Yewande Omotoso

LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILEYS WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION Hortensia and Marion are next door neighbours in a charming, bougainvillea-laden Cape Town suburb. One is black, one white. Both are successful women with impressive careers behind them. Both have recently been widowed. Both are in their eighties. And both are sworn enemies, sharing hedge and hostility pruned with zeal. But one day an unforeseen event forces the women together. Could long-held mutual loathing transform into friendship? Love thy neighbour? Easier said than done. 'Wit, charm and playful energy... An insightful and fascinating diptych of two women, with the history of colonialism and slavery lurking in the background' Herald

A Novel

The Woman Next Door

Hannah Swithinbank

Longlisted for the Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction • A Finalist for the Aidoo-Snyder Book Prize • One of Publishers Weekly's Writers to Watch • One of The Millions' and Refinery 29's Most Anticipated Books of the Year • One of the Best Black Heritage Reads (Essence Magazine) Loving thy neighbor is easier said than done. Hortensia James and Marion Agostino are neighbors. One is black, the other white. Both are successful women with impressive careers. Both have recently been widowed, and are living with questions, disappointments, and secrets that have brought them shame. And each has something that the woman next door deeply desires. Sworn enemies, the two share a hedge and a deliberate hostility, which they maintain with a zeal that belies their age. But, one day, an unexpected event forces Hortensia and Marion together. As the physical barriers between them collapse, their bickering gradually softens into conversation, which yields a discovery of shared experiences. But are these sparks of connection enough to ignite a friendship, or is it too late to expect these women to change? The U.S. debut of a finalist for the Etisalat Prize for Literature, The Woman Next Door is a winning story of the common ground we sometimes find in unexpected places, told with wit and wry humor.

The Woman Next Door A Novel

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