Book Review: Nosy Neighbors | Freya Sampson

Charming! Intriguing! Heartwarming!

Freya Sampson’s Nosy Neighbors debuted this week and it was a breath of fresh air! If you are a fan of Fredrik Backman, you will LOVE this book. It had that perfect blend of being charming, wholesome, and unputdownable. You will leave this book absolutely loving the characters like they are your own quirky family!

What’s it about?

Set over one turbulent summer in an historic building called Shelley House—the book tells the story of the tenants of the six flats who call Shelley House home, and the real estate developer who’s trying to get it torn down.

Flat #2 is the home of 77-year-old Dorothy, the longest-tenured (and most cantankerous) resident of Shelley House. Dorothy spends her days keeping a meticulous record of the comings and goings at Shelley House in a special notebook. She may seem nosy, but Dorothy has a reason she has adopted this practice that hits very close to home.

Flat #1 is the home of Joseph Chambers—the second longest-tenured resident. Though Joseph and Dorothy have been neighbors for a long time, they haven’t spoken in decades. When Joseph (illegally, as Dorothy points out) sublets his spare room to 25-year-old, pink-haired Kat, Dorothy takes an instant disliking to her. Kat doesn’t want any trouble, though. She is hiding a lot about her past and who she is, as well as her history in the town.

When the tenants learn that a developer is appealing to demolish Shelley House, they come together to discuss what to do. Joseph is bold enough to protest daily outside the landlord’s office with his dog Reggie, until Kat finds him knocked out on the floor after a fall. Was it an accident, or intentional? Dorothy and Kat form a begrudging duo as they look into Joseph’s fall and how to stop Shelley House from being demolished.

Who are the other tenants?

Flat #1 is the home of Dorothy, as described previously. Dorothy has a lot of backstory that the reader learns as the story unfolds, some of it relating to Joseph Chambers, the resident in Flat #2. When Kat moves in, Joseph tells her that her sublet comes with home cooked dinner every night, which Kat shies away from initially. But when Joseph tells her he’ll leave it in the refrigerator for her because he has had a hard time adjusting to cooking for one, Kat comes around (and the reader gets a hint about the backstory to come).

Flat #3 has been the home to Omar and Fatima Saddiq and their daughter Ayesha for the last seven years. Until six months ago, that is, when Dorothy noted that Fatima and Omar left the building together. A few weeks later a hearse pulled up to the building alongside a dark limousine which Omar and Ayesha got into. After that the delicious cooking scents wafting from Flat #3 stopped.

Flat #4 has a relatively new tenant inside, whom Dorothy describes as “uncouth” and “antisocial”. There also happens to be a lingering scent of marijuana emanating from the man occupying flat #4 and loud  music playing 24/7 since the new tenant moved in. He is constantly throwing loud parties and generally seems to irritate all the other tenants.

Flat #5 is the home of Tomasz Wojcik, an eastern European man who has a dog named Princess. Dorothy doesn’t think favorably of Tomasz, who she often refers to as a “thug” in her notes. Tomasz and Joseph have ongoing conflict because their dogs don’t get along. Tomasz also works in construction and has familiarity with the legalities around the demolition.

Flat #6 is occupied by Gloria Brown, who moved into Shelley House ten years prior and looks good in spandex but has terrible taste in men. Gloria has a string of no-good boyfriends and relationship woes, starting with the Jamaican man with the sparkling eyes and most recently a slack-jawed oaf in leather, who hasn’t been seen around the building since a big fight about one week ago.

Why should you read it?

Freya Sampson has that wonderful gift of being able to flesh out characters in very few words. I could easily picture the tenants of Shelley House from Dorothy’s brief notes and musings on their comings and goings. Nosy Neighbors is character-driven over plot-driven, which isn’t to say the plot isn’t also outstanding. What stuck with me most from the book, though, were the characters themselves and their relationships.

This is a story of a found-family full of strange and sometimes annoying people who all have a common goal of keeping their homes. The threat of demolition is a catalyst to bring the central tension to the main cast, but it isn’t the focus of the book. Joseph Chambers’s fall a few weeks into his protest seems suspicious at best. There are plenty of squabbles among the residents that make Dorothy suspicious, but Kat is the perfect balance to Dorothy’s meticulous fixation on the comings and goings at Shelley House. Kat considers whether someone else could have entered the building and been responsible for Joseph’s accident.

Readers won’t be able to help but feel charmed by Kat and Dorothy. This unlikely duo are well matched to tackle this case, between Kat’s scrappiness and Dorothy’s stern persistence. As the story unfolds we also learn more about all of the characters, including Kat and Dorothy. They both have things they never speak about, but when those come to light, will others judge them or accept them? This story is full of surprises and revelations that keep it lively and heartfelt from start to finish.

One of the takeaways from this story is that the surface characteristics that we unintentionally (or sometimes intentionally) project to others is not who we are at our core. Each of these characters could almost be a stereotype at the beginning, but by the end of the story these are fully-fleshed, authentic, well-rounded people. Some of the stories about the characters are heartbreaking, but the book itself feels full of hope in each chapter. There is a magic to Sampson’s writing that brings a charm and coziness to even heavy themes.

Absolutely heartwarming!

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and Penguin Random House for my copy. Opinions are my own.

About the Author

Freya Sampson is the USA Today bestselling author of The Last Chance Library and The Lost Ticket/The Girl on the 88 Bus. She studied history at Cambridge University and worked in television as an executive producer, making documentaries about everything from the British royal family to neighbours from hell. She lives in London with her husband, children and cats. Nosy Neighbours is her third novel.