This is an emotional rollercoaster of a read that immerses us into the lives of ordinary people and communities, with their everyday issues of identity, race, history, different intergenerational thinking and being, and the inner need to belong and support those just like us. It all begins when Salma Khatoun, husband Bilal, and teenage son, Zain, move to the suburbs of Blenhem in search of new beginnings from their troubled past, but before they know it, it all turns into a nightmare. When a political anti-racist banner is placed in the garden, the next door neighbour, Tom Hutton, takes it upon himself to remove it. Salma chooses to let this go, instead placing it on their window, only to discover the window painted over. Inexorably things begin to spiral out of control and consequently tip into heartbreaking and tragic territory. Not long after they move in, Salma spots her neighbour, Tom Hutton, ripping out the anti-racist banner she put in her front garden. She chooses not to confront Tom because she wants to fit in. It's a small thing, really. No need to make a fuss. So Salma takes the banner inside and puts it in her window instead.

There were some good plot twists such as Vince being Juno's brother and the neighbours turning out to be some sort of crazy cult preparing for the end of the world Tony Parsons (born 6 November 1953) is a British journalist broadcaster and author. He began his career as a music journalist on the NME, writing about punk music. Later, he wrote for The Daily Telegraph, before going on to write his current column for the Daily Mirror. Parsons was for a time a regular guest on the BBC Two arts review programme The Late Show, and still appears infrequently on the successor Newsnight Review; he also briefly hosted a series on Channel 4 called Big Mouth. Basically, Salma and Tom get into it. They get into it deep. This is a neighbor feud for the freaking record books. Just when you think it can't get any worse, it does. I'm not totally familiar with housing developments in the UK so I had trouble picturing what type of situation the Khatuns lived in, past and present. In Blenheim I picture what we call a semi-detached home in a neighbourhood controlled by a homeowners type association which aren't very common in Canada unless it's a condominium.The true story of an unhappy wife who ran away. The true-crime of a happy family who lived – and so tragically died – in Lana and Roman’s new home. I couldn't leave the book for a minute until I'd discovered how it would all end ... A brilliant book.' Read more Look Inside Details They live in the Gardens – a quiet leafy corner of the countryside – but not so quiet that you can’t get decent coffee.

The characters were both interesting and cryptic including Alan Hall the retired professor, Willow a former model and trophy wife, and Sandy Lana's wise and much older friend and mentor. Lana was a likeable character though there was definitely something off about Roman. The manipulative, powerful and controlling husband and the wife who everybody thinks is crazy, paranoid and not to be believed, really added to the suspenseThis book really twists and turns in a way that I love. I really enjoyed this book and would not hesitate to recommend it!' A house with a safe room that gets mentioned frequently but then doesn't get used when somebody is in the house threatening Lana. In fact, one of the things I love most about Abdullah's stories is that she sets her Readers up with space to do some critical thinking. The way she frames her stories, it explores both sides, instead of hammering home with one character's perspective. It's so engrossing. Eventually, we end up in court and those are some of the scenes that Abdullah writes best, though we unfortunately do not spend as much time at trial, as in previous books. I would highly recommend this book. A fabulous plot, a well written book with poignant messaging, and characters you might not like but you might have seen them!!!