New Nigeria County

• Author: Clare Brown
• Genre: Contemporary Fiction
• Publication Date: June 17, 2024
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio Originals

Thank you to libro.fm and Simon & Schuster Audio Originals for providing me with an ALC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest opinion.

When a white family moves to the affluent Black community of New Nigeria County, a “misunderstanding” between neighbors escalates until the entire town is swept up in the drama in this hilarious and whip-smart full-cast audiobook, written and performed by TikTok star Clare Brown.

New Nigeria is a good, clean, All-American town. The husbands are smiling and handsome, the wives are strong, rich, and powerful, and Nat Turner High is the best public school in the state. Yet, the citizens of this idyllic community find themselves in a rapidly changing country and, to be perfectly honest, some of them are a teeny bit uncomfortable with it all.

When a New Nigeria community leader Carèn makes a frantic phone call to the local police about a “potential gang member” roaming her cushy Malcolm X Estates neighborhood, it turns out the boy is her new European American neighbor, Jake Smith, and the misunderstanding quickly becomes the talk of the town. While Jake’s mom, Meghan, is hurt by her new neighbor’s behavior, Care`n works tirelessly to preserve the safety (and the property values) of her beloved community. As the two women work toward their own version of equity, their conflict continues to escalate, setting off a chain of cringe-worthy confrontations that send the good citizens of New Nigeria into a tailspin.

New Nigeria County is a hilarious, razor-sharp debut, flipping the script to expose uncomfortable truths through wildly entertaining comedy. This dynamic audiobook, created for the listening experience, is perfect for fans of Abbott Elementary, Dear White People, and Such a Fun Age.

The cartoon illustrated cover is what initially caught my attention, but I stayed for the full-cast narration, clever-sounding plot, and interesting premise. Imagine if everything in our society was flipped around, from the role that race plays, to how gender is viewed in society. It’s enough to really make you think, and I liked the idea of a book that pokes fun at it, rather than taking itself too seriously when discussing such a serious topic. I wasn’t familiar with Clare Brown, since I don’t spend much time on TikTok, but I might just have to give her a follow after reading this. 

I love audiobooks voiced by a full cast, because it’s like listening to a television show while visualizing what I’m hearing in my imagination. Each of the characters had a distinct personality that came through clearly, and I really enjoyed how the narrators fully committed to their roles and hammed it up. The majority of the narrators were new to me, but they really did a great job with this quick, witty story.

In New Nigeria, Black people are the majority group in society, and they’re having a difficult time adjusting to all the changes happening in America. Initially, some of the changes seem insignificant, like not being able to call them white people anymore since they prefer to be called European Americans; talking about how flat their hair is and how it can’t be kept in unnatural colors (like yellow) at school; and not being able to remember those weird names that European Americans have. Taking a deeper look into these seemingly minor changes that Black people are struggling with, this book is satirizing our society by allowing each group to view themselves in the other group’s shoes. 

Perhaps more importantly, we see how institutional racism, microaggressions, and overt interpersonal racism can intersect and add up and have a major impact on individuals and a community as a whole. We’re all aware of how social terms change over time for various racial or ethnic groups, but the characters in this story are consistently forgetting to use the preferred terminology, as well as referring to the continent of Europe as a country, much like I’ve often heard people calling Africa a country. 🤦🏻‍♀️ Commenting on someone’s hair quickly leads to asking to touch it, or even worse, just touching it without permission. The story also pokes fun at how unreasonable and ridiculous school dress codes are, failing to take into account natural hairstyles of Black students by viewing Jake’s natural blond hair as an “unnatural color.” These are just a few examples.

One of my favorite aspects of the story was the way the author decided to go all in and also flipped gender roles, so that the females ran the show. In heterosexual couples, the wife was the breadwinner while the husband took on the duties around the house, and worked as well in some cases. Husbands were the ones who attended PTA meetings, and the idea of a wife even attending was practically scandalous. The same applied for kids—girls sports were prioritized in school, while boys were told that they “were pretty good, for a boy.” 

But the story centers around a woman named Carèn, who sees a European American boy wearing cargo shorts across the street in her upscale, gated community, assumes that he’s potentially in a gang (because of the cargo shorts), and makes a frantic phone call to local police, who arrive and treat the kid like a threat. Except he turns out to be the son of the new neighbors, who aren’t scared to speak up about their experience. But the response to Jake’s mom speaking up is mixed, and it creates a new divide in the tightly knit community of Malcolm X Estates. 

Although this was a short audiobook, it was just the right length. Brown has created a wonderfully witty, snarky, and brilliantly satirical novel that kept me laughing while discussing some seriously heavy issues. While opening the door for discussion of all the ways in which racism appears in our society—microaggressions, blatant racism, and institutional racism, it maintains a lighthearted tone that allows us to laugh at how ridiculous it looks when the shoe is on the other foot. Hopefully, this is the start to a new way of thinking that can help to usher in some much-needed changes in our society. Regardless, I’ll be keeping Clare Brown on my watchlist, because if her next book is anything near as good as this one, it’s going on my TBR immediately!

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