Book Recommendation

Those People Behind Us, by Mary Camarillo

In recommending books, I focus primarily on novels that relate in some way to social issues, particularly the environment, and have a strong sense of place. Mary Camarillo’s novel touches on all three. It’s a joy to read—astute, wry, propulsive—and has much to say about our modern social and political lives. The novel is set in a fictional California “anywhere” town and focuses on a group of residents who know, or know of, each other. We see each from their own interiority as well as from the outside as others see them. As she brings this neighborhood to life Camarillo slyly skewers our prejudices and petty egos and desires, but with great empathy and good nature. It’s a skillful writer who can make one care most about the characters who are the least sympathetic. I cared so much I had to put the book down a few times when I was afraid of where the narrative was going. Never predictable, the novel also made me laugh out loud. Those People Behind Us is a fun page-turner that is also an important novel of our times—no mean feat!