It's not uncommon for the setting of a book to act almost as a character (for instance,
a small town, or
the city of Paris), but lately I've been reading several books where the story hinges on the specific neighborhood, or even an individual house. They range in genre from literary fiction to romance, but they all have that neighborhood/home centrality in common:
Unsheltered
In 2015, Willa Knox and her husband are wondering how they could have done everything "right" and end up with nothing - the newspaper where she worked and the small college where he taught have closed, their 401ks have already drained to nothing, their kids aren't able to find jobs, and at the age of 50-something they find themselves raising a baby grandchild in an old, crumbling house along with their adult children and ailing father-in-law. This house at the corner of Sixth and Plum in Vineland, New Jersey was also a fixture of an earlier period - in the 1800s when science teacher Thatcher Greenwood is also living in troubled times, with the rise of Darwin and the ensuing conflict of science and religion. As we follow the lives of these two protagonists living in the same house many years apart, the storylines start to merge as Willa researches the origins of her house in an attempt to get some grant money to save it as it crumbles around her - a literal illustration of how her family's life is currently going. This book sat on my shelf for a while before reading - I love Barbara Kingsolver, but I heard this one moved a bit slowly, so I was hesitant. But I don't think I needed to have been. It's definitely on the character-driven side, but I found it compelling enough that I moved right along. Sometimes I don't love the present day/past alternating storylines because usually one of them kind of bores me, but I found these ones equally interesting, especially in how they both provide some commentary on our current situation in terms of politics and science/environment/religion. While for both families in both time periods it seems to be the end of the world as they know it, I felt empathy and love for these characters, and ultimately for me it was a story with hope - a bit of a cathartic read for our times.
4/5 stars
The Dutch House
Talk about a story hinging on a particular house - this gorgeous-sounding historic estate in the suburbs of Philadelphia is really the impetus for how all of the family members in this story relate to one another. It's the purported cause of Danny and Maeve's mother leaving them when they were young and of step-mother Andrea trying to woo their father, and it's their disinheritance from this formative home that especially bonds Danny and Maeve and fuels their path through life. Throughout the decades, they return to this loss and rage each time they're together, in a figurative sense and also a very literal one, sitting in their car outside of the house and talking about their memories of it. While all of that makes it sound like a downer of a book, it's really not - the relationships and the writing are so rich, the characters interacting with humor, and all of it quite engrossing (despite not having a major plot besides just following these siblings as they age, and telling some of the back story of their parents). If you enjoyed Ann Patchett's
Commonwealth, definitely pick this up, as it's in a similar vein of compelling character-driven storytelling. Also, isn't the cover of this book gorgeous? Non-spoiler alert: this painting is actually part of the story as well, and I loved how that was worked in.
4/5 stars
A Good Neighborhood
Oak Knoll is a tight-knit, well-established middle class neighborhood in North Carolina where the residents see themselves as progressive, diverse, and accepting. They've got a bookclub and always watch out for each other, bringing meals or help to sick neighbors, and chief among these efforts is beloved neighbor Valerie Aston-Holt, a widowed black ecology professor raising her biracial teenaged son Xavier. And chief among neighborhood landmarks is Valerie's beloved huge, historic oak tree. The story kicks off when change - and tragedy, as is hinted at from the get-go - comes to the neighborhood as wealthier people start to "discover" the area, knocking down less expensive houses and building their desired mini-mansions. Brad Whitman, minor celebrity local business owner, does just this next door to Valerie's house, damaging the special oak tree in the process of putting in his pool - which sparks a conflict between these new neighbors that then has ramifications for their teenaged children, Xavier and Brad's step-daughter Juniper, who sneak around to keep their blossoming romance from their at-odds parents. This book reminded me a bit of
Little Fires Everywhere in the way you know upfront about a tragedy and you then work your way through the story to get there, and also in that it involves new people moving to town and shaking up the relationships in a neighborhood/family. I got some hints of
The Mothers, the way the story is told by a chorus, examining the a young love story and its related secrets after the fact and thinking about the ramifications - in this case, the chorus is the collective neighborhood voice (which really gives you that feel of this particular neighborhood location being an essential character in the story). And finally, I also got echoes of
An American Marriage in tone and in using an individual's story to look at racism and the justice system, provoking feelings of empathy and outrage. I really liked the format. Maybe a bit pointedly preachy at times, but overall a timely message well told, and I appreciated the nuance in the characters - reminding you that your first assumption about a person could be way off-base if you knew their past. My rating probably would have been closer to 4 stars, at least 3.5, if the inevitability of the tragedy and also the worry of thinking how the unfolding tragedy could potentially involve some really icky inappropriate relationship action with the step-father hadn't stressed me out enough that I felt I needed to rush through.
(Publishes in February; I received an e-copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.) 3/5 stars
The Flatshare
"What if your flatmate was your soulmate?" says the tagline for this one... Tiffy has just ended a not-so-great relationship and is desperate for a cheap place to live on her assistant editor salary - not easy to find in London. At the same time, Leon, who works nights as a nurse in a hospice center, is in need of some extra cash flow, so he posts an ad for a roommate who can use his apartment during the nights/weekends, when he's working. Despite literally sharing the same bed, the two have never even met face to face, but they develop a sweet friendship through notes scattered around the flat - until they do meet, and things progress from there, as you might expect. I'd put this in the "closed door" romance category, and also in the absolutely delightful category. Tiffy is super quirky - really artsy craftsy and bubbly - but to just the right amount for me that I enjoyed her and didn't find her over the top. The chapters told from Leon's perspective have quite a different feel, with kind of abrupt, short sentences, but I really liked that contrast that showed his personality and the ways his thoughts worked. In general, it has a lot of the standards of the romance genre, with the relationship ups and downs, the supporting cast of best friends, but then a few unexpected plot points too. Plus a relationship that you're just rooting for so much that you won't want to put it down - I finished in 2 days. Reminds me of some Taylor Jenkins Reid along the lines of
Maybe in Another Life or some Christina Lauren reads, maybe even some early Jojo Moyes like
One Plus One, so definitely recommend if you liked any of those!
4/5 stars
The Family Next Door
In a suburb of Melbourne, neighbors Ange, Fran, Essie and Essie's mother Barbara all live seemingly idyllic lives in a cozy neighborhood with lovely houses. But when Isabelle moves in from Sydney, suddenly there's a bit of spice to the neighborhood - they all wonder why she chose to move there, as a single woman in a very young family-oriented neighborhood. Soon it becomes clear to the reader that Isabelle chose their street for a very specific reason... and it also becomes clear that each woman has a secret or troubles inside the home that are going to break the perfect neighborhood facade. Sally Hepworth's
The Mother-in-Law was a favorite of mine this year in the "domestic thriller-lite" subgenre that I really enjoy, which focuses on moms and their everyday lives and relationships and struggles - but also some intrigue and/or big secrets from their past that drive a good plot (other ones include
The Perfect Mother,
Not That I Could Tell, and of course, Liane Moriarty's stuff and a bit of Joshilyn Jackson's new one,
Never Have I Ever). So for that reason, I was very interested in picking up this earlier one from Sally Hepworth, hoping for some similar feels - but I must say, I was a bit disappointed. While it had those elements that I like in this sub-genre, it just wasn't nearly as strongly written. The characters seemed kind of flat to me, and I didn't really form an emotional connection to any of them the way I did with the other books listed here. Also the title/publisher tagline seems a bit misleading as it seemed more to deal with individual characters' problems than with the interplay of ramifications of maybe not knowing your neighbors as well as you might think - more of neighborhood gossip than psychological thriller. Bottom line, if you're really hankering for something in this category, give it a go, but if you haven't read any of the others I mentioned, go to those first! Also, trigger warning for infant loss/post-partum depression.
3/5 stars
I've actually got a couple of other books on my to-read list that would fit this category of zeroing in on a specific neighborhood or individual house to really tell a story, top among them
The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street, which sounds like quite a delightful middle grade read about a family and their beloved brownstone. Just trying to decide if I should wait for when I can read with Hendrik...
Do you have any books you enjoy in this (made-up by me) sub-genre?
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