Book Review: A GRACIOUS NEIGHBOR

Title: A Gracious Neighbor
Author: Chris Cander
Publisher: Little A
Pages: 304
My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

 

Martha Hale has a happy life with her lawyer husband, Lewis, and son, Harry. Their lifestyle isn’t as privileged as that of their neighbours, and Martha doesn’t have any friends, but she doesn’t let it bother her.

When old high schoolmate Minnie Wright nee Foster moves in next door, Martha, who spent her teenage years trying to befriend Minnie, sees this as her chance to re-initiate a close friendship with Minnie. 

 

The book, set in an upmarket neighbourhood in Texas, raises the themes of jealousy and satisfaction with one’s lot in life. It also reminds us that perfection is an illusion. Even Minnie’s house, for all its perfection, harbours huge cockroaches, an insect universally looked upon with revulsion.

 

At first, I found Martha hard to like, but slowly I developed a grudging tolerance towards her. She was kind and she had her heart in the right place. Of course, the effects of her actions weren’t always as she expected or hoped for. She overthinks the problems in her life and resorts to solutions that are inane and doomed to fail. She takes her self-styled role as Good Friend and Neighbour so seriously that she doesn’t even realise that she is transgressing boundaries that should not be crossed.

There was a singular loneliness in the characters’ lives. Martha was lonely, but so were the others, even those whose lifestyles were better than her own. 

It was a slow burner of a novel, so slow that the author even manages to name-drop one of her other books into this one.

After the 28% mark, chapters began to end on a vaguely ominous note. But it was only at the 53% mark that the action promised to get into a higher gear. The first hint of trouble came at the 80% mark.

The plot was a loose series of events. On the surface, there seemed an excess of minutiae about Martha’s life. But it did feel like a build-up at some points.

Even though the pace was slow and it was more of a character-, rather than plot-driven book, we read about Martha’s day with a sense of foreboding, knowing that something is about to go wrong.

Some issues I had: The cuisine served by the restaurant they went to for their anniversary dinner should be North Indian cuisine, not Northern Indian.

One simile that stood out for its visual imagery: She felt like cheese melting between two warm slices of toasted bread.

(I read this book on NetGalley. Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley.)