The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall- Book Review

If you want to read The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall before September, it would be best to order it from Amazon Canada. The link for the book heads to that site rather than the American site. While you won't get it in 2-3 days, it is worth the week or so that it will take.

The book opens with Sadie's father, George getting arrested for sexual assault against 3 of his students with another charge of sexual harassment against a 4th student. George is a beloved teacher, who once saved his school against a shooter by tackling the shooter. He is now under arrest and Sadie and her mother Joan are left behind. George's bank accounts have been frozen as there have also been charges that he paid off people to keep silent.

The entire book focuses on Joan and Sadie's lives following the arrest. The town becomes divided with some supporting George because of what he has done and some of the town despising Joan and Sadie for what George did.

Sadie must also return to school where her best friend is the sister of one of the girls that is accusing George for assault. Sadie starts finding herself disconnecting from life and her boyfriend. She finds herself moving toward an older man, who happens to be writing a book about the incident (Sadie does not know this).

Joan on the other hand finds herself acting out as she must now change her life to support her husband, who she finds herself not believing anymore. She finds support in a group for women who have gone through this. Joan must reclaim her life as she faces a new reality where people egg her house and call her with death threats.

This book is an incredible look at rape culture by barely mentioning the word rape. George is not the center of the book at all, but rather it looks at how people judge, accuse, and deny the victims and the family left behind. It takes a look at how there is a huge wake left behind from one man's infidelities. The girls George assaulted are talked about, called liars, and are doubted even though they are all under age and their stories connect. Even though George is not in the book, George is present through everything.

I will say at just shy of 400 pages, there were a few slower parts of the book that might have been trimmed out to keep the book moving. With that stated, it was still an incredible book that was well worth the read. The book does not go into details as to what George did, so the reader is left guessing and is left deciding whether or not to believe him throughout the book (there is a resolution at the end).

I think it is worth the import for the time being. The book as considered one of the best Canadian books of 2016 and I would agree. I gave this one 4 stars. The US version comes out in September.