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A twisty and consuming thriller, Perfectly Nice Neighbors asks: When your dream home comes with nightmare neighbors, how far will you go to keep your family safe?
Salma Khatun is hopeful about Blenheim, the suburban development into which she, her husband, and their son have just moved. The Bangladeshi family needs a fresh start, and Blenheim feels like just the place.
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.
When she does speak to Tom, battle lines are drawn between the two families. As racial and social tensions escalate and the stakes rise, it’s clear that a reckoning is coming . . .
And someone is going to get hurt.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
September 12, 2023 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780593787717
- File size: 319854 KB
- Duration: 11:06:21
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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October 9, 2023
Abdullah (Next of Kin) steeps this excellent standalone in the racial tensions of suburban England. Bangladeshis Salma and Bilal Khatun have moved to the suburbs from London with their teenage son, Zain, hoping for a new start after the failure of Bilal’s restaurant and Zain’s expulsion from school. The appeal of “neat streets and perfectly nice neighbors” has overpowered concerns that the family’s business setbacks might make the purchase of a new home financially risky, but Salma remains trepidatious. Her misgivings are only magnified when their white neighbors, the Huttons, reveal themselves as bigots: Salma witnesses Tom Hutton deliberately knock down a Black Lives Matter banner Zain displayed on the Khatun’s house, and suspects that Tom painted over one of her windows after she hung the banner there. Tom denies the vandalism, Zain films a confrontation between him and Salma, and tensions between the two families escalate, leading to violence and attempted murder charges. Abdullah dots the narrative with a few surprises, but plot twists are secondary to her unsparing depiction of racial prejudice, which sets this apart from standard trouble-in-the-suburbs thrillers. Readers will have a tough time letting go of this one. Agent: Jessica Faust, BookEnds Literary. -
June 10, 2024
Abdullah's (Take It Back) latest opens as Salma and Bilal Khatun move to a London suburb with their 18-year-old son, Zain. The Khatuns' business failed during the pandemic, and now they are looking forward to a fresh start. While they initially feel welcome in their new neighborhood, things quickly go awry when their neighbor Tom Hutton removes a Black Lives Matter banner from their front garden. Salma moves the banner to display it from a window, only to find the next day that the window has been painted over. The Khatuns suspect racism. The Huttons deny it, and confrontations escalate. Meanwhile, Zain and Jamie Hutton find much in common and agree to be friends despite their parents' conflict. The animosity between the neighbors intensifies, and soon, a lost job, a miscarriage, a missing dog, and a violent life-changing struggle send them all to court. Narrator Tania Rodrigues fluidly renders Abdullah's novel, showing how social and racial assumptions can cause misunderstandings that spin out of control. Rodrigues reads this gripping story with emotion, expertly ratcheting up the tension as the situation between the families becomes more dire. VERDICT This riveting thriller delivers plenty of twists alongside incisive social commentary. Great for book groups.--Joanna M. Burkhardt
Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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