Across the Way

April 1, 2020
Milton and Yvonne realize that it was their neighbor Odell who called the police on them with a trumped-up charge after his wife, Joyce, makes a remark about how the sheriff was called at home. Odell wants to stop paying blackmail to the bootlegging neighbors who learned about his other wife and children, but now Milton and Yvonne are in even more trouble and so they demand even more money from scheming Odell. So he skims money from his in-laws' store, as well as stealing goods, hoping to satisfy everyone. Joyce continues to think her marriage is perfect and makes patronizing comments to Yvonne and Milton. Tired of them both, Milton and Yvonne decide to reveal Odell's other family to Joyce, just as Odell plots to be rid of Milton and Yvonne forever. Monroe brings her exciting Neighbors trilogy (One House Over, 2018; Over the Fence, 2019) to a violent crescendo, and a dramatic and memorable conclusion, as she explores how social tension and conflict complicate jealousy and romance in an African American enclave in a small Alabama town during the Great Depression.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)