One thing about reading a book set in the city you live in: you can get a better picture of what a life was like, knowing the neighborhoods and businesses the author talks about. I've seen it done poorly - clearly the author had a romanticized version of the city, but had never been there, instead relying on maps and whatever information Wikipedia might provide. But there was a very real feeling that I could walk to the places that the author wrote about, and run into Rachel, the lead character, or her grandmother, or any of the other people I met in this book.

It definitely gave me a sense of perspective. I've used my sociological imagination before, to try and put myself in the place of others, but this reached so far beyond what I'd imagined. Rachel lives in the in-between, and Durrow does a wonderful job illustrating the uncomfortable place that the in-between is.

I HIGHLY recommend.