Good Neighborhood, a - a Novel
Therese Fowler
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?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 heartrending love in a story that’s as provocative as it is powerful.