Tour_IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF TRUE by Susan Kaplan Carlton

4 Stars

Historical Fiction

In the current sociopolitical uproar,  focus is primarily on the importance of Black Lives and the prevalence of attitudes and practices of White Supremacy. As demonstrated in IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF TRUE,  racism and bigotry doesn't only target People of Color.  For several millennia, those of Hebrew lineage have been,  and still remain, in the contempt of and often literally targeted by, individuals, groups, organizations,  considering themselves superior by reason of ethnicity and /or religious preference. 

In 1958, transplanting unexpectedly from New York City to Atlanta,  Ruth determines that concealing her ethnicity is key to popularity among the wealthy country club set. But Truth will out, and oftentimes violence is what propels revelation. 

I was particularly intrigued that this novel finds it setting in Atlanta, site of the murder of Mary Phagan in 1913, for which Leo Frank was convicted. At the commutation of his sentence  for dearth of evidence, in 1915, Mr. Frank was lynched in nearby Marietta. A month later, at Stone Mountain,  Georgia,  the Ku Klux Klan reconvened.