What We've Lost is Nothing, by Rachel Louise Snyder

When an otherwise quite Chicago suburb is thrown into turmoil due to a mass burglary in one of the town's cul-de-sacs, human dramas unfold.  In her strong debut novel, What We've Lost is Nothing, Rachel Louise Snyder examines issues of urbanism, race, integration, poverty, relocation, and more, as she follows several families in the wake of the break-ins.

Snyder is not writing a mystery novel.  While crimes have been committed and suspicions are raised, the point of the book is not to reveal evidence, eliminate suspects, and expose the culprit.  Snyder's point is rather to expose the character and values of the families and their neighbors.  Michael McPherson spoke for many when he said in an interview, "What we've lost is nothing compared to what we in this neighborhood, on this street, will always have." Yet they still struggle with the loss of the sense of security they have in their homes, and, more importantly, the fracturing of community.

I like the way Snyder addresses the issues of community with the story.  In particular, the burglaries challenge the feelings of racial integration in which their city prides itself.  Do the mostly white victims really want to live in an integrated community?  Or only a community in which the black people are more like them?  And what does the assumption that the perpetrators came from the nearby poor, black neighborhood say about their presumptions about race?

I liked What We've Lost is Nothing, but felt like it was a little unbalanced.  The first part of the book explored the reactions of each family, putting together the puzzle of the crime piece by piece.  But the latter part focused on one family in particular, and, in a rather jolting way, adds crisis on top of crisis, so that the story becomes not the after effects of the burglaries, but a larger story of the consequences of our actions.  "The smallest decision, the smallest step to the left, or to the right, the smallest remembrance, the smallest moment, in anyone's life can upend so much more."  An enjoyable, thoughtful, intimate book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!