Over the Fence

The Neighbors #2

by Mary Monroe

In this page-turning novel set in the Depression-era South, New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe transports readers to a small Alabama town where home is not always a sanctuary, and two neighboring families let pleasantries mask increasing resentment. . . Bootlegging was Milton and Yvonne Hamilton’s ticket out of poverty, prison time, and plain bad luck. Now they’ve moved on—to a bigger, richer pool of clientele—right in their own respectable new middle-class backyard. And their growing friendship with seemingly-perfect couple Joyce and Odell Watson is proving golden in more ways than one . . . As Milton soon learns, Odell is hiding an outside family and dubious business dealings. It’s the perfect recipe for a blackmail scheme that will help Milton hide his own dirty secrets—even from Yvonne. Better yet, he can take ever more dangerous risks to ace out his liquor-smuggling rivals—and add a lucrative temptation to his illicit services. And Yvonne, emboldened by her husband’s new gravy train, delights in tormenting Joyce about everything the snobbish matron doesn’t have—especially children.  But even a winning hand can be played too far. Pushed past their limits, Odell and Joyce will play on Milton’s careless boasting—to get him and Yvonne out of their lives for good.  And soon, a devastating frame-up will plunge one couple into a living nightmare—and set the stage for explosive retribution . . .

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, African American, Adult Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Drama

354 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 26, 2019

About the author

I am the third child of Alabama sharecroppers and the first and only member of my family to finish high school. I never attended college or any writing classes. I taught myself how to write and started writing short stories around age four. I spent the first part of my life in Alabama and Ohio and moved to Richmond, California in 1973. I have lived in Oakland since 1984.

My first novel THE UPPER ROOM was published by St. Martin's Press in 1985 and was widely reviewed throughout the U.S. and in Great Britain. An excerpt is included in Terry McMillan's anthology BREAKING ICE. I endured fifteen years and hundreds of more rejection letters before I landed a contract for my second novel, GOD DON'T LIKE UGLY. It was published in October 2000 by Kensington Books. GOD DON'T PLAY is my seventh novel to be published, and it landed me a spot on the prestigious New York Times Bestsellers list for the first time! My eighth novel, "BORROW TROUBLE," was released December 2006. My ninth novel, DELIVER ME FROM EVIL, was released September 2007 and my tenth novel, SHE HAD IT COMING, was released in September 2008, and my eleventh novel THE COMPANY WE KEEP, will be released March 2009.

I won the Oakland Pen Award for Best Fiction of the Year in 2001 for GOD DON'T LIKE UGLY. I won the Best Southern Author Award for GONNA LAY DOWN MY BURDENS, in 2004.

I am divorced, I love to travel, I love to mingle with other authors, and I love to read anything by Ernest Gaines, Stephen King, Alice Walker, and James Patterson. I still write seven days a week and I get most of my ideas from current events, the people around me, but most of my material is autobiographical.

Reviews

[Kelsie Maxwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Over the Fence by Mary Monroe is the second book in her The Neighbors series. The novel is set in the late 1930’s and is told through the alternating points of view of the main characters, Yvonne and Milton Hamilton.

Yvonne Maynard is recently released from prison camp in Alabama where she’s been for almost two years. Milton Hamilton is a young man constantly on the lookout for his next hustle. Milton and Yvonne meet at a bootleggers’ party and the romance is sprung. The two marry and start their own bootleg operation. Jealousy and betrayal abound from all directions, especially between the Hamilton’s and their neighbors, the Odell’s. These petty emotions evolve into dangerous situations.

Ms. Monroe has done an admirable job and Over the Fence is another triumph to add to her repertoire. The grammar is perfect for the setting. Background details are appropriately rendered, and the characters are so flawed they must be real. The ending is a bit abrupt but is totally in line for the next in the series. I enjoyed this novel from start to finish and rate it 5 out of 5 stars.

My thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. However the opinions expressed in this review are 100% mine and mine alone.

[laverne greene · Rating 1 out of 5]

A little confused

I felt like I was reading some of the same material from book 1, just being told from the other couple's prospective. It also felt a little drawn out. I'll give the third book a try so see if questions i have get answered.

[Dorothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series BUT I hate the way the books end...wahhh! I can't wait for book #3! :)

[Mic C · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a lot less enjoyable than the first one. It didnt pick up till the VERY end. Mild spoilers ahead but nothing that would ruin the book. In the first book we got a plot, we got a mix of things happening. This book was the same CHAPTER AFTER CHAPTER. It was just Milton extorting more money. It became tiresome after the first 10 chapters let alone having to suffer through a whole book of it. There was no plot. Milton extorts rinse repeat. Yvonne gets in on the act, rinse repeat. On top of all this NOBODY has any redeeming qualities in this book. At least in the first one, one could gather Joyce wasnt a bad person just insecure, but this book because we got no perspective from her, her comments to Yvonne were just downright nasty and evil and it was like where is this coming from? I can only hope the next book in this series gives us ALL perspectives. The first one was just Joyce and Odell, this one just Yvonne and Milton. I know Odell was doing what he was doing but Milton was worse than him to me. Milton was just greedy and evil. It never mentioned him being jealous just that he saw he could push Odell over so he did..evil. But at the same time him and Yvonne acted so sanctimonious like oh we would never be so nasty as Joyce and Odell but they were worse! I stopped to write this towards the end bc I was through after Milton asked for a car. This is just ridiculous. Milton deserves more than a beating and so does Yvonne. They are both disgusting. All of their stealing and scheming but believing they are honorable thieves or something and then to be so disgusting as to recycle liquor others had drank. I mean in the scheme of things especially from only Yvonne and Miltons perspective in this book you would think Joyce and Odell were worse than them but really O & J were just bougie folks with nasty words. THATS IT. And Odell cheating which as we saw in this book ALL the men were doing but Yvonne and Milton!! they are liars, thieves, extortionists and then had the nerve to feel like they were better than Odell and Joyce just bc their marriage was not what it seemed. I dont mean to make it seem like I am praising Odell bc he was wrong but compared to Y & M he was a saint. I did the calculation ( i know im way too invested in this book) and $8 a week in 1942 (im assuming bc the book started in 1937 and we know at least 5 years have past could be even more $) is 125 a week in todays money. THATS 500 A MONTH!! think about if you got an extra 500 a month now. What made me even look up these numbers finally was Yvonne asking for 20 i was thinking now thats a WHOLE lot of money for then. $20 is the equivalent of giving somebody $300 today .. the gall.. I honestly dont know who we are suppose to feel sympathy for in this book, maybe no one,but it sure as heII aint Yvonne and Milton. Then Y & M always saying they werent so bad and God got them, I mean come on. By the time we got to the end and what happened to Y & M i felt not one bit.. not even a teensy bit sorry for them.. If bringing up the Scottsboro Boys was suppose to make the reader feel sympathy it did not for me. Mary did such a thorough job of making me disgusted and hating Y & M I couldnt muster even an ounce of sympathy even for Yvonne and what happened to her in the jail. By the very last chapter when it was mentioned it was Wednesday, I swear to you my only thought was whewww at least Odell doesnt have to pay THIS wednesday but I quickly realized this was a set up for EVEN MORE $ to be paid to Milton. And then just when I was thinking well at least Willie Frank care bc I sure dont, Milton had the nerve to be thinking about not only getting the money from Odell for his final problem but to think about getting even MORE to go have fun with. This this the type of sh..mess, that makes me have zero concern for Y & M, you in a HUGE pickle and the first thing on your mind is extorting more money not just for your problem but for FUN.I was glad SOMETHING picked up in the end beyond extortion but this book was still not better than the first. I really hope 3 things happen in the next book in this series, especially if its going to be the last. 1) I hope Odell does NOT give them the money and instead comes clean so Y & M just have to deal with their evil sh.. on their own and 2) I hope Joyce does find out so in the LEAST Y & M get no more money and the book is about Joyce getting over heartbreak, finding a wonderful man and having a baby and realizing her snooty ways (really her only fault), Odell struggling to find a way to support Betty Jean and himself after the fall out and 3) Y & M get their comeuppance and realize they are not "honorable" thieves on hard times.. just shllty people

[Jypsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Over the Fence is the second book in a series. I didn't know that, so I haven't read the first book yet. The background information would have helped I think. The story is depression era. It's well written and engaging. I like the bootlegging aspect of it. It's a very interesting read. The characters are flawed but likeable. They have complex relationships, and they are funny at times. Overall, this is a good read. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

[Vnunez-Ms_luv2read · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a follow up to “One House Over”. We get to learn more about Milton, Yvonne, Joyce and Odell. It was nice to learn more about the characters and how they came together, but the book dragged. I found myself skipping pages. I didn’t find this installment as readable as the first. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review. Receiving this book in this way had no bearing on my review.

[Read In Colour · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't necessarily feel like the predecessor to Over the Fence needed a sequel, but it was interesting to see how Milton and Yvonne's household was run, in comparison to Joyce and Odell's from One House Over. Monroe writes simple, small town characters which makes for a quick read, but doesn't leave the reader wondering about those characters later on. There's no depth to the story telling, so while it's a quick read, it's rarely a must read.

[Nickita Council · Rating 1 out of 5]

As with the first one, I didn’t enjoy this book but I’m the type of person that if you leave me hanging, I want to know what happened. If that was the author’s intent, I guess it worked. The story was repetitive and had no substance. The two books should have been combined into one. I would like to know if Milton and Yvonne will get their due and will Odell finally get caught. Hopefully these things will happen on book 3.

[Shannan Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

In book 2 of The Neighbors series, this is not a continuation, but a parallel story. This story follows Milton and Yvonne Hamilton, who are neightbors to Odell and Joyce Watson, who are introduced and the main characters of One House Over. This book ended abruptly, like the first book, so hopefully there's another book that will complete both stories.

[Coffee&Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Odelle is a dummy.

Full review forthcoming.

[Jan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tedious. This book dragged on for me until I found myself skipping pages.
Unfortunately,my high hopes and the ratings had me thinking this book would be wonderful. Nope.

[Lois · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars rounded down
This was a middle part and not as juicy as the first.
That ending though.
Lol

[fidel may · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay read

This book was okay. A little predictable and no real excitement. The first book was about Odell &Joyce and now they are just pop in and out characters. The end had no closure or twist to look forward to. I hope we get a little more next time.

[LaRRiSSa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have really been enjoying the audio books from Mary Monroe. The stories are entertaining and she does a wonderful in blending the characters and storylines from each book within the sequel. There is not just few Easter eggs scatter throughout the story, the prior book/characters are woven throughout the book.

Yvonne and Milton were introduced in book #1 but were revealed in book #2. Book #2 nicely provided more details about them and took over as the main characters of the book. The author provided their prospective and side of the story told in book #1 and kept all the characters engaged. The build up was great and kept me on my toes as the story took different twist and turns.

And of course, the author ended the book in such a way that I now have to listen to book #3 in the sequel. I am definitely a fan of this author and her style of writing.

[Lalaa #ThisBlackGirlReads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I fell in love with Mary Monroe, and her writing years ago after reading God Don’t Like Ugly. I went on to read about a half a dozen of her books that all gave me the same feeling of thrill and fascination and satisfaction.

Monroe is a fantastic writer and has a real knack for creating characters with substance and dimension, and I expected nothing less in her latest novel, Over the Fence(The Neighbors)

In her latest work, Monroe highlights the relationship of married couple Milton and Yvonne Hamilton who are bootleggers during the depression. Both coming from a shady past that is plagued with criminal behaviour, prison time and just mere bad luck, Milton and Yvonne are like two peas in a pod and their relationship is, in fact, sweet, in its own way.

They are by definition, opportunist and extremely delusional, but throughout the book, you can’t help but to like them and sympathize with them.

As bootleggers, they are able to move out of their run-down neighbourhood and move into a middle-class community where their business thrives and they befriend neighbours, Joyce and Odell Watson.


Joyce and Odell are pretty much well to do. They have a nice car, they own the local grocery store and they have more than enough to go around. The neighbours relationship with each other though is the classic frenemies dynamic.

Yvonne is mostly annoyed and insulted by the way Joyce speaks to her and looks down on her, yet when Joyce needs something Yvonne is there to do her hair and teach her how to sew.

What’s really funny though is Milton and Odell’s relationship. Milton learns that Odell is hiding an affair and a whole other family from his wife and instead of being a friend and helping him through it, he blackmail’s Odell in order to finance his gambling addiction.

While reading this book I had no idea that this was the second book in a series but thankfully I don’t think you need to read the first one in order to enjoy this one.

There were parts of the story that seemed to drag on a little and I could have done without but overall I think this was a solid story, with good characters and filled with unpredictable drama.

Over the Fence comes out on March 26th, 2019. Find out more here.

[Jasmine Jones Hopewell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good But Not As Great As The 1st Installment In The Series

The fact that Milton and Yvonne narrate this one threw me for a loop. Their voices didn’t have as much fluidity as Odell and Joyce in the first book of this series. This one overdosed on the petty and the criminality kept me shaking my head. I can’t wait to read the 3 and series concluding title.

[Nene · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book better than the first in this series. However, I have been on edge wondering when Odell stanken behind will get exposed for living a double life. Joyce is so dag gone naive thinking her husband can do no wrong. I hope Yvonne and Milton find out sooner than later who tried to get them locked up for false allegations.

[Ericka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ready for Book 3! My goodness!!!

[Candice Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't like the ending!

[Latiffany · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have this weird attachment to certain writers and Mary Monroe was one of them. She’s written many wonderful stories that I absolutely loved and that’s why parting from her work has been difficult. I read the first book in the neighbors series and found it to be ridiculous, but I still preordered the sequel. I honestly forgot that I ordered Over The Fence and was surprised when it showed up on my kindle. I spent the last two months or so reading a particular long and boring trilogy, so I figured this story would be a good transition.

There isn’t a plot. This book is literally page after page of Yvonne and Milton blackmailing Odell and Joyce being clueless about all of it. There’s a scene in the book where Joyce and Yvonne are alone. Odell is off with his secret family and Milton is getting into trouble with Willie Frank. These women clearly don’t like each other, but are lonely. Joyce is bragging about her life and speaking poorly of Yvonne’s life decisions. I realized that this book would be so much better if these two women would stop following their awful men and unite. Joyce is well educated and could have helped Yvonne in that area. Yvonne is street smart and Joyce is in desperate need of assistance in that area. Maybe that’s the book that I should write.

Anyway, no one helps anyone and this book ends on a note that gave me a perfect exit to stop indulging in Monroe’s work. Spoiler Alert.... Stop reading now if you don’t want the ending revealed.

This book ends with a very passive rape scene. Yvonne is raped by two white police officers. I think the reader is supposed to get angry about the racism and violence that Yvonne and Milton experience. This was handled in such a sloppy and terribly written manner. The reader can’t even empathize with Yvonne and Milton because just a few pages later the focus is back on shaking down Odell for money. It’s clear that this series is meant to continue, but I won’t partake in reading anything else by this author.

[Princess Gooden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Drama filled story. This was my first book by this author but I will be back for me. I like stories that I can’t easily predict. The characters were family members by the time I got to Chapter 12.

[Mamabee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved Mary Monroe's use of language to evoke each character's rhythms of speech and quirks of personality as the point of view switches back and forth between the husband and wife. I struggled with this rating, since the voices of these characters are really wonderfully written.

However, I did not enjoy the lack of plot, and I really do consider a plot to be a mandatory element of a novel. Couple A is attempting to be upwardly mobile, commits many crimes, suffers some consequences. Couple B is dysfunctional. Person A blackmails Person B. Person A's spouse also blackmails Person B. Repeat all of this several times without actually going anywhere.

I understand the idea of a series of books, where each book's ending leaves room for a sequel. This wasn't that, though - it was clearly building up to a climax, and stopped about three chapters shy of what should have been the ending. There was no indication at any point that the final confrontation wasn't actually going to happen, nor was there a "find out what happens next in Book 3" - it just stopped.

Since the ending really did feel like it was about three chapters away, I don't plan to read the next book. This book already felt like it had about 100 pages more than the plot merited, and I'm not interested in reading three chapters' worth of material spread out over another 300 pages.

[Annarella · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had some problems with this book as it was the second installment in a series and I didn't read the first one.
I liked the characters, the well researched historical background, and the setting.
The book is sometimes slow and it seems to drag.
Many thanks to Kensington Books and Netgalley for this ARC

[Robin Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off, this book was not 400 pages, its only 308, so its a very quick read. The sequel was based off the lives of Milton and Yvonne and all of their crookedness. So, I'm guessing book three will be based off of Odell and Joyce.

I was expecting a little more from this novel. I felt this novel was written to string readers along for a series. This series should not continue past a third book.

Hopefully, Ms. Monroe will tie up all loose ends regarding Odell/Joyce and Milton/Yvonne in book three. This book will leave you truly hanging. I was ready to turn the page, then realized it was the last page.

[Dana R. Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing!!!

Disappointing. I wish I would have waited for the reviews before purchasing. I was excited to see Odell get exposed but that never happens. I dislike how weak Odell is portrayed, how arrogant Joyce is, and how deceitful both Milton and Yvonne are. I rushed to finish the book b/c I grew tired of the same old pattern of blackmail, siddity neighbors, stealing, bootlegging, hypocrisy and back again. There was no conclusion and
I'm unsure if I'll read the next book in this series. If I do I definitely won't preorder nor pay full price for it.

[Octavia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book!! Especially, after seeing this book is from the viewpoints of the neighbors, Yvonne & Milton. I literally began screaming when I saw Yvonne's name at the top of the first chapter. It just made my day! And, I could not finish reading each page quick enough. Because I wanted to know so badly what was going to happen next! Now, I'm so ready to begin the final book, Across The Way. ❤️

[Dee Cherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

My goodness
Milton and Yvonne were some awful crooks, lol. I don't feel the least bit sorry for Odell, it would probably be best if he told on himself- I know it would be cheaper. This part was comical at times, especially with Yvonne and Joyce going round for round with the insults. I'm surprised they still speak to each other. Patiently waiting on the next installment

[Heather Kohler · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn’t like a single character

The main characters were awful people. I kept saying how much I disliked this book and hoped it’d get better. It didn’t. I didn’t like a single person in this book. I can’t believe this was a librarian recommendation!

[Maya B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book in the series and it did not disappoint. Lots of drama.