The week’s reviews include Freya Sampson’s feel-good mystery “Nosy Neighbors” and Justinian Huang’s debut love story “The Emperor and the Endless Palace.”
NOSY NEIGHBORS
by Freya Sampson
Published by Penguin Random House (April 2, 2024)
Paperback $15.28
Audiobook $14.99
By Drew Gallagher
After three novels, it appears that Freya Sampson has found a formula that works for her and for readers.
With some variation, there is usually a senior citizen with a heart of gold who has a problem that they are trying to address on their own. Then there is usually a surly teenager or younger adult who is angry at the world and has assorted tattoos, hair colors, or body piercings that signify that they are angry at the world and would prefer to keep the world at arm’s length because the world has harmed them at some point. Then an unlikely love interest for our tatted soon-to-be hero. Add a splash of British society and humor and stir gently.
Having read Sampson’s previous novels, The Last Chance Library and The Lost Ticket, I could identify the central casting early in her newest, Nosy Neighbors. But what has been so enjoyable in each of her novels is the paths that these characters and plots take to get to their ending. The endings are always something to smile about, but the journey to those endings is never linear and always entertaining.
In Nosy Neighbors, Kat is a woebegone mid-20 something who grudgingly returns to her hometown in the English countryside because she misses it even though there is a past that she worries will banish her from the town once again if she is identified. She has changed her name and changed her hair color, and fortunately, no one recognizes her as she goes about her business in a restaurant and finding a room to let in an old house that she used to think was haunted when she was a child.
Her new roommate is the affable Joseph who has lived in Shelley House for a number of decades. Kat is content in her situation but partly because she feels it is one she can escape at a moment’s notice. That is until poor Joseph is violently attacked in his apartment and is rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. Kat would love to split at this moment, but there is no one to take care of Joseph’s beloved dog which Kat dislikes immediately until she gets a few wet doggy kisses from the mutt, and then she feels bound to make certain the dog is cared for until Joseph gets home.
In the meantime, the owner of Shelley House wants to evict all his tenants and remodel it, so he can charge more rent for cookie cutter units. Joseph’s neighbor Dorothy, who lives across the hallway, cannot imagine that anyone would tear down or remodel Shelley House which has been her home for decades just like Joseph whom she despises. Kat wants to save Shelley House for Joseph, and Dorothy wants to save Shelley House because of a dark secret she harbors within its walls. They make an unlikely duo, but therein lies the opportunity for a bit of self-discovery.
The publisher of Nosy Neighbors paints it as a mystery. Afterall, there is an Only Murders In The Building feel to it, but no one is actually murdered. There is some intrigue that is furthered by Dorothy’s insistence on spying on her neighbors (hence the title), but ultimately the satisfaction is a tale well told with a happily ever after ending. This is not Dickensian England, but it’s perfect for beach and poolside fare.
Drew Gallagher is a freelance writer residing in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He is the second-most-prolific book reviewer and first video book reviewer in the 137-year history of the Free Lance-Star Newspaper. He aspires to be the second-most-prolific book reviewer in the history of FXBG Advance and is also a founding member of Dads for Puppies.
THE EMPEROR AND THE ENDLESS PALACE
By Justinian Huang
Published by MIRA (March 26, 2024)
Hardcover $20.28
Audiobook $14.99
By David Arndt
Love is without question one of the strongest emotions in peoples’ lives. This feeling has inspired countless deeds done in its name, ranging from noble and heroic to dastardly and questionable. Yet, what if love itself was so much more than an attraction between two individuals? What if the feeling was so powerful, it could transcend time and unite across lifetimes? Justinian Huang’s debut novel, The Emperor and the Endless Palace recounts such an incredible love story.
Huang’s novel is separated into three time periods. In the earliest one in 4 BCE, Dong Xian, an ambitious but lowly government official, seeks a way to seduce the emperor and gain prominence within the imperial court. In order to accomplish this goal, he must seek out powerful political allies, such as the emperor’s formidable grandmother and the imposing imperial bodyguard. With their mercurial natures and moods, however, Dong is not always certain if they are his supporters or his opponents.
In 1740, He Shican runs a modest inn far off the beaten track. His quiet and mundane life is interrupted when a handsome and charming man arrives seeking aid for his elderly relative. The young man reveals that he is searching for aid from an esteemed doctor. The professional in question just happened to play an important part in the innkeeper’s life previously, and since he knows the man, he unhesitatingly departs to bring him back to treat the ailing relative.
The final timeline takes place in the present, when a medical student named River takes a chance and goes to a rave with a newfound friend. While there, he ends up meeting a complete stranger who seems incredibly familiar. As the novel progresses and the two grow to learn more about each other, there is some familiar feeling always tugging at the back of River’s memory, ever present yet continually elusive.
The Emperor and the Endless Palace is a novel for lovers of romance and believers in destiny. The novel explores the idea of a connection so strong and so powerful as to capture itself again and again during different lifetimes. Part of the novel is also loosely inspired by historical events, and readers who enjoy local folklore will also be pleased with the author’s beautifully detailed imagery and method of storytelling.
