused of rape and assault by Brad Whitman when the latter discovers the two young people having sex. As a consequence of the accusations, he's attacked by white men who hit him over the left hand, thus ruining it and making him unable to play the guitar.
Tom Holt-Alston - White man. Valerie's husband. Was a sociology professor. Died when Xavier was very young, a few months-one year. He had an altercation with a family member, stumbled as he exited the room, hit is head, and as a result in less than a week he died.
Chris Johnson - Valerie's long-distance boyfriend. Also a university professor.
Dashawn and Joseph - Xavier's best friends.
Pepper - Juniper's best friend
Reverend Matthew of New Hope - the Whitman's pastor
Kelli Hanes; Belinda Johnson; Ellen Davies; Esther - Oak Knoll neighbors.
Wilson Everly - lawyer Valerie hires to sue the builder and Brad; white, conservative, Southern man.
Lottie Corbertt - Julia's mother.
Jimmy Jamison - Brad's friend.
Sheila Jamison - Jimmy's wife.
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