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Literary Fiction · TenseIn a sleepy Washington, D.C. suburb in 1972, ten-year-old Marsha tells of the murder of a young boy
A Crime in the Neighborhood
1997285 pagesEasy readSteady pace
★ Women's Prize for Fiction, 1999
A ten-year-old girl tells what happens in her suburb after a boy is murdered
The story takes place in a sleepy suburb of Washington, D.C., in spring and summer 1972, while the Watergate scandal is breaking. The narrator is Marsha, a ten-year-old girl, and the novel chronicles the murder of a young boy in her neighborhood. It is Suzanne Berne's debut novel, published by Algonquin Books in 1997.
More about this book
Who
Marsha, a ten-year-old girl who tells the story.
World
A sleepy Washington, D.C. suburb in spring and summer 1972, during Watergate.
What makes it different
The narrator is a child, and the crime happens against the backdrop of Watergate.
Feel
Quiet and uneasy.
Page count and cover shown for: Selected edition
Further reading
- A Crime in the NeighborhoodWikipedia