Description
The New City by Stephen Amidon is a thought-provoking literary thriller set in 1973, against the backdrop of the Vietnam War’s final years and the Watergate hearings. In Newton, Maryland, a carefully planned suburban community appears to embody the American dream of prosperity and harmony. Its creation is largely the work of Austin Swope, a white lawyer whose legal manoeuvring and property deals helped bring the town to life, alongside Earl Wooten, the Black master builder who constructed it from the ground up.
The two men are close friends, and their teenage sons, Teddy and Joel, are inseparable. But beneath the town’s polished surface, tensions are beginning to emerge. When an innocent misunderstanding sets Austin and Earl on a collision course, the community’s fragile harmony is put to the test. Amidon explores race, class, friendship and the darker realities hidden behind the promise of suburban perfection.
