One of the things that's really hit home for a lot of people over the last year of lock-downs and isolation's is how important our homes are to us. It's probably something that a lot of people never thought about until they were spending the vast majority of their time stuck at home, but they're an incredibly important part of our lives. But it's not just your home that matters, its the people who live around you. Your neighbours and the community can dictate whether your home feels like a safe haven, or if it leaves you constantly on edge.

Good Neighbours shows readers what should be a perfect neighbourhood, a place where people are friendly with each other, where they share their thoughts on the community group social media, where they get together to have barbecues, where the kids can play safely. When it's working the way it should it's a wonderful place to live; but when things start to go bad it can be the neighbours around you who can make your life hell.

Maple Street is a community that most of us would want to live in, but very quickly, before the bad stuff even begins to happen, we get a sense that there's something awful just beneath this perfect veneer. The neighbourhood seems to be ruled by Rhea Schroeder, a college professor who acts like the den mother for the families on the block, but is in fact a master manipulator, and coldly evil woman.

We see this when the Wilde family, who have recently moved into the neighbourhood, are left out of the community's fourth of July celebration. Rhea makes it clear to Gertie Wilde that it wasn't an accident that they were the only ones not invited, though Gertie has no idea what the family could have done to receive this kind of treatment. Before anything can be made of this, however, the ground in the park literally opens up beneath them as a sinkhole appears; putting an end to the festivities.

Over the coming days, with the summer heat soaring and the fumes and bitumen leaking from the hole in the middle of their community, tensions continue to build around the Wilde's. Things come to a head one day when Shelly, Rhea's daughter reveals a dark secret to Julia Wilde. Then a terrible accident happens, and Shelly falls into the sinkhole.

As the search for the missing girl goes on and on it becomes clear that the child won't be found alive, and as the neighbourhood mourns this terrible tragedy Rhea begins to start rumours. She claims that Shelly was trying to run away from Arlo Wilde, who was amongst the various adults trying to get the kids away from the sinkhole. She claims that Arlo has raped her daughter, and possibly multiple kids on the block.

This begins a mob mentality that grows and grows as the summer wears on. The parents of the neighbourhood begin to suspect that Rhea's claims might be right, then that perhaps their own kids were molested at Arlo's hands. They look at the Wilde's, a family so different from the rest of them, with different accents and a low income background, and decide that they're a danger. Taking justice into their own hands the neighbourhood soon descends into a state of horrific vigilante justice.

Good Neighbours ended up being something of a very disturbing book to read. Not because it included references to child sexual abuse (something that is only a wild rumour in the book anyway), but because of how terrifyingly real the mob mentality of the people on Maple Street was. Because of our vantage point as the readers we get to see everything that happens in this book. We see the events that lead up to the tragic death of Shelly, and know that Arlo Wilde is completely innocent; but we have to watch at the others start to listen to the accusations against him and go from outright denial to thinking there's a chance they could be true. We see these seeds of doubt turn into a conviction that this man must be a paedophile, and that anything done to him is more than justified.

It's almost terror inducing how quickly things spin out of control in this story, and how these average, normal people become driven to abuse, vandalism, and even violence because they've become convinced of something that's just flat out wrong. Even when their kids are telling them it's not true, that Arlo never did anything to them they're rationalising attacking him in the street.

Where so many thrillers keep the real events a mystery, hoping that the reader will try to work things out Good Neighbours takes on a very different approach, and is so much stronger because of it. You end up feeling so much for the Wilde's, you become worried for what will happen to them, and you'll even begin to hate these 'normal' everyday people who are being twisted into a violent, hateful mob.

One of the things that made the story so affecting for me is that I've seen this. It happens every day. It's not motivated by a child falling into a sinkhole, but I've seen how rumours and lies are used by one malicious figure to turn others into a force for evil. We see it with the nastiness of people refusing to take precautions during the pandemic because they've bought into lies about medicine. We see it with political supporters being whipped into performing armed insurrection because they've been fed lies about the political process. We see it with the daily attacks on trans and queer people by those who peddle recycled ideas that rights are being stripped away from others, or that children are in danger.

It's so ridiculously easy for people to buy into false narratives because everyone wants to feel like they're the smart ones. Everyone wants to be the one to be able to say 'I saw the truth' and 'I did the right thing', so they engage in reckless actions convinced that they're in the right; and nothing that is said to them can sway them because then they'll have to admit they're caused harm. This is what takes centre stage of Good Neighbours, this horrible, twisted part of human nature; and because of that, this book felt haunting to read. It was something I felt I'd seen before in real life, and something I'm afraid could one day happen to me and those I love.

Sarah Langan does a brilliant job at piling on the pressure, of crafting a narrative that on one hand makes you want to stop reading because you know something awful is coming, yet urges you to read on because you need to see that happens next. But she doesn't just rely on the heart pounding story to drag you in, but also crafts some wonderfully engaging and intriguing characters too.

The leads of the book, the Wilde's feel like the most human characters in the book. They're flawed people. They openly admit that they come from backgrounds that the rest of their neighbourhood would happily look down on, yet are always trying to be the best kind of people they can be. Gertie is a former beauty pageant contestant who's had to grow up being abused and assaulted, she's had so much grief in her life, yet always tries to present a happy and friendly face to others. Even when things are going awfully for the family she's fighting her own inner demons to carry on and support those around her. Arlo, her husband, has a similar past. Having been a semi-famous singer who's battled drug addiction in the past he's had to put his life back together, and his family are a huge part of that.

Sadly, the people on Maple Street judge them by their looks, by Gertie's beauty and Arlo's tattoos, and can't allow themselves to see the good people beneath these trappings. They make snap second decisions about the kind of people they are because of their outward appearances and their accents. The fact that Gertie and Arlo know this, can see their neighbours thinking these things about them, but still try and be nice and friendly and kind speaks volumes to the kind of people they are.

Good Neighbours is a very human drama, one that's driven by very real fears and prejudices, ones that I think we've probably all seen in our lives. Yes, it might be set several years in the future, it might have a narrative about global warming and the damage it has taken on the world, but thanks to how grounded the rest of the book feels this speculation about what our future might end up being like feels like something that's almost certain. Let's just hope that our future is filled with neighbours like the Wilde's, rather than Rhea Schroeder.

This arguably one of the best books I’ve read this year. I was catching to a friend of mine who’s also an avid reader about 2 weeks ago — about how we’re half way through the year and most of the books I’ve read were so forgettable and then I came across “good neighbours” by chance might I add. It’s not even a genre I like or even read but I was pleasantly surprised.

So let me tell you about the book— The book is set in Maple street, a small, affluent community. The book follows the lives of the community members— the main characters being the Wilde’s and the Schroeder’s.

Meet Gertie Wilde, wife to Arlo Wilde and mother to Larry and Julie Wilde. She’s a realtor with a very dark past. Gertie’s just moved in to Maple street with her family. This small neighbourhood for her is chance to escape her past. A fresh start.

Gertie’s new neighbour is Rhea Schroeder, Mother — if we’re talking in terms of biology, wife if we’re looking at a marriage certificate and college professor. Rhea also has a dark past, so dark that when Gertie moves in next door— she sees a chance at salvation, she sees a friend, someone who has no previous opinion of her or expectations. Someone she can just be Rhea to and be accepted for who she is.

A friendship is born between the two and for awhile things are peaceful. Each seems to have found what they were searching for until one night when one of them shares a deep secret that changes things between them forever.

Words left unsaid, expressions misinterpreted lead to 5 people dying and the neighbourhood being neither a salvation or a fresh start.

You will also meet other members of the community, each with their own issues and each complex in their own ways.

What I loved about the book:

Relevance. This is the first thing that came to mind when I tried to put my thoughts in to words. We live in a word where it’s so easy to spread a little lie. Where mass media often blows things out of proportion without even taking a second to fact check. We live in a time were communities— civilians do the work for the police. Sarah Langan addressed these societal issues brilliantly.

Relatable. We’re all searching for connections, for places where we feel like we belong. Spaces where we don’t have to hide our true selves. Sarah beautifully demonstrates that children and adults have the same needs. Love. Friendship. Companionship. Safety. When we don’t find these at home— we search else where.

Themes identified; mental health/ issues, coming of age, trauma — we see a beautiful contrast between Gertie and Rhea— one has dealt with her past, is in healing and one just refuses to even acknowledge the traumatic experience.

It’s impossible not to experience at least 3 different emotions at the same time while reading this book. I went from “oh my word, Julia is so funny” to “You’ve got to be shitting me” to sniffling— simply lost for words.

This books is gut wrenching. Leaves you with so much to think about days after you’ve finished reading it.

Oh and screw Linda Onnomatelli or whatever her name is.

Not the usual page-turner you would expect - drama at its best!

Events unfolding in a residential neighbourhood of Long Island are sending a chill up your spine. Someone needs to make responsible for all the bad things happening, and there apparently is a misfit family, so why not blame them? All you need is a bit of unfounded rumour whispered into the right ears, and the neighbours will launch into action.

The story is quite disturbing, yet you cannot stop reading the book. The storyline is interrupted by future newspaper articles, foreseeing the consequences and increasing tension. The way the children of the neighbouring families reacted to the incidents reminds me of Golding’s Lord of the Flies, with all the cruelty, moral dilemmas and team spirit of the youth. And the adults? They are just extremely weird in this book. They all have troubled childhood and their own demons to fight.

This is the story of a community of houses that edge onto a park where a sinkhole appears one day. The bitumen from below the surface starts rising into the park, onto their lawns, and being tracked into their homes, advancing like a malignant stalker, sullying everything it comes into contact with. That feeling of creeping dread and darkness is fantastically mirrored in Sarah Langan's writing about what happens to the families from Maple Street in the aftermath of the sinkhole appearing. The mounting tension is always there at the periphery of your mind as you read, lurking like a blurry monster that you can't quite focus on - you know it's bad but just how bad doesn't become clear until it's breathing at your collar at the end of the book.
The story is interspersed with interviews and media articles from years after the events in the book have taken place and I really enjoyed this as an additional insight into what was unfolding from the point of view of hindsight, reflection, and the bias/tactics used by those in these professions.
My favourite character was Arlo, the father in the Wilde family, who are at the centre of this story. He struck me as a man trying to be the kind of good person he wants to be, pushing against the barriers that his past, society's perceptions and his own flaws constantly put in front of him.
All in all, a great read. An interesting premise with a perfectly paced terror at its core.

‘Good Neighbours’ is very different from the kinds of books I intend to review here, but it was so damn good I had to get my thoughts down somewhere. Sarah Langan isn’t an author I’ve come across before, but I’ll definitely be looking out for her work in future.
The cover conjures up the kind of domestic thriller that I usually take pains to avoid. The Liane Moriarty kind of thing with suburban women talking to each other a lot and some kind of mystery stringing it all together. Fortunately, ‘Good Neighbours’ is a very different beast. It has a darkness at its core that Shirley Jackson would have been proud of and the kind of well observed take on modern middle class society that Celeste Ng does so well.
The story concerns the Wildes, a slightly rough around the edges family who have moved to a well to do suburb that does little to welcome them. Two relationships anchor the story, one between Gertie Wilde and her neighbour Rhea Shroeder and another between their daughters, Julia and Shelly. Right from the off, Langan includes excerpts from books about a violent tragedy that befalls the residents of Maple Street, so we know all along that things aren’t going to end well.
The path between the start and the finale is a twisting one and kept me hooked and off balance. It’s filled with little cruelties and much larger ones, and with an acute psychological insight into what makes people tick. Langan throws in a mysterious sinkhole, which might have felt like a clumsy metaphor but actually works well here, giving the book an otherworldly sinisterness that goes beyond people being beastly to each other.
The thing that makes the book work as well as it does, is the depth of the characters. All are convincing and sympathetic, even when they’re being awful. Combine that with the sense of impending doom that comes from knowing that you’re hurtling towards a terrible event and you have something very strong indeed. ‘Good Neighbours’ is a modern thriller that is as chilling and gripping as it is moving. Highly recommended.

“Neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours” - sing to the Aussie soap theme tune. Well, if I was you I’d think twice before purchasing your dream home on Maple Street, Long Island. In the long hot summer of 2027 this picture perfect place becomes the epicentre of an investigation that divides opinion from here on in. Arlo Wild, ex rock star, his ex-pageant queen wife Gertie, their two children Julia and Larry are the focus of an increasingly hostile group of neighbours whipped up into a frenzy by Queen Bee, Rhea Schroeder. Rhea and Gertie's relationship starts well but sinks as deep as the sinkhole which opens up in Sterling Park which becomes crucial in the astonishing and dangerous feud.

This is definitely a WOW read. It’s a gripping portrait of suburbia but hopefully not one you know, this goes way, way beyond the twitching curtains of nosey neighbours or a complaint about noise. The Wilds are not like the rest of the households on Maple Street, they’re outsiders, misfits, deemed not good enough thanks to Mrs Vindictive aka Rhea. This is a murky take, in fact there’s so much murk they’re literally walking in it from the sinkholes, there are murky murky pasts, one at least who transforms themselves but can’t quite ditch the murk entirely and then we have actions that extend beyond murk. This is an examination, a spotlight, on what can happen when a top dog leads a campaign of ostracising and worse and what unfolds is group/herd/ mob mentality which is wilfully and masterfully manipulated through lies and more lies. Tension becomes fear and hate as rumour is piled on rumour, blame on top of blame, poison and more poison, hatred piled on hatred until it swallows them whole. It becomes animalistic and shocking, utterly gripping in its intensity and it’s jaw dropping and heartbreaking in equal measure. One thing is for sure there are some damaged residents on Maple Street and life after this will never be the same.

Overall, this is so hard to put down as it has so many layers running through it. I think plenty of places in this summer of 2021 will testify to the heat experience of 2027 but here’s hoping those events don’t occur!

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Titan Books for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Good Neighbours, Sarah Langan. 5/5 🏡

Maple Street, Long Island. Where the neighbours know all about each-other and the children all play together. Until one desperately hot summer a sinkhole literally cracks the neighbourhood apart and a child falls inside. Sparking an explosive chain of events that Maple Street can never come back from.

I had to let out the longest breath after I finished this one because i’d been holding it the entire time. This dark, unsettling domestic expose of suburban America is deliciously sour to the taste.
I saw this one recommended by SJP and managed to get a copy thanks to NetGalley and Titan Books and this one is a must read.
You can feel the creeping dread of Shirley Jacksonesque hysteria and Langan carefully clashes the innocence and observance of the children against the delusions and guilt of the parents.
This is one of my favourite reads of the year, enthralling and unsettling, what really drives us to behave the way we do? And what secrets are we hiding behind our front doors?

#GoodNeighbours #NetGalley
Fearsomely good thriller.
Maple Street, a picture-perfect slice of suburban Long Island, its residents bound by their children, their work, and their illusion of safety in a rapidly changing world. But when the Wilde family moves in, they trigger their neighbours’ worst fears. Arlo and Gertie and their weird kids don’t fit with the way Maple Street sees itself. As tensions mount, a sinkhole opens in a nearby park, and neighbourhood Queen Bee Rhea’s daughter Shelly falls inside. The search for Shelly brings a shocking accusation against the Wildes. Suddenly, it is one mother’s word against the other’s in a court of public opinion that can end only in blood.
I loved it's every character. I loved it's narration. It was a brilliant read.
Highly recommended.
Thanks to NetGalley and Titan Books for giving me an advanced copy of this psychological thriller.