A Good Neighborhood - Therese Anne Fowler

A Good Neighborhood

By Therese Anne Fowler

  • Release Date: 2020-03-10
  • Genre: Family Fiction & Literature
4 Score: 4 (From 539 Ratings)

Description

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * One of NPR's Best Books of 2020

"A provocative, absorbing read."
— People

“A feast of a read... I finished A Good Neighborhood in a single sitting. Yes, it’s that good.”
—Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Small Great Things and A Spark of Light

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, who’s headed to college in the fall. All is well until the Whitmans—a family with new money and a secretly troubled teenage daughter—raze the house and trees next door to build themselves a showplace.

With little in common except a property line, these two 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 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 love in a story that’s as provocative as it is powerful.

Reviews

  • Quick read

    5
    By Galligs
    Loved the characters and the story.
  • Great read

    5
    By chuckleedee
    Fast paced, twisty and so true in today’s world.
  • Terrible

    1
    By LeahFatt
    First half was fine, despite the extremely stereotypical characters. The last third, where the actual story happens, is disgusting and terrible. I regret the time I spent reading this book and the money I paid for it.
  • A Great Read

    4
    By Allidan
    This was a little slow to get started, which is why I am giving it only 4 stars. Once it got going, WOW! I could not put it down.
  • Excellent

    5
    By Saiaii
    I read a lot of books, I will always remember this one. I couldn’t put it down, besides being a good read it’s an ambitious reminder of how easily society can change lives.
  • A Good Neighborhood

    5
    By yeah that G'ville
    Wonderful and moving!
  • Excellent

    5
    By Runnerg71
    I am a very slow reader. It usually takes me a couple of months to finish a book, if I finish it. I finished this book in three days! It’s well done and unfortunately portrays a reality about racism, the power of wealth and what happens to innocence when you lose hope. Very gripping that leaves me a sadness of who is left standing and who is sacrificed all to easily in this country.
  • Powerful and emotional

    5
    By KHHSC
    A Good Neighborhood brings home issues that affect us all: entitlement, gentrification, racism, rape, bullying and concern for the environment. Terese Anne Fowler accomplishes this seamlessly by telling a simple, devastating story. Buck Whitman, a self made HVAC salesman, builds his McMansion in Oak Knoll, a small town with a diverse group of residents. He moves in with his wife Julia, teenage stepdaughter Juniper and daughter Lily. Valerie Alston-Holt, a professor at the local college and widow with Xavier, her biracial, musically gifted high school senior son, is his neighbor. I’m stopping here with the plot to avoid spoilers. I am not going to say you won’t have an idea where this novel is heading. You will. But as you read, you’ll be trying to stop it, to turn it around. I am sure The Good Neighborhood will certainly be one of the best books of this year. It broke my heart. 5 stars. Thank you, thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Terese Anne Fowler for this ARC.

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