We Are All Good People Here was a quick read, because I wanted to know what happened to all of the characters. This is an excellent book, well-written and so interesting.

What a brilliantly original novel!

In 1962, paired as roommates, Daniella and Eve meet as college freshman and become fast and forever friends. We Are All Good People Here spans 30(ish) years and follows the woman through triumphs and tribulations during some tumultuous and intense years socially, racially and politically in our countries history. As their lives take very different turns will the loyalty and friendship be able to stay intact?

First of all, take another look at the ingenious book cover!!! I was half way through We Are All Good People Here before I realized that it was two women and not just one— seriously, could be my favorite cover ever! Ok, now about the storyline—simply put, it was absolutely fantastic! I was completely consumed with Daniella and Eve’s (and their daughter’s) lives and the domino effect their choices had (years and years later). We Are All Good People Here is a solid 5 star novel that would make an incredible book club selection! Even though I just finished, I can already tell that I am going to have a difficult time getting these characters off of my mind (which is always a sign of an epic novel)!

We Are All Good People Here is my first book by Susan Rebecca White, but I have such an author crush! I adored this book. There are so many books coming out right now that are focusing on Second Wave feminism, and I am here for it.

Friends Eva and Daniella come from different backgrounds, but they become as close as sisters during their initial college year at Belmont and then beyond. We get to see their evolution into adulthood and then how motherhood will cause them to bend and reshape. Their values are tested and refined in the fire. While it is a fictional tale, it grapples with themes of racism and injustice in a way that feels like the reader is taking a step back into history.

The character development is top-notch, and the myriad stories that intertwine are engrossing. This is definitely one I will be recommending.

The publication date is 8/6/2019. Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and Atria Books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

No spoilers about the storytelling - specifics about the wonderful storytelling....
More about how I felt....plenty to give a flavor of what readers are in store to read.
I LOVED IT!!!!

Belmont
Roanoke, Virginia 1962

I was excited to read Susan Rebecca White’s novel - the minute I read the blurb. The eye-catching book cover didn’t hurt to pique my interest either...
but when I ‘knew’ for sure that I was in great hands by a new author -to me- was when I read this - only 2% into this novel:
“Oh, I’m so excited to meet you! I don’t mean to be such a *spaz*, but I’ve been looking forward to this moment all summer!

Wow....Rebecca Susan White took me back about 50 years. For some of us old farts - we remember using the term, “you spaz”....
nothing politically correct about the slang word...
So, I don’t mean to be a ‘spaz’, either...when I say...
this novel kept getting better...and better....
Daniella wore “a kelly-green sleeveless shirtdress and a pair of Keds printed with watermelon halves”.
“KELLY-GREEN”... a “SHIRTDRESS”.... and “KEDS”......
My goodness ... did the author find these clothes in my old teenage closet?
Daniella’s shoulder-length blond hair was *teased* ...
*flipped* at the ends... and of course a *barrette*.
Oh my! I feel like I’m 16 years old, again ... smiling down memory land before the internet.
This book is MUCH MORE than Hersheys chocolate over vanilla ice cream, vanilla wafers, hot cocoa, tweed dresses, Peter Pan collars, Capri pants, cashmere sweater sets, and saddle oxfords......
AMERICAN HISTORY WAS CHANGING.....

My heart, mind, and soul were activated.... reawakening feelings in me that had been dormant.
I mostly just want to say ‘amen’ to this luminous book as a calling to us all.....

The memories kept on flooding - page after page. As Bob Dylan’ sang to the world......changin’....in American History.....
Susan Rebecca White captures visuals, smells, sounds, language, (BUMMER...SEXIST PIG, DIG IT?), music, hygiene, style, families, education, injustice, racism, discrimination, black inequality, casualties of war, Vietnam, smoking joints, long hair, hippies, McGovern buttons, spanning history from when President Kennedy’s assassination to president Bill Clinton.

I felt the anger - sick over violence - sadness - and the confusion of the characters resistance to change - ( especially the privileged).....The lies of the bourgeoisie were disturbing.
I felt like I WAS IN MISSISSIPPI during the civil rights movement.
The right to vote came.....( with worries)....
....We look at morality, political choices, love, sex, free love, friendship, marriages, babies, divorce, deaths, and struggles of the times through the most wonderful intimate storytelling imaginable: stunningly brilliant!!!!!
I actually cried from so much pride and enjoyment. Literally my entire body felt the impact.

I couldn’t resist.... I downloading Bob Dylan’s 1964 hit release to “The Times They are changin”. With little tears in my eyes - I listened.

For my generation.... Life was never more confusing, chaotic, and politically brutal
than this period of history.
Feeling of Melancholy.....

A message I took away - equally true today....
“Change would not happen without women who held power in the workforce”.

Thank you Atria Books, Netgalley, and Susan Rebecca White

I loved this twisty family drama . It showed the the human foibles of real life families with all their complexities.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book

Unflinching ~ Challenging ~ Important

tl;dr: Noone is without bias.

I was on the fence about reading this book. It was about the coming of age of liberal white women in the 1960s. I mean, you can see how this could go bad. And, the fact that this book is so good is a testament to White's character-development. She pulls no punches. These are real women. Their lessons about race and class are hard-won (and described easily.) Readers get to know these women and the difficulties of the society they exist in. This is a wonderful book for everyone but particularly for people who claim not to be racist. This book shows how everyone is racist, and how you work to transform your relationship with race. This book is surprisingly powerful, wrapped up in a historical fiction about a couple of gals.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Compelling and timely, with an ambitious canvas and nuanced portraits of women who spring to life on the page. The legacies mothers bequeath their daughters--and the daughters' response to those legacies--is an instantly enticing foundation for a poignant read.

(Resenting this review, as earlier one vanished mid-point.)