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A Crime in the Neighborhood
Sep. 30th, 2022 01:36 pmA Crime in the Neighborhood by Suzanne Berne is a past Women's Prize for Fiction winner, and I can see why. It portrays a very vivid and immersive picture of small-town America in the 1970s, masterfully told from the point of view of an adult Marsha, looking back on the summer she was ten years old. Both the child-viewpoint and the adult reflections on it are very well written and I was definitely drawn in to Marsha's story.
Considering the book is ostensibly about the brutal murder of a child (the crime of the title), it's actually rather a quiet and considered story. Apart from that one event, not that much actually happens. But Marsha's world is multi-layered and the way her parents splitting up and the reaction of the neighborhood to the crime build to affect Marsha's actions is very well done.
I was absorbed throughout and I enjoyed seeing the world through Marsha's eyes. The family dynamics between her, her mother and her siblings were excellent and I thought the way it all drew together to create what happened was very credible.
Considering the book is ostensibly about the brutal murder of a child (the crime of the title), it's actually rather a quiet and considered story. Apart from that one event, not that much actually happens. But Marsha's world is multi-layered and the way her parents splitting up and the reaction of the neighborhood to the crime build to affect Marsha's actions is very well done.
I was absorbed throughout and I enjoyed seeing the world through Marsha's eyes. The family dynamics between her, her mother and her siblings were excellent and I thought the way it all drew together to create what happened was very credible.
