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The Boy Next Door A Novel Irene Sabatini Books

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The Boy Next Door A Novel Irene Sabatini Books

I spent a month in Zimbabwe twenty years ago but had been with the Shona people in Masvingo and Harare. But now I'm trying to write a play about a gay man from Bulawayo who fled the country in the early 2000s, so I was combing the web for a book about Ndeleles in contemporary Zimbabwe and came upon this one. It was more about a "colored" girl who lived in a white neighborhood and fell in love with a Rhodie next door, but I ordered it anyway as I could find nothing else (an indicator of the state of affairs in Zimbabwe in and of itself).

From the first three sentences I was delighted to find myself in the hands of a skilled and innovative author: "Two days after I turned fourteen the son of our neighbor set his stepmother alight. A week later the police came. I was reading Sue Barton, Senior Nurse on the veranda, and I was at the part when Dr. Bill Barry proposes to Sue Barton."

Confused about her racial identity, young Lindiwe withdraws to her books and can hardly speak to others, certainly not to the seventeen-year-old boy next door who fascinates her. In effect, she takes the role in the first part of the book of a silent narrator, focusing on Ian and his words in a Rhodie dialect -- at times indecipherable. But it doesn't matter for what comes through is his restless, driven spirit, and we understand the bonding of two young people who feel tossed away by a culture preoccupied with adult struggles and violence.

In Part Two, Lindiwe has grown into a refined, cultured woman who mixes with Europeans, but is still in love with the rough diamond from her childhood. He returns from South Africa somewhat of a folk hero for his stunning work in photojournalism.

In Part Three, I did get a vivid impression of contemporary Bulawayo, and felt I was walking its abandoned, wide streets with Lindiwe and her son.

I'll say no more about the story, but I'm thrilled to have encountered this author, and have learned some refreshing new techniques in novel writing -- my favorite being her liberal use of text breaks, capturing a poetic image of a passing moment, or highlighting just the key phrases of an evening's conversation. And her use of writing in present tense flowed with great agility.

Brilliant. I wish I could be Sabatini's publicist so that this African diamond could be known to all those who enjoy a good read.


Tags : Amazon.com: The Boy Next Door: A Novel (9780316049931): Irene Sabatini: Books,Irene Sabatini,The Boy Next Door: A Novel,Little, Brown and Company,031604993X,Cultural Heritage,Psychological,Bulawayo (Zimbabwe),Bulawayo (Zimbabwe);Fiction.,Love stories,Love stories.,Zimbabwe - Race relations,Zimbabwe;Race relations;Fiction.,AFRICAN LITERATURE IN ENGLISH,FICTION Cultural Heritage,FICTION General,FICTION Psychological,False accusations; Neighbors; Murder investigations; Friendship; Afrikaners; Love; Star-crossed lovers,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction-Coming of Age,Fiction-Psychological,GENERAL,General Adult,NOVEL,Race relations,Southern Africa,United States,Zimbabwe

The Boy Next Door A Novel Irene Sabatini Books Reviews

The problem with this book is the readers need to understand the complex political groups but if you do have that knowledge you can enjoy a rather pretty love story with all the complexities of mixed race relationships.
The jargon in this book threw me off. It wasn't one of the best written books and then having difficulty understanding the wording made it less than enjoyable for me.
I won't sure what to expect when I started the book, and the seemingly segmented approach to carving the story was distracting at first. Once I submitted to the authors style The story infused my mind.

I would definitely read more by this author.
Thanks for letting me relive some wonderful years I had in Bulawayo. Though I was there years before this story takes place. A very sad chapter in this wonderful country's history.
Excellent!!!
Very good book, it shows the conflict in an interracial relationship and how Zimbabwe slowly falls to ruins, would recommend
While there are few novels of Africa that make it in the U.S. market - Although the story was interesting, I was not impressed with Ms. Sabatini as a writer. The story and her skill as a writer pleased several other women who read it at the same time I did however.
I spent a month in Zimbabwe twenty years ago but had been with the Shona people in Masvingo and Harare. But now I'm trying to write a play about a gay man from Bulawayo who fled the country in the early 2000s, so I was combing the web for a book about Ndeleles in contemporary Zimbabwe and came upon this one. It was more about a "colored" girl who lived in a white neighborhood and fell in love with a Rhodie next door, but I ordered it anyway as I could find nothing else (an indicator of the state of affairs in Zimbabwe in and of itself).

From the first three sentences I was delighted to find myself in the hands of a skilled and innovative author "Two days after I turned fourteen the son of our neighbor set his stepmother alight. A week later the police came. I was reading Sue Barton, Senior Nurse on the veranda, and I was at the part when Dr. Bill Barry proposes to Sue Barton."

Confused about her racial identity, young Lindiwe withdraws to her books and can hardly speak to others, certainly not to the seventeen-year-old boy next door who fascinates her. In effect, she takes the role in the first part of the book of a silent narrator, focusing on Ian and his words in a Rhodie dialect -- at times indecipherable. But it doesn't matter for what comes through is his restless, driven spirit, and we understand the bonding of two young people who feel tossed away by a culture preoccupied with adult struggles and violence.

In Part Two, Lindiwe has grown into a refined, cultured woman who mixes with Europeans, but is still in love with the rough diamond from her childhood. He returns from South Africa somewhat of a folk hero for his stunning work in photojournalism.

In Part Three, I did get a vivid impression of contemporary Bulawayo, and felt I was walking its abandoned, wide streets with Lindiwe and her son.

I'll say no more about the story, but I'm thrilled to have encountered this author, and have learned some refreshing new techniques in novel writing -- my favorite being her liberal use of text breaks, capturing a poetic image of a passing moment, or highlighting just the key phrases of an evening's conversation. And her use of writing in present tense flowed with great agility.

Brilliant. I wish I could be Sabatini's publicist so that this African diamond could be known to all those who enjoy a good read.