Therese Anne Fowler

Foreshadowing began with the opening sentences, narrated in a voice that brought to mind Rod Serling introducing a Twilight Zone episode, setting up the story.

A girl sitting beside a swimming pool behind her newly built home. The neighbor boy welcoming her to the neighborhood. A typical day in a typical good neighborhood, upscale and friendly, a place where women gather for book clubs and teenagers can safely run in the local park.

But underneath the 'tenuous peace' simmers the possibility show more of fracture, the conflict of class and money and race and values. For some, conspicuous wealth is the goal. For another, environmental concerns are primary.

And probing deeper, there are secret desires and blooming love and the blindness we hold on to for self-protection.

Lives will be destroyed.

Xavier was good looking, a National Honor Student. He had won a scholarship to study classical guitar. He was also biracial. His white father died tragically. His mother Valerie was a professor whose hobby was more than 'gardening', it was environmental restoration and preservation. She was especially proud of the towering oak tree in her back yard.

The oak tree whose roots had been harmed when the house behind was torn down and replaced with a showcase McMansion.

New girl Juniper never knew her dad. Her mom Julia struggled before she lucked out, catching the attention of a self-made man with a lucrative business. Brad Whitman set 'his girls' up in a sweet deal of a life. But Brad's easy-going charm hid his motivation of self-interest and sick obsessions.

Valerie includes Julia into the neighborhood while Xavier and Juniper discover friendship is turning into something more.

Valerie cannot allow development to destroy the environment--she must make a stand and decides on a lawsuit. Juniper doubts the Purity Pledge her parents shepherded her into taking and secretly meets Xavier. She knows something is wrong with her dad's attentions but Brad justifies his obsession and plots ways to take action.

I will tell you this: the culmination will make you shudder and you will cry.

A Good Neighborhood is a reflection of the social turmoil of our time.

I had to consider my own 'good neighborhood,' a two-square-mile city highly rated on lists, with quick selling properties, a safe neighborhood. A predominately white neighborhood with a small demographic of foreigners and split in half politically. A city that voted out a mayor who used tax money to dig up dirt on her opponent and fired long-time city workers who would not cooperate with her plans.

And yet...every tree-lined avenue may shade secrets.

I received access to a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review. show less

The Vanderbilt name is one I’ve heard but not really known the details about (besides being American and incredibly rich). I know I can rely on Therese Anne Fowler to write an entertaining and historically accurate story, so what better way to learn about Alva Vanderbilt? I loved Z (about Zelda Fitzgerald) so I was really looking forward to reading A Well-Behaved Woman. It did not disappoint!

The story starts when Alva was Alva Smith, a member of a well-respected family that was also show more incredibly poor. With an invalid father and dead mother, the Smith girls try to maintain an air of capability but things are looking dire. Alva is practical, and incredibly smart. She knows that the only way to save her family is to marry well and to marry rich. At this time, the Vanderbilts were looked down upon in New York society for being nouveau riche, having made a fortune in railways (relatively new at the time). What better way to entice them with the one thing they don’t have – a good name? Alma and her friend Consuelo conspire and ultimately, she is married to William Vanderbilt. Alva’s unspoken role in her new family is to bring the Vanderbilts into society. With her shrewd wit and calculations of what society values, plus help from those in the know, she elevates the Vanderbilts into becoming part of the New York they crave. But it takes a lot of money, and love is sacrificed so that both Alva and the Vanderbilts can get what they want. Is it enough?

Alva reads as an incredibly intelligent woman to me with little output for her talents in a world where women were primarily thought of as pretty decorations and baby makers. Alva’s determination and individuality makes her stand out within the family and in society. She designs houses, leads the family to new ideas and says what she thinks. She is a modern-day girl, passionate for the vote and women’s rights, tightly bound by the rules of regulations of her time. Alva does fight continually against conforming to society’s wants, whether it be a creative dress for a ball to hide her lack of money to asking for a divorce. Alva reads people very well to get what she wants – no, deserves. (Although when guiding her daughter into marriage, I think she would have come across as very controlling).

My biggest problem with this book was trying not to Google Alva to find out what happened next! I found all aspects of her life fascinating and the plot was well paced, focusing on Alva’s highs and lows. I felt that Alva’s happiness later in life and the subsequent pain of loss and deceit were palpable. The descriptions of life for the wealthy in that time period were detailed as were the details of the Vanderbilt mansions. Overall, I enjoyed A Well-Behaved Woman as it gave me insight into an influential woman who may not have been on my radar otherwise.

Thank you to Hachette for the copy of this book. My review is honest.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com show less

This is one of those books that grabs hold of the reader right from the start and doesn’t let go. From the start, everything slowly revealed about these characters expertly drew me in and made me want to know more.

The titular ‘good neighborhood’ is Oak Knoll, an aging, suburban area full of close-knit neighbors and gorgeous old trees. Valerie Alston-Holt is a widowed, middle-aged Black professor of forestry and ecology. Her main passions have been raising her smart, soon-to-graduate show more biracial son, Xavier, and doing what she can to protect nature and the environment. Xavier has a bright future ahead of him and all is well until the neighborhood begins to change as homes of aging neighbors are bought up, torn down, and replaced with McMansions by ‘new money’ people. Enter local celebrity Brad Whitman, whose HVAC business is popular and prosperous. Brad moves his family next door to the Alston-Holts, after first clearing the lot of all of its old trees to build his new home. While Brad’s family appears traditional and happy from the outside, things are not as they seem and his stepdaughter, Juniper, is troubled. The two families are very quickly at odds, and a blossoming romance between Xavier and Juniper does nothing to help that.

Fowler’s writing is truly excellent: descriptive while being very to the point, and her use of apparently multiple 3rd person narratives from the perspective of some unnamed neighbors was brilliant and effective. The timing is great, and the story moves along such that I had no time to be bored.

The story itself tackles a whole lot of hot-button issues: racism, profiling, sexual abuse, white privilege, power structures caused by economic differences, Christian conservatism, and ecological conservation. While it’s not an in-depth study of any of these issues, the author does manage to keep all of the balls in the air and bring everything together nicely. The end result is a heart breaking and powerful cautionary tale.

If you’re looking for an uplifting novel, this is probably not the book for you. While there is sunshine, there’s a lot more gloom, and from the very beginning, our Greek chorus narrators have warned us that it will not end well. Still, a totally engrossing read that make me think and hurt my heart. show less

I read a digital advanced copy of this book generously provided by the publisher.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

The premise of this book is very “from-the-headlines” and also very trendy right now. (Two families (or maybe a boss/babysitter); one Caucasian, one biracial; a disagreement; random events & meetings; some kind of open-ended but kind of complete conclusion.) See also, Little Fires Everywhere, Modern Lovers, Such a Fun Age.

A short introduction description on edelweiss for this novel asks, show more “What happens when you try to do the right thing but it all goes wrong?”

There were many things I liked about this book. I liked the perspective from the neighborhood/neighbors. I liked the characters. It was a page-turner.

Here’s where the spoiler comes in and it comes with a *trigger warning*. Maybe it’s my fault for not expecting it, but Xavier’s suicide at the end felt like emotional manipulation instead of necessary to the story. His plan for his future was ruined, but he still had potential for a life. He had a good & fairly communicative relationship with his mom. His character (frustratingly) seemed to jump to an incredibly drastic decision so quickly it caught me off guard. I don’t know. It just felt wrong.

This definitely wasn’t the book for me because of the ending and after thinking about it for *months*, I felt ok enough to write a review. I should have known when I saw “for the fans of Celeste Ng AND (emphasis mine) Jodi Picoult” that something devastating was going to happen, but suicide was never a consideration. I know, naive. However, it makes me feel like books should require trigger warnings on the copyright page (and make it a point to tell people where to find the ‘trigger warnings’ notice without “spoiling” 🤢🤮 the book). People would need to know where to look which is why I think the copyright page. It’s usually at the back of e-books (but at the front of paper books...I’ll need to google) so it puts some of the ...responsibility?... on the reader to go find the trigger warning(s) within that published/owned/borrowed copy without having to hit the Googs & Bings to find out. Books have subject headings would a trigger warning notification really take that much away? I’m not asking for full out ratings, just a place within the book where I can prepare for what’s to come. I’m sure there are many someones out there that disagrees, but opinions are opinions, you know?

The description currently on edelweiss where I accessed the ebook includes “heartrending love” in the last line of the description. The description on goodreads currently reads “heartrending Star-crossed love” (was that edited by a librarian? I should check). Maybe if I ever read to the end of a description I would have been prepared. I totally accept that I made a mistake in reading this book. show less