Started off strong but kind of crashed midway through.

This book, written by a former Washington Post reporter, covers the very sticky subject of gentrification in a poor Atlanta neighborhood. McCall gets into the heads of characters on both sides--both the poor blacks and the slightly-less-poor whites buying up the cheap property.

The problem, I thought, was while Barlowe seemed like a decently well-rounded character, the white characters were all so stupid. Sandy and Sean didn't seem like real people--nobody's that dumb! Early on in the book (not a spoiler), one of them says to the other something to the effect of "Don't worry, I'm sure our new neighbors will be over to share a glass of Chardonnay any minute." Puh-LEEZE. Nobody, I mean nobody, is that dumb. The references to the whites listening to jazz were clever at first, then became annoyingly transparent.

As an interesting look at how unintentionally racist we all are, a fascinating read. McCall is very good at subtly pointing out all the little mannerisms and ways of thinking that bely our xenophobia. But as a story, the book was less successful.