A Good Neighbourhood by Therese Anne Fowler is a Powerful Novel that I Read in One Sitting

A provocative novel about class, race and star-crossed love in modern America from New York Times bestselling author Therese Anne Fowler that implicates us all in its damning, heart-wrenching conclusion.

In Oak Knoll, a verdant, tight-knit North Carolina neighbourhood, 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. A romance that will challenge the carefully constructed concepts of class and race in this small community. A romance that might cause everything to shatter… A Good Neighbourhood explores how class, race and star-crossed love will change two families’ lives forever.

Told from multiple points of view, A Good Neighbourhood asks big questions about life in America today―What does it mean to be a good neighbour? 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.

Polished prose and great dialogue push this compelling character driven read forward. We’re hooked from the start, knowing that something tragic will unfold. The foreboding of that weighed heavily on me as I turned the pages and has left me quite heartbroken since finishing.

A Good Neighbourhood is a powerful novel that I read in one sitting over the weekend and haven’t stopped thinking about since. In fact, I thought more about this brilliant book than I did the news – and that’s saying something at the moment. I guess there’s no higher praise than ‘A Good Neighbourhood is so engrossing it will help you forget all about the coronavirus.’