A great collection of short stories that I think will capture many hearts. There are some stand out stories in this that I will remember for a long time coming.

Such an important collection, and one that is oddly prescient despite being written in the 1960s. Diane Oliver was a true treasure of an author and it's a genuine shame that we didn't get to hear more of her unique and bewitching voice.

Neighbors & Other Stories by Diane Oliver is a beautiful, bold collection of short stories. The authors debut work is a stunning series of narratives that explore race and racism in 1950’s and 60’s in America. It explores the daily struggles of existing and trying to thrive in an environment that is racist, prejudice and discriminatory. Each individual story explores a different facet of a character’s journey in America from trying to be the first Black student to integrate at college, the pressures of interracial and extramarital love, the challenges to endure poverty and poor treatment and the bloody lengths parents will go to to protect their child from the pain and brutality of the outside world. The author sadly passed away in 1966 at the age of 22, her work is haunting in its depiction but necessary and clear in the strength of its prose. These are stories that rightfully need to be rediscovered and take their place in the canon of twentieth-century African American literature. A powerful social and historical book that is both intimate and broad, engrossing and meaningful 4.5 stars ✨.

As I researched books by BIPOC Authors due to be released in 2024, a book that kept showing up on most of the lists I came across was Neighbors and other Stories by an author I had never heard of called Diane Oliver, who died aged 22 in a motorcycle accident just a month away from graduating from the Iowa Writers Workshop.

I love short stories so I added her book to my must read of 2024, so imagine my utter delight and surprise when it also became my first approved ARC!!!! And my goodness what a treat this book was!!!

Neighbors and other stories is an anthology of short stories delving into the complexities of Jim Crow Era 1950/60s America. Her writing has a chilling / terrifying effect to it, creating an intense atmosphere of tension and dread, which she skilfully uses to convey the daily anxiety and fear experienced by Black Americans living in the south in America. Her writing had me captivated from start to finish. In the tradition of the finest short-story writers, shes able to convey so much in so few / little words.

Take the nightmarish journey of “The Closet on the Top Floor,” where Winifred, the first Black student in her newly integrated college, mysteriously starts to fade away. Or venture into “Mint Juleps not Served Here,” where a family living deep in the woods takes drastic measures to protect their son. There’s also “Spiders Cry without Tears,” confronting interracial and extramarital love, and the high-tension titular story following an anxious older sister on the eve of her brother’s school desegregation.

Her stories still sadly reverberate today.
She's a wonderful talent who deserves to be celebrated and I hope through this book lots of readers discover her work. Wow what a talent.

Highly Recommend

This collection of Diane Oliver's short stories make it abundantly clear what a talent she was. How very brutal for that to be cut down as a result of her death in a tragic accident at the age of 22.

It seems that within a short time of her death, and then for some time afterwards, Oliver's stories were almost entirely lost from public attention. So, it is wonderful to see her finally getting her due in this long overdue collection published by Faber and Faber.

Oliver's work showcases the realities of black life - from the utter brutality of the Jim Crow laws to the more subtle deprivations of being a black caregiver to pampered white children whilst having to worry about how your own are coping without you at home...

One thing that shines through the stories is the cost extracted by the system of segregation on all concerned. And not only the cost of living under such unjust laws, but also the price of changing them. A price paid most dearly by those in the frontline of de-segregating America's schools, colleges and society.

This is an important and timely collection with an excellent introduction from Tayari Jones. Read this book - you will be glad you did.