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A Novel
by Christine Pride, Jo Piazza
Book Reviewed by:Told from alternating perspectives, an evocative and riveting novel about the lifelong bond between two women, one Black and one white, whose friendship is indelibly altered by a tragic event—a powerful and poignant exploration of race in America today and its devastating impact on ordinary lives.
Jen and Riley have been best friends since kindergarten. As adults, they remain as close as sisters, though their lives have taken different directions. Jen married young, and after years of trying, is finally pregnant. Riley pursued her childhood dream of becoming a television journalist and is poised to become one of the first Black female anchors of the top news channel in their hometown of Philadelphia.
But the deep bond they share is severely tested when Jen's husband, a city police officer, is involved in the shooting of an unarmed Black teenager. Six months pregnant, Jen is in freefall as her future, her husband's freedom, and her friendship with Riley are thrown into uncertainty. Covering this career-making story, Riley wrestles with the implications of this tragic incident for her Black community, her ambitions, and her relationship with her lifelong friend.
Like Tayari Jones's An American Marriage and Jodi Picoult's Small Great Things, We Are Not Like Them explores complex questions of race and how they pervade and shape our most intimate spaces in a deeply divided world. But at its heart, it's a story of enduring friendship—a love that defies the odds even as it faces its most difficult challenges.
Chapter Four
Shaun's words are a sucker punch to my gut. It takes everything I have not to turn and bolt out the door. Coming here was a mistake, I see that now, but I can't leave. I can't do anything except slink into the booth across from Riley, who stares at me like I'm a stranger. She's waiting for me to say something, face as blank as an empty canvas. I have no idea what to say. I'm sorry? But what am I sorry for exactly, and why am I apologizing to Riley?
Finally, almost like she's taking pity on me, she says, "How are you?"
I didn't know what to expect; she hasn't returned any of my calls this weekend, but her concern is such a mercy that I feel a flicker of hope.
"I'm okay, I guess. But ... it doesn't matter how I feel." I sound like a martyr, but there are more important things I want to explain. I plant my damp palms on the table, ready to launch into the speech I practiced a thousand times on the way over.
"Listen, Rye, Kevin thought he was chasing a guy who had just shot ...
Pride, who is Black, and Piazza, who is white, present a relatively balanced view of how people of different races might approach a tragedy such as this one. I appreciated their nuanced portrayal of Jen, who comes across as a sweet, well-meaning person who is clueless about her friend's experiences of racism. While both points of view resonated deeply with me, it was Riley's that forced me, as a white woman, to reevaluate my thoughts and actions towards people of color...continued
Full Review
(725 words)
(Reviewed by Kim Kovacs).
Allison Winn Scotch, bestselling author of Cleo McDougal Regrets Nothing
A timely, evocative read about what tests us as friends, as partners, and ultimately, as humans, and will have you rethinking your own perspectives and experiences. A perfect read for 2021. Attica Locke, New York Times bestselling author of Heaven, My Home
We Are Not Like Them is a tender and unexpected way into our national debate about policing, by centering an authentically drawn friendship between a black woman and a white woman who find themselves, through no fault of their own, on opposite sides of the emotional fallout of a police shooting...Beautifully heartfelt, Christine Pride and Jo Piazza's book finds hope in the friends' love for one another, that with understanding there may be a way forward. De'Shawn Charles Winslow, author of In West Mills
With We Are Not Like Them, Christine Pride and Jo Piazza have written a captivating, urgent, yet tender novel about how the world so often has its way with our family and friendships. Read this book with a friend. Emily Giffin, New York Times bestselling author of The Lies That Bind
Smart, heartfelt and compulsively readable, We Are Not Like Them is an exquisite portrait of female friendship and a provocative exploration about race...A sharp, timely, and soul-satisfying novel that is sure to spark lively book club conversations worldwide. Greer Hendricks, New York Times bestselling coauthor of The Wife Between Us
We Are Not Like Them is the best kind of book, one that manages to educate readers as it entertains them. Riveting, timely and honest, this powerful page-turner explores the complexity of friendship and race — and will stay with you long after its stunning conclusion. Laura Dave, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Thing He Told Me
We Are Not Like Them, Christine Pride and Jo Piazza's gripping novel, is a powerful story about friendship, race, love, forgiveness, and justice—and the stunning ways they intersect. You will find yourself reading late into the night, needing to know what happens to best friends Riley and Jen, and simultaneously not wanting their story to end. Empathetic, riveting, and authentic. Laura Zigman, author of Separation Anxiety
Uniquely told by two writers, one black and one white, who themselves know the painful complexities of race and friendship, We Are Not Like Them is a moving page-turner that is not easily forgotten. I read this in one sitting and I'm still thinking about this book. Nancy Johnson, author of The Kindest Lie
A searing, timely exploration of race in America along the fault lines of a friendship. We Are Not Like Them holds a mirror up to all of us in this soul-stirring tale of honesty, love, and redemption. Terry Mcmillan, New York Times bestselling author of It's Not All Downhill from Here
Now these women, they can WRITE!
A key scene in We Are Not Like Them occurs when one character impulsively stops at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and its associated Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama.
Both the memorial and the museum were created as a result of efforts by the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) to honor those Black Americans who were enslaved, terrorized by lynching, those who suffered racial segregation, and individuals who are "burdened with contemporary presumptions of guilt and police violence." Formed in 1989 by Bryan Stevenson (a public interest lawyer and the author of Just Mercy), EJI's efforts are focused in three main areas: criminal justice reform, racial justice and public education. Work on the memorial began in 2010 as EJI ...
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