A Good Neighborhood

A Novel

By: Therese Anne Fowler

Narrated by: Ella Turenne

Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

“A feast of a read.... I finished A Good Neighborhood in a single sitting. Yes, it’s that good.” (Jodi Picoult, number one New York Times best-selling author of Small Great Things and A Spark of LightIn 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 - an apparently traditional family with new money and a secretly troubled teenaged daughter - raze the house and trees next door to build themselves a showplace.

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 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 heart-rending love in a story that’s as provocative as it is powerful.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press “While Faulkner’s story veers off into the traditional grotesquerie of Southern Gothic literature, Fowler’s culminates with injustices that are painfully easy to imagine because they continue to be a part of our contemporary lived experience.” (Washington Post)

“A timely story about what happens when we fail to consider how our actions affect others and the tragedy that can befall us if we can’t coexist with those whose values are different from our own.” (Atlanta Journal)

©2020 Therese Anne Fowler (P)2020 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Relentlessly paced, stylishly written, and perfectly timed, Therese Anne Fowler’s latest is a sharp, moving portrait of an American neighborhood on the brink of change." (Christina Baker Kline, number one New York Times best-selling author of Orphan Train)

"Compelling and captivating, A Good Neighborhood left me speechless yet wanting to discuss. This is a story that will stick with you for a long time." (Emily Giffin, number one New York Times best-selling author of All We Ever Wanted)

outstanding!

Loved it beginning to end, can't stop screaming in the pillow!!!! ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

I am weeping!

This story, while fiction, has so many elements of fact. I think I have felt every single emotion there is in listening to it. My heart breaks for every character except for Brad. May he rot in hell.

Slow Start, Tragic End

I didn’t feel like the ending when did it self to justice. You may not want to radon because there are spoilers here. I would’ve been more satisfied if the “bad neighbor” had been charged for his falsifying the initial charges. The DA had to have known at the point of the extortion attempt and the other lawsuit, that the entire situation at that point was straight out manipulation of the system. So the good old boy system remained in tact with only monetary damages.

The book starts out very slow and boring to listen to as it builds the story. However, It is worth trudging through to the end.

Thought provoking

The story was excellent. It shows a view in our country that requires change.

Loved it!

It was a great story that made you feel all the feels. Great narrator on this one!

So, so sad

This book deals with very heavy subject matter that may well be true. It was left in an unchanged, deeply devastating way. Clearly there is no hope for the world.

Such a brilliant author!

Therese Anne Fowler is one of the most intelligent authors! She had woven so many reflections of our society and questions throughout this entire book. The characters are so real I feel like I could drive downtown Raleigh and meet them. The story peels away like an onion with so many captivating layers. It was a book I didn’t want to put down!
May we each learn enough to do our own part to change what is wrong with our society!

Audio performance wasn’t great

Story was interesting- kind of a Romeo and Juliet for the modern times. But honestly the audio performance was very distracting. The accents were off and some words were mispronounced. Plus it felt like it was being read very slowly.

Great story

Loved it although sad. Statement of our times and very tough world and todays lack of progress toward social justice.

I have mixed feelings.

I didn't enjoy the narrator's dreary tone and her occasional mispronunciation of words. The story had promise, as it tackled modern-day issues with relatable characters. But it felt quite preachy at times - so many agendas in just one book! Still, I hoped there would be a resolution involving positive change in the hearts of some of the characters. Not only was I denied that satisfaction, but the ending was a real punch in the gut. I feel like the writer's goal was to reveal the evils of white men, Christian churches, and everything in The South - and then tell us there's no hope that anyone can do anything about it. I'd have preferred to see enlightened people making things better.