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An incredibily evocative, intense, and impactful book that highlights the many faces of ‘racism’; the ugly kind, the misconceptions, and the hurt and anguish felt by those who suffer from it and those that are wrongly accused of it. A mine field for many authors but not Kia Abdullah who has this remarkable ability to write a story that can keep everyone on side as she focuses a much-needed lens on the many faces of the ‘war on prejudice’. A toxic story, but relevant, thought provoking and balanced, and although it is mostly concentrated on racism, it could apply to any form of bigotry or bias. It is important to note, Salma's family is Bangladeshi, while Tom's family is white. Also, please note, each family has a dog and the dogs are also involved in the drama. I'm not totally familiar with housing developments in the UK so I had trouble picturing what type of situation the Khatuns lived in, past and present. In Blenheim I picture what we call a semi-detached home in a neighbourhood controlled by a homeowners type association which aren't very common in Canada unless it's a condominium. Despite the budding friendship of their two sons, Zain and Jamie, the battle between the two neighboring families continues to escalate until tensions are PAST THE POINT OF NO RETURN! If Jane Austen were alive, she would not be writing about zombies but the sorts of novels that Kia Abdullah does. They perch on society’s fault lines, observing how the codes of class and race determine actions, how good intentions can be weakness, how a word or a gesture can lead inexorably to catastrophe.’
Those People Next Door | Kia Abdullah | 9780008433703 - NetGalley Those People Next Door | Kia Abdullah | 9780008433703 - NetGalley
Zain posts a video online where Tom makes a statement to Salma that could be interpreted as racist. The result is Tom being fired from a job where he had worked diligently for many years. In Salma's misguided attempt at revenge, there is an altercation between Tom and Willa, his beautiful pregnant wife, and Salma and Zain. This accidentally ends in tragedy and further hatred. All my guesses on how this would end were wrong! (love that!) Kia Abdullah is the queen of final twists you never see coming. Yet again she delivered! But this time, for the first time ever, I had a hard time buying into who was ultimately responsible for the tragedy-it just didn’t ring true for me.my favourite part of her books is when the court room drama begins. KA is skilled at creating an intriguing case and filling it with immersive details that make you feel as if you are sitting in the courtroom alongside the characters. this plot was particularly hard hitting with so many relevant points on race and violence. The book showcased political commentary and the abduction of an elderly family dog and I do not enjoy fiction books with political overtones and/or animal cruelty. (Sorry, Kia Abdullah!) Since the author's "Next of Kin" was one of my favorite books of 2021, this book was one of my most anticipated reads of 2023.
Those People Next Door - Wikipedia
An entertaining comedy showing the war time good humour that helped the Brits to survive the blitz and more. There are twists upon twists. However, one of the final reveals was a bit of a letdown. It seemed to come out of nowhere. This is an emotional rollercoaster of a read that immerses us into the lives of ordinary people and communities, with their everyday issues of identity, race, history, different intergenerational thinking and being, and the inner need to belong and support those just like us. It all begins when Salma Khatoun, husband Bilal, and teenage son, Zain, move to the suburbs of Blenhem in search of new beginnings from their troubled past, but before they know it, it all turns into a nightmare. When a political anti-racist banner is placed in the garden, the next door neighbour, Tom Hutton, takes it upon himself to remove it. Salma chooses to let this go, instead placing it on their window, only to discover the window painted over. Inexorably things begin to spiral out of control and consequently tip into heartbreaking and tragic territory. Many thanks to Shelf Awareness, Putnam, and Kia Abdullah for an ARC of this book provided via NetGalley! Now available as of 9.12!** A few months ago, this book's very discriminatory publisher declined my NetGalley request to review this audiobook which, ironically, was a book about discrimination and rejection.Holy Hell. Have you ever had a neighbour that drives you crazy? Maybe plays their music too loud all hours of the day? Maybe doesn’t mow their lawn? Maybe just annoyingly chatty? Nosy? Do they make you tense with anxiety when you see them? Hoping to avoid them? Soon after they move in, Salma spots her White neighbor, Tom Hutton, ripping out the anti-racist banner her son put in the front garden. Avoiding confrontation, Salma takes the banner inside and puts it in her window. But the next morning, she wakes up to find her window smeared with paint. i loved the eerily realistic themes and events of the current political and social world we live in right now and think Abdullah’s writing was chef’s kiss (per usual).
Those People Next Door - Rotten Tomatoes Those People Next Door - Rotten Tomatoes
We then switch to the other family who are determined to put an end to the relationship because of the gulf that exists between them in terms of their social standing. The mother gives up on the idea writing to the girl's parents and… Favourite joke - the butcher is saving us a sheep's head, and he's leaving the eyes in, why?, to see us through the week, lol.The court part of the book takes up a little less space than in her previous books, but these parts are perfectly written, making you feel angry, agitated, confused, and eager to keep reading to find out how the big mystery will unfold.
Those People Next Door (1953) - IMDb Those People Next Door (1953) - IMDb
You have been warned now about these two aspects. In other words, you may read things in this book that will make you uncomfortable. You may read things in this book that will make you angry, or emotional, but I promise, you'll walk away with a lot of thoughts and it will be memorable.
And there’s an ending, well there’s more than one that blindsided me….I thought I knew the ending and actually admonished the author in my mind for making it ‘too easy to see what was going to happen’ how wrong I was and how great a book this is 🤗 so many characters were unlikeable and it this book really makes you think “what would i do if that happened to me?” keeping as spoiler free as i can, but it’s definitely a moral compass type of book 😳
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