Book Review: A Good Neighborhood

Book: 38/100

Rating: 4/5

Summary: 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.

Thoughts: I finished this book a while ago and still don't know how I feel about it. The first half is a slow burn, but the second half is an absolute roller coaster of emotions and you will be left angry and frustrated. Of course, not all books are written to make you feel warm and fuzzy (this one certainly won't make you feel that!) but it is one that I've been thinking about a lot long after I read it. To me, that's always a testament of a special book.

It's a thought provoking read on race, privilege, and abuse. Reminds me a bit of Such a Fun Age but this book is much darker. The author did a great job of setting the scene: I had no problems envisioning Oak Knoll, the big oak tree, and the Alston-Holt and Whitman properties, as well as mentally casting which actors would play which characters (this would make a great limited series). Viola Davis, anyone!?