Book Talk: A Good Neighborhood

This book was such a great book to start the year off with. I honestly could not put it down.

Therese Anne Fowler writes of two families, one white: wealthy, somewhat famous, and very much entitled. The Whitmans. The second family: black, single mother, with her only son who loves music and does very well in school. The Alston-Holts. Of course, the two families have nothing in common except that they’re now neighbors, but Valerie Alston-Holt is always a good neighbor.

Soon the two families are at odds with each other and it all starts with the pretty house the Whitmans built that is killing Valerie’s Oaktree. It wasn’t that Valerie was looking to start trouble. She only wanted to do what was right. And let’s be honest, it was the Whitmans who started it first.

Then soon thereafter the daughter of the Whitmans and the son of Valerie developed an undeniable romance.

It’s listed as historical fiction that delicately tells the story of star-crossed lovers, race, and entitlement. The story is told from multiple points of view from the characters which I love. Although the story is written by a white woman, I applaud her for touching such a delicate topic as race and telling it from a black character’s point of view.

Therese goes so far as saying:

I approached the project with respect, aiming for accurate representations, mindful of the ways white aithors have gotten things wrong.

My only gripe is that I did feel like the black characters in the story lacked depth to them; which I get it’s hard to write from the outside looking in. It’s just you will really notice the difference in details between the Whitmans and the Alston-Holts as you’re reading.

However, this beautifully written book touches on what exactly does it mean to be a good neighbor even when the neighbors are so different and have absolutely nothing in common besides property. Is it possible to coexist? Is it possible for a love to prosper when families of different races and classes disagree?

I’m not going to lie, I was ugly crying at the end. As someone who is black and has heard this tale told many tales when my mother and grandmother would talk to my brother, this book is far from a happy ending. After ugly crying, I immediately discussed the book with my husband to process my emotions.

Like many other reviews, this book has one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking final paragraphs that I so desperately wish I didn’t have to read because I wished there was a different ending.

I highly recommend adding this book to your to-be-read list.

If you read it, what were your thoughts? I’ve found that readers either really love this book or hated it.

love & light,

Jalesa