Story for the Week
We’ve all seen them…new-build neighborhoods in an undeveloped area that are basically cookie-cutter houses. Same frames, same colors, same windows and doors, and usually part of a self-governed homeowners association (HOA) that enforces the bylaws of the community. They look pretty…and perfect.
And what about the people who live in them? Are they all pretty and perfect too? If you’re on TikTok, no doubt you’ve seen videos about the imperfect neighbors from hell, usually part of an HOA. Personally, I wouldn’t want to live in an HOA neighborhood. I own my home. I should be able to decide what to do with it.
I like the decoration on my front door that says “Welcome to the shitshow. Hope you brought alcohol.” When we got a puppy and fenced in the yard, it was my decision what material, height, and color it would be. When I wanted a gazebo in my yard, I put it where I wanted it. My furniture is the color I selected. I bought this home. I should be able to decide what to do with it.
No need to come at me if you’re a fan of HOAs. I know there are benefits. I just feel that the challenges outweigh them. I pay my property taxes to my local government, my mortgage payment to the company that financed my loan, my homeowner’s insurance to my insurance company. I’d rather not pay an HOA for the privilege of being told what I can and can’t do to my own property. (And before you ask, condo associations are different, in my opinion, because of the shared land aspect of condominiums.)
One of the things that appeals to me about neighborhoods with all different homes is the personality they create. I have thought recently about the possibility of adding a covered porch to the back of my home, and as I drive through different neighborhoods, I look for something similar that might spark an idea. Some of the homes have landscaping that I like. Some have decorations that look nice. Two of my neighbors have carports. One has a covered breezeway between the house and the garage. Some homes are one-story ranch, and some are two-story. Around the holidays, everyone puts up different decorations. Some people put up none at all.
I love that every house and yard is different. I love that my neighborhood seems to have a personality all its own. That means my neighbors all have personalities of their own, which is a good thing because I have a pretty imperfect personality of my own. And knowing a lot of my neighbors the way I do (How Well Do You Know Your Neighbors?), I’d say I’m in the perfect neighborhood for me. 🏡
Book Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5 Stars for The Perfect Neighborhood by Liz Alterman
288 pages
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: July 12, 2022
I received an advance copy of this title from NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books in exchange for an honest review.
Publisher’s Description
When actress and model Allison Langley leaves her former rockstar husband, Christopher, in the middle of the night, it’s all her Oak Hill neighbors can talk about. The gossip comes to an abrupt halt when five-year-old Billy Barnes goes missing on his walk home from kindergarten.
Billy’s mother, Rachel, blames herself for being at work and letting her only child walk alone. Cassidy, Billy’s teenage babysitter, was also late to arrive on the afternoon he disappeared and blames herself for his disappearance.
As the clock ticks down, police are unable to find any trace of Billy, forcing Rachel to ponder the enemies she’s made in their well-off suburb. Could it be one of her neighbors who stole her son? Would they abduct Billy to hurt her? How easy would it be to take a child while the parents or nannies are distracted?
When another child goes missing, the town is put under a microscope as the police try to get to the bottom of the disappearances. Will they be able to find the two children, or will it be too late? What secrets lie at the heart of this tragedy, and how far will one go to keep those dangerous secrets buried?
************
Main Characters:
- Allison Langley – actress who leaves her husband, former rockstar Chris, in the middle of the night two months before the story begins
- Rachel Barnes – 37-year-old real estate agent, mother of five-year-old Billy who goes missing on his way home from kindergarten, married to Ted and step-mom to Ted’s 22-year-old son Evan
- Cassidy McLean – 18-year-old babysitter for Billy who arrived late the day he went missing, also a piano student of Chris’s
- Sarah Davies – former teacher, stay-at-home mother of three, lives nearby Chris and Allison, her son Tucker took a guitar lesson once with Chris but never went back
Talk about a twisty thriller! Liz Alterman’s The Perfect Neighborhood kept me guessing the whole way.
Told from the perspectives of four women—Rachel, Allison, Cassidy, and Sarah—the story covers just about four weeks of time. The middle of June is when Billy Barnes disappears, and the story takes us through the beginning of July with a prologue-type section in the final chapter “six months later.”
We learn very early that Oak Hill, New Jersey, is a small suburban neighborhood chock full of gossipy moms who expect everyone to dress like them, talk like them, be like them. And the Langleys, seemingly perfect in every way—him a former rockstar and her an actress—never quite made their way into the inner circle of the community.
The first chapter starts with the gossip of Allison leaving Chris in the middle of the night two months before. Some claim they saw it coming, some think she met someone else. No one knows the real reason, but everyone has a theory. What stops the gossip about Allison? The disappearance of Billy Barnes.
Alterman created some fantastic characters in this book. Even though we have four points of view, all in the first person, each woman has a very different voice. Rachel is a full-fledged member of the gossip patrol until Billy disappears. Sarah is ridiculously judgmental, along with all of the other stay-at-home moms in the neighborhood. Cassidy finds herself in the middle of the controversy because she’s late the day Billy goes missing. And Allison is just trying to figure out her next move. At the start, we have no idea why she left, but we know she doesn’t want to be found.
I don’t want to give anything away here. There are so many possibilities, and the author does a great job of not revealing the truth until the end. I suspected the person who took Billy at one point, but only because I suspected everyone at some point. In the final chapter six months later, we get an update from each woman’s point of view—a kind of “where are they now.” And let me just say, this story may not be over.
You’ll want to pick this one up.
If you enjoyed this post, please comment below. Subscribe for regular updates, and share it with your friends. If you’re interested in starting a conversation, send an email to booksundertheblanket@gmail.com.
As an Amazon affiliate, I earn a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using the links on my site.
