Across the Street
- Judith D Collins
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
By: Christian Hakiza
ISBN: 9798996749805
Publisher: Growth-Addicted Publishing
Publication Date: 07/29/2026
Format: e-book
My Rating: 5 Stars (ARC)
BEST LITERARY DEBUT 2026
A debut novel for readers of Ann Patchett, Ann Napolitano, and William Kent Krueger.
“What is broken is not finished. Restoration is always possible, when someone finds the courage to face what was left undone.”
In the literary tradition of Tom Lake, Hello Beautiful, and Ordinary Grace, Across the Street is a tender, decades-spanning novel about family, forgiveness, and the small-town childhoods that shape us long after we have left them.
On a quiet street in a small lake town, two children grow up on opposite porches. Best friends before anything else, Nori Holloway and Sophie Sloan invent a constitution of life rules and carve it into the wood of their lake dock. Rule One: don’t keep secrets from your best friend. Rule Two: forgive when forgiveness is asked for. They are children. They have no idea what those rules will one day be asked to hold.
Told in alternating chapters across more than twenty years, Across the Street is a quiet, deeply felt novel about the things families feel and never say. About grief that is carried instead of faced, and what it quietly costs the people we love most. About the long inheritance of silence between parents and children, and the patient, hard work of forgiveness — given, received, asked for, and finally passed down to the next generation.
A debut of restraint and emotional precision, Across the Street will resonate with readers drawn to the small-town American literary tradition of Marilynne Robinson and Kent Haruf, the family-saga warmth of Ann Patchett and Ann Napolitano, and the quiet faith and grace of William Kent Krueger and Leif Enger. Both heart-wrenching and ultimately hopeful, it is a story about what is owed across the asphalt between two houses, and a reminder that the rules we carve as children — ridiculous, absolute, almost forgotten — can turn out to be exactly what holds.
A novel about forgiveness, the distance between a parent’s love and a child’s need, and the patient hard work of coming home.
About the Author
Christian Hakiza was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in an environment that offered little room for the abstract. What it gave him instead was the discovery that stories, the right ones, well told, could imprint on the mind, inspire change, and quietly remake a life.
He has been chasing that discovery ever since. Christian does not think of himself as a writer of any single genre. He writes whatever form best serves the story he is trying to tell. His debut novel, Across the Street, is literary fiction, a story written to inspire healing in the relationships that shape us most: between parents and children, between old friends, between the people we were and the people we have become.
Upcoming projects include a series of fables exploring the power of our words, the strength of a hopeful outlook, and the practice of gratitude.
Across all of his work, the intention is the same: to write stories that inspire, comfort, teach, and encourage.
Across the Street is his first novel. He writes under the imprint Growth-Addicted Publishing.
My Review
THE BURDEN OF LONG-HELD GRIEF VS. THE PATIENT WORK OF HEALING.
“A quiet, profoundly moving literary debut that explores the silent spaces between who we were, who we are, and the families who shape us most.”
In Across the Street, debut novelist Christian Hakiza delivers a deeply reflective, intensely human work of contemporary literary fiction. Moving away from high-concept plot gimmicks, Hakiza focuses his narrative lens entirely on the subtle, often painful mechanics of reconciliation. The story hinges on the fragile connective tissue between parents and children, old friends, and neighbors, exploring how the right stories, well told, have the quiet power to completely remake a life.
📌 The Hook
~A sudden, world-shifting reckoning with personal grief.
~The invisible distances that grow between people living just across the street.
~The intentional, often difficult practice of choosing to come home.
🛗 Elevator Pitch
A tender, character-driven literary fiction debut that follows the intricate, interlocking relationships within a community wrestling with hidden wounds. When the ghosts of the past force a confrontation with the present, a fractured circle of family and old friends must decide if they dare to dismantle their resentments and step across the pavement to heal.
🔍 Review Breakdown
Intro:
In Across the Street, the distance between characters isn't measured in miles, but in the unspoken words and long-harbored grief that keep them isolated. Christian Hakiza weaves a gentle yet piercing narrative web around a core group of characters who are all running from different versions of their own history. As their daily paths inevitably cross, the armor they’ve built against the world begins to crack. Forced to confront the hidden realities of their parents, their children, and themselves, they must navigate the messy, non-linear path of emotional recovery. It is a story less about explosive external action and more about the quiet, monumental triumphs of forgiveness, gratitude, and true belonging.
Setting
A beautifully rendered, intimate neighborhood space where the familiar routines of daily life juxtapose against the deep, internal emotional battles of its inhabitants.
THE INVISIBLE MILES ACROSS THE PAVEMENT: CHRISTIAN HAKIZA’S SOULFUL DEBUT
"A beautifully moving literary fiction journey following two childhood best friends navigating the quiet, heavy spaces of grief and reconciliation."
Vibe
Reflective, deeply comforting, and emotionally resonant.
It carries a quiet, poetic stillness that demands you slow down and savor the prose.
Genre
Contemporary Literary Fiction
Themes
~The long, patient work of healing intergenerational family wounds
~How grief alters our perception of the people closest to us
~The transformative power of choosing vulnerability over isolation
~Finding gratitude and hope amidst life's abstract hardships
👥 Standout Characters
~Sophie & Nori: The two main characters. As childhood best friends who grew up living directly across the street from one another, their evolving bond, unspoken history, and shared past handle the core emotional weight of the entire novel.
~The Estranged Parents: Flawed, deeply real parental figures whose complex communication breakdowns and underlying histories perfectly mirror real-world family structures.
~The Neighborhood Circle: Secondary community members whose routine daily interactions act as an intentional canvas, illustrating how individual healing impacts a whole community.
✍️ Author Writing Standout
Christian Hakiza shines at crafting precise, soulful prose that feels intensely deliberate. Drawing from an innate understanding of traditional storytelling's power to imprint on the mind, his dialogue balances a raw, vulnerable authenticity. He treats the abstract weight of human suffering with incredible gentleness, letting his characters evolve at a natural, unhurried pace that feels remarkably true to life.
Takeaway
True healing isn't a grand, cinematic event; it is the quiet, daily decision to bridge the gap between ourselves and the people we love.
Title Significance
"Across the Street" serves as a profound metaphor for human connection. It represents the tiny, manageable physical distance that can feel completely insurmountable when blocked by layers of pride, fear, and unresolved trauma.
Metaphor
A front porch or window functions as a central metaphor—a liminal space representing the passive act of watching life pass you by, which characters must actively step away from to engage in the real work of living.
THE STORIES WE TELL VS. THE STORIES WE LEAVE UNTOLD
Two homes, two childhood friends, and the monumental, quiet courage it takes to step across the street and heal.
💭 My Thoughts
I love this cover! It hooked me immediately.
“What begins as a quiet study of isolation fast becomes an inspiring, deeply comforting blueprint for how we heal the relationships that shape us most.”
As a book blogger of 12 years, there is nothing quite like discovering a genuinely talented debut author. My readers know that I read with an eye disease and require specific formatting to read comfortably on my iPad. When NetGalley lacked the "Send to Kindle" option for this book, Christian Hakiza went completely above and beyond the call of duty, personally emailing and reformatting the file so I could comfortably read it. I deeply appreciate debut authors who are hungry for thoughtful, authentic critique. Over the last decade, I have championed many debuts where the authors went on to become incredibly famous, and they never forget who supported them early on and have graciously included me in their acknowledgments throughout the years. It is such a delight to discover such a gifted and talented new author.
Hakiza has that same special spark! His prose is elegant, comforting, and incredibly gentle, using Sophie and Nori's childhood connection to ground an incredibly powerful emotional payoff. It is a brilliant reminder of why indie literary fiction is such a goldmine for the soul. I can't wait to see what comes next from this new voice in fiction.
Verdict: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⭐(5/5)
“A stunningly assured, deeply moving literary debut from Christian Hakiza that acts as a gentle balm for the soul."
Recs / Readalikes:
If the deep neighborly introspection, childhood memories, and patient family healing of "Across the Street" leave a lasting impression on you, add these trusted literary masterpieces to your reading stack:
~Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger:
~The Caretaker by Ron Rash
~The Golden Hour by T. Greenwood
Special thanks to the author, publisher, Victory Editing/NetGalley for sharing an advanced reading copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars
Pub Date: July 29, 2026
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