Hi, Kia! Can you tell our readers a bit about you and your childhood?

Hi! I’m an author and travel writer from London. I grew up in Tower Hamlets – one of the less illustrious areas of the city – in a family of eight children. I didn’t own any books growing up, but my sisters took me to our local library every weekend, and reading changed my life. It showed me possibilities, instilled a sense of ambition and gave me the tools to navigate the very middle-class world of publishing.

Today, I have published four novels and traveled to over 70 countries across seven continents – something I would not have done without that early love of reading.

When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?

Storytelling has always been important to me. When I was around four years old, I basically refused to eat unless my mother told me a story. In Sylheti, my mother tongue, the phrase is ‘kitcha kho’ – tell me a story – and that instilled a love of storytelling. I grew up writing my own stories and knew very early on that I wanted to be a writer.

Later, when I was 11 years old and leaving primary school for secondary school, my teacher gave me a notebook and pen and told me to jot down interesting snippets of conversation that I hear on public transport to use in my stories. I will always be grateful to that teacher because that early vote of confidence did wonders for me.

Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!

The first book I remember reading is a ‘Bangers and Mash’ one. The series followed two mischievous chimps and was hugely popular in the UK at the time.

The book that made me want to become an author is a bit trickier. I suppose Anne of Green Gables was hugely influential. My parents were fairly conservative and, even as a child, I got the sense that my life was prescripted: school, college, a vocational subject like accountancy or pharmacy, then marriage and, finally, kids. When I read Anne of Green Gables and saw how a certain pesky redhead subverted the expectations placed on her, I realized that I could do the same. I didn’t have to become an accountant or pharmacist; I could do something creative instead.

The book I can’t stop thinking about: A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. It’s so intricate and beautiful – kind of like the Sistine Chapel of literature.

Your new novel, Perfectly Nice Neighbors, is out September 12th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?

Ha ha. I just looked at its Amazon page and saw that author Andrea Mara described it as “intelligent, clever, poignant, sharp, and thought-provoking”. Can I copy her?

What can readers expect?

In the novel, readers will meet Salma Khatun, a teacher who has just moved with her family to a nice, safe development in the outer reaches of London. Not long after they move in, Salma spots her neighbor, Tom Hutton, ripping out the anti-racist banner her son put in their front garden. She chooses not to confront Tom because she wants to fit in. It’s a small thing, really. No need to make a fuss. So Salma takes the banner inside and puts it in her window instead. But the next morning she wakes up to find her window smeared with paint. This time she does confront Tom, who reacts with hostility. Things begin to escalate and soon it becomes clear that somebody is going to get hurt. It’s a thriller at heart but also asks the reader to engage with some deeper themes.

Where did the inspiration for Perfectly Nice Neighbors come from?

I can trace the idea to something that happened when I was eight years old. During the World Cup, I drew a picture of the England flag – a red cross on a white background – and stuck it in our window to support our national team. When my dad came home that evening, he tore down the flag in a panic. “Don’t ever do that again,” he told me. “We’ll get a brick through our window.”

I was too young to understand that my father – a Bangladeshi immigrant to England – saw violence in that flag, long used as an emblem by far-right groups in Britain. That memory came to me years later when I left multicultural London for a small rural town in Yorkshire. One morning, a neighbor posted a flag through my letterbox with an invitation to a singalong to celebrate the anniversary of Victory in Europe Day. I wondered what would happen if I declined. We live in a time where symbols, colors and slogans mark out volatile battle lines. What happens when that battle comes to your doorstep? That’s the question I wanted to explore.

Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?

I enjoyed writing the barbecue scene that opens the novel. There’s so much that goes on, from Tom assuming that Salma lives in social housing to his wife, Willa, being intentionally crude. The underlying tension of the scene was great fun to write.

It’s interesting because one reviewer in a UK magazine said that Salma is “on the lookout for reasons to take offense”, while others have understood why Salma is uncomfortable. I love that two different readers can interpret this dynamic in different ways. It speaks to the complexity of the subject and, hopefully, the nuance in the scene.

What do you love about the thriller genre?

I love that it can thrill and entertain the reader while also saying something important about the world. For example, Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr Ripley says a lot about class and status while Jim Thompson’s The Killer Inside Me reflects on violence and misogyny. These themes add a deeper layer to the story and that’s what I’ve always aimed to do with my novels. In some ways, Perfectly Nice Neighbors is a snapshot of a time. The Black Lives Matter movement in the US and Brexit in the UK made many of us question our place in our country of birth and that’s something I wanted to explore.

What’s next for you?

I’m currently writing my fifth novel, which is due in October. After that, I’m going to travel again. I’ve been grounded this year due to various deadlines and I’m desperate to get back on the road!

Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?

Yes! Some of my favorite crime novels of the past couple of years include All That’s Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien, The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward and The First Day of Spring by Nancy Tucker.

Will you be picking up Perfectly Nice Neighbors? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Q&A: Kia Abdullah, Author of ‘Perfectly Nice Neighbors’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Read on to discover our picks and tell us in  the comments below if you will be picking up any!

The September House by Carissa Orlando
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A woman is determined to stay in her dream home even after it becomes a haunted nightmare in this compulsively readable, twisty, and layered debut novel.

Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison
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A cynical twentysomething must confront her unconventional family’s dark secrets in this fiery, irreverent horror novel from the author of Such Sharp Teeth and Cackle.

Don’t Forget to Write by Sara Goodman Confino
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In 1960, a young woman discovers a freedom she never knew existed in this exhilarating, funny, and emotional novel by the bestselling author of She’s Up to No Good.

Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian
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From bestselling author Alex Grecian comes a folk horror epic about a ragtag posse that must track down a witch through a wild west beset by demons and ghosts―and where death is always just around the bend.

And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott
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A mind-bending, razor-sharp look at motherhood and mental health that follows a young Indigenous woman who discovers the picture-perfect life she always hoped for may have horrifying consequences

The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman
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A new mystery is afoot in the fourth book in the Thursday Murder Club series from million-copy bestselling author Richard Osman.

Fair Rosaline by Natasha Solomons
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Bold, lyrical, and chillingly relevant, Fair Rosaline reveals the dark subtext of the timeless story of star-crossed lovers: it’s a feminist revision that will enthrall readers of bestselling literary retellings such as Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell and Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese.

Hush Harbor by Anise Vance
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A resistance group takes America’s racial reckoning into its own hands in this powerful, stirringly original debut novel.

Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon
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A lighthearted whodunnit about a grandmother-mother-daughter trio of amateur sleuths. Think: Gilmore Girls, but with murder.

The Taken Ones by Jess Lourey
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Two girls vanished. A woman buried alive. Between two crimes lie decades of secrets yet to be unearthed in a pulse-pounding novel by the Edgar Award–nominated author of Unspeakable Things.

The Art of Desire by Stacey Abrams
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One doomed love affair after another has made Alex Walton swear off men. Now, she’s determined to try something that maybe she can succeed at: a writing career. Little does she know that a chance meeting with a strikingly handsome stranger, a mysterious obelisk, and a lost kingdom will change her life forever. As Alex is about to discover, truth can be stranger—and far more dangerous—than fiction.

Nineteen Steps by Millie Bobby Brown
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Emmy-nominated actress and producer MILLIE BOBBY BROWN’s debut novel, Nineteen Steps, is a moving tale of love, longing, and loss, inspired by the true events of her family’s experience during World War II.

Holly by Stephen King
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Holly Gibney, one of Stephen King’s most compelling and ingeniously resourceful characters, returns in this thrilling novel to solve the gruesome truth behind multiple disappearances in a midwestern town.

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
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Two women from opposite sides of the country are brought together by violent acts of the same man, and become allies and sisters in arms as they pursue the justice that would otherwise elude them in one of the most acclaimed, highly-anticipated thrillers of the year.

Penance by Eliza Clark
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From the author of the cult hit Boy Parts comes a chilling, brilliantly told story of murder among a group of teenage girls—a powerful and disturbing novel as piercing in its portrait of young women as Emma Cline’s The Girls.

Her Sweet Revenge by Sarah Bonner
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Helena is successful, beautiful, and living in married bliss. But she has a secret that proves to be deadly – literally. Her best friend Thea knows Helena’s death wasn’t an accident. It was murder, and she is determined to make someone pay. And as they say… revenge is sweet.

Murder in the Family by Cara Hunter
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Mega-bestselling British crime novelist Cara Hunter makes her big American debut with a wholly immersive thriller like none you’ve seen before: written as the teleplay of a true-crime documentary, it has the reader puzzling away, reviewing photos, maps, coroner’s reports and other evidence as they read.

The Fraud by Zadie Smith
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From acclaimed and bestselling novelist Zadie Smith, a kaleidoscopic work of historical fiction set against the legal trial that divided Victorian England, about who gets to tell their story—and who gets to be believed.

Rouge by Mona Awad
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From the critically acclaimed author of Bunny comes a horror-tinted, gothic fairy tale about a lonely dress shop clerk whose mother’s unexpected death sends her down a treacherous path in pursuit of youth and beauty. Can she escape her mother’s fate—and find a connection that is more than skin deep?

The Royal Windsor Secret by Christine Wells
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Could she be the secret daughter of the Prince of Wales? In this dazzling novel by the author of Sisters of the Resistance, a young woman seeks to discover the truth about her mysterious past. Perfect for readers of Shana Abe, Bryn Turnbull, and Marie Benedict. 

All You Have To Do Is Call by Kerri Maher
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A dramatic and inspiring novel based on the true story of the Jane Collective and the brave women who fought for our right to choose, from the USA Today bestselling author of The Paris Bookseller.

Perfectly Nice Neighbors by Kia Abdullah
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A twisty and consuming thriller, Perfectly Nice Neighbors asks: When your dream home comes with nightmare neighbors, how far will you go to keep your family safe?

The Golden Gate by Amy Chua
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Amy Chua’s debut novel, The Golden Gate, is a sweeping, evocative, and compelling historical thriller that paints a vibrant portrait of a California buffeted by the turbulent crosswinds of a world at war and a society about to undergo massive change.

The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa M. Matlin
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A social media influencer with a secret past buys a murder house to renovate, but finds more than she bargained for behind the peeling wallpaper in this gothic psychological debut.

What releases are you looking forward to? Tell us in the comments below!

The post September 2023 Fiction Book Releases appeared first on The Nerd Daily.