You can choose your house. Not your neighbours.
Welcome to your dream home…
Salma Khatun is extremely hopeful about Blenheim, the safe suburban development to which she, her husband and their son have just moved. Their family is in desperate need of a fresh start, and Blenheim feels like the place to make that happen.
Meet your new neighbours…
Not long after they move in, Salma spots her neighbour, Tom Hutton, ripping out the anti-racist banner her son put in their 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. But the next morning she wakes up to find her window smeared with paint.
And prepare for the nightmare to begin…
This time she does confront Tom, and the battle lines between the two families are drawn. As things begin to escalate and the stakes become higher, it’s clear that a reckoning is coming… And someone is going to get hurt.
A gripping thriller about nightmare neighbours, Those People Next Door explores the loss of innocence and how far we’re prepared to go to defend ourselves and the people we love.
HQ/HarperCollins, 19th Jan 2023 | #ThosePeopleNextDoor
Reviews
‘If Jane Austen were alive, she would not be writing about zombies but the sorts of novels that Kia Abdullah does. They perch on society’s fault lines, observing how the codes of class and race determine actions, how good intentions can be weakness, how a word or a gesture can lead inexorably to catastrophe.’
– The Times
‘Timely and powerful, Abdullah’s fourth novel lets no one off the hook’
– The Guardian
‘A tense, clever tale about the seething underbelly of a picture-perfect suburban town’
– Country & Town House magazine
‘This powerful social drama about racism and microaggression in today’s society is a must-read’
– Prima magazine
‘At a time when some people appear to consider it a badge of honour to feel offended by others, this novel carries an important message’
– Literary Review
‘A rollercoaster ride of a toxic tale of neighbours from hell. Brilliantly pacey and wonderfully written with a lovely big twist.’
– Neil Lancaster, author of Blood Runs Cold
‘Poignant, sharp and thought-provoking’
– Andrea Mara, author of All Her Fault