BOOK REVIEW: Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain (ARC)

First let me start by saying~ this is my first ever read by this very talented author. Why you ask? Well, I'm not SURE why, but I do know that after reading this wonderfully crafted story of humanity, it most certainly won't be my last.

Ms. Chamberlain weaves a tale of historical fiction, small-town southern life, in a dual time-line format to include the mysterious, the haunting, and the gripping, as well as the romantic, the entrancing and the delightful.

This story will grab your attention immediately with relevant issues to the time period, its strong characters, twists and turns, it's secrets, and its ease of connections as the narrative grows...

I highly recommend this novel as it touches the heart and soul of its reader. A perfect read for those who enjoy a story of substance~ meaning and purpose.

Thank you Diane Chamberlain for the gift of Anna and Morgan, two strong women I hope I've not heard the last of...

5 Stars

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Chamberlain tells a very interesting and easy to read story that alternates chapters between 1939/40 and 2018, an effective technique for this novel. Although some of her characters come straight from prevailing stereotypes of both the past and present, her two main characters, Anna and Morgan, pulse with life. The story’s threads are all tied up a bit too neatly and conveniently for me, but I think that many readers will be both surprised and pleased with the outcome. Big Lies in a Small Town will appeal to book clubs as well as to readers looking for a good book for an airplane trip, which is where I read this arc.

Another solid book by Ms. Chamberlin! I enjoyed learning a little of the plot from different perspectives.

I loved this book. The ending was just perfect. Chamberlain is one of my favorite authors and this did not disappoint. The way Morgan and Anna’s lives intertwined was spectacular. Don’t miss this great read. It has everything suspense, mystery and a touch of romance!

A real winner in my book!! This story touched me in so many ways, I felt like I was living it through Anna Dale and Morgan Christopher. The description of these characters and different situations is truly amazing. Definitely a must read!

I really enjoyed this book. The past and present intersect in a grand mystery based in historical fiction with an art theme. The book grabs you at the start when a young women is let out of prison early. A mysterious benefactor presents her with a curious offer which she really has no option but to accept.
Transitioning between the artist in the 1940's to the present, the story unravels for a satisfying read.

Diane Chamberlain does it again. Two stories, two central characters, two time periods, all coming together to tell one heck of a story. Present day: Morgan, in prison for a crime not entirely of her doing, finds herself suddenly being released on parole. With conditions, of course. She’s been chosen to restore a very old painting. And here we learn Anna's story. She was also chosen, but for a different purpose. As the original artist of the painting, her story is full of dark secrets. This was such a great story, pulling me out of a reading slump to finish it in just a couple of days.

4.5 stars rounded up
Diane Chamberlain is a great storyteller and is in top form in her latest: Big Lies In a Small Town. You will become fully absorbed by the dual story lines of Morgan in 2018 and Anna in 1940. Morgan is charged with an unrealistic timetable to restore a mural which was painted by Anna, long thought to have gone insane while creating the piece. Set in North Carolina, each woman faces great challenges and obstacles. Morgan yearns to move past some bad life decisions and Anna is given a chance to establish herself as an artist while facing gender and racial prejudices. The thread that ties these two women together is the recently deceased artist Jesse Jameson Williams. While Morgan has long admired Williams, she has no idea why he had selected her to restore the mural. This opportunity enables her to be released from jail and provides an opportunity to rebuild her life. We soon learn why Anna’s mural was so special to Jameson. As the mural is restored, the mystery of Anna starts to be revealed. This is one powerful read.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Ms. Chamberlain for the ARC of this wonderful book which comes out on January 14, 2020.

This book completely captivated me! I was expecting to enjoy this book, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I loved it. These pages took me away and provided so much of what I hope to experience when I read historical fiction.

I thought this story was an especially great use of the dual timelines that are so popular now. Both Anna and Morgan were intriguing and their stories intersected beautifully, and I was on the edge of my seat as their stories were revealed. This truly was a page turner for me.

Something I particularly enjoyed was experiencing and learning about an aspect of history that was new to me. I did not have previous knowledge of the mural commissions in the 1940s and I was delighted to be transported to a time and place that made it a joy to learn. There was nothing that came across as a detail thrown in to show how much research the author did. Everything flowed organically, even the descriptions of restoring a painting were enjoyable and enlightening to read, and I could see how very dry those could have been had they not been so wonderfully written.

There were some dark elements, as his was a realistic historical fiction. However, there were also many beautiful relationships and fascinating characters. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys historical fiction. I received an advance copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

OMG and WOW are what I'm thinking one minute after I finish Big Lies In A Small Town!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have read all of Diane Chamberlain's books and each new one is just as amazing as the others. I love her style of writing and the way you get sucked into the story and the characters. I read this one in two days and I loved it!!!!! I was hooked from the first page!!!!! This book is told in two different perspectives- one Morgan Christopher, a young lady who went to prison for a crime she didn't commit. She is an art major who gets out of jail on the condition of restoring a mural. She had no idea how to do it much less start but she has no choice.
Next we have Anna Dale, the artist who painted said mural. Anna wins a contest to paint a mural for a town she's never been but she moves there to paint this mural. We follow these two ladies throughout their time and experience with this particular mural. Both of their lives are changed forever with this one mural. This is a phenomenon story and I highly recommend this book and every one by Ms Diane Chamberlain. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for my honest review on this amazing book.

I recieved this book as an advanced copy from Netgalley as an exchange for my honest review. I have read and loved Dianne Chamberlain before so I was looking forward to reviewing this book. WOW She did not let me down! Big Lies in a Small Town has a wonderful mixture of charm, warmth, mystery and romance.

Based in two time periods, this story tells about two Talented Women.

In the 1940s a woman named Anna won a Art contest and was honored the chance to paint a mural for a small town called Edenton. The town at first didn't take to her as she was an outsider and felt that their own Male artist Martin Drapple should have won. Because of Anna's inner strength she persevered and painted the mural but not without some backlash.

In the 1980s a woman named Morgan is in prison for a crime she didn't commit,but then finds herself released on probation with conditions of restoring a famous authors mural. Morgan never has done restoration before so she needs to learn fast as there is a two month deadline. As she is restoring it she uncovers secrets of the town.

A fascinating story, I couldn't put the book down. Loved it!

Destined to be a 2020 favorite! Chamberlain cleverly connects the lives of two female artists with one mural that ultimately tells a painful story with the restoration uncovering the clues. She sets the stage by switching back and forth between the progress of the original painting and the restoration with superb character development of all parties in both time periods. I thank NetGalley for providing the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

"Never lie to someone who trusts you. Never trust someone who lies to you."

Diane Chamberlain, a gifted storyteller, sets this one down in the small community of Edenton, North Carolina. She's shifting the sands of time from 1940 to 2018 with chapters reflecting the lives of her two main characters, Anna Dale and Morgan Christopher. We'll come to find, because of time and place, that these two women could not be more different. Yet, there is a steeliness in their resolve because of life's short-circuited events.

Anna Dale, a young twenty-two year old from New Jersey, has won a mural competition in 1939 that will bring her to Edenton, North Carolina with its small town homeyness lined with some very small minds. Life on the East coast has not prepared Anna for what she is about to encounter there. She is to create a huge mural depicting Edenton life which will be displayed on the post office wall. The veil of friendliness is soon lifted as individuals show their true colors. Anna will come face to face with southern social norms and bigotry of the time period. She works daily in a rundown warehouse, but the mural is never completed. No one knows whatever happened to Anna.

The storyline flips to 2018 with Morgan Christopher awaiting visitors in her jail cell. She's serving time for a crime that she did not commit. You'll find the details of that later. Lisa Williams, daughter of the late artist Jesse Jameson Williams, is cutting a deal with Morgan. Morgan had to cut short her three year major in Art at UNC at Chapel Hill because of prison. Morgan can be out on parole is she agrees to restore the mural of Anna Dale in a short amount of time.

Our girl Morgan jumps at the chance, but she has no idea of the tangled web she is about to walk into. Same small town of Edenton with a 2018 lineage of small minds. Morgan has an insurmountable task of proving herself to Lisa Williams, to her new parole officer, and to the curator of the town's art museum. Why was she chosen for the task? And there's still the heavy question of what happened to Anna Dale?

Chamberlain knows how to move the reader smoothly and adeptly through the pages of her novels. She paints the atmosphere with just the right amounts of intensity and drive. Her characters are so human in nature and so reflective of the peacemakers and the hell raisers we've all encountered in life. She just lays the story map before us and we can't help but follow the surfaces and the depths to the very end.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to St. Martin's Press and to Diane Chamberlain for the opportunity.

Fans of Diane Chamberlain’s evocative prose and brilliant characterization will not be disappointed by her latest work, “Big Lies in a Small Town.”

In 1940, Anna Dale wins an art competition to paint a mural for a post office building in a small town. When she arrives to work on the painting, she clearly is not welcome because the town feels that its resident painter should have been chosen instead. But because Anna has recently lost her mother to mental illness, she uses the opportunity to paint as a way to escape. She befriends a local African-American boy whom she mentors as a student and wrestles with the prejudice, something she had not experienced in her former home of New Jersey, as well as fear that her mother’s bi-polar episodes might be hereditary.

In 2018, Morgan Christopher is let out on parole from prison for a crime she only indirectly participated in so that she can restore the mural Anna Dale created. Though Morgan studied art in school and without knowledge of art restoration, she is unsure as to why she was selected for such an important task, but is determined to well. The more she works on the painting, the more she becomes interested in Anna’s story and why the painting was never finished.

The story weaves back and forth effortlessly through these two plots and time frames. Both of her protagonists, though flawed, are quite likable and the parallels between the women become quite clear as the story developed. The townspeople in both eras are quite well developed. The author has a great sense of life in a small southern town in the forties. This setting is a character itself. Ms. Chamberlain’s attention to detail is only one of the many reasons I could not put this story down.

Whether you have read every Chamberlain novel published or are new to her writing, you will finish this book unable to stop thinking of the characters. I'd like to thank NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me an advanced copy.

Another brilliant book by Diane Chamberlain! I was gripped all the way through, could not out this book down! By far one of the best books I’ve read this year, definitely worth a read

Two women separated by decades but connected by their love for art deal with a dark secret. When one sets out to discover what happened to the other, both of their lives will change. Author Diane Chamberlain will keep readers riveted until the end with her main characters in her incredible novel Big Lies in a Small Town.

It’s 1939, and New Jersey native Anna Dale has just lost her mother. Anna watched her mother struggle with wildly changing moods; sometimes she’d burst through the days with enough energy for ten women. Then she’d sink so low that she’d have trouble getting out of bed. Anna lived for those animated periods in her mother’s life; her mother’s passion for photography encouraged her own artwork. Now, though, Anna is all alone in the world.

When she gets word of winning a national art contest, Anna is both pleased and puzzled. She’d entered the contest hoping to win the opportunity to paint a mural for her hometown of Plainfield, New Jersey. The judges inform her that while another artist will paint the Plainfield mural, Anna has been chosen to paint the mural for the post office of Edenton, North Carolina.

Anna knows nothing about North Carolina; she’s never even traveled that far south. She can’t turn down the opportunity of the prize money, though, so she packs her bags for Edenton where she steps right into the duality of southern hospitality. As she researches the town and gets to know its residents, Anna realizes the task of painting a mural to represent Edenton may be bigger than she could manage on her own. The danger comes in knowing who to ask for help.

In early June of 2018, former art student Morgan Christopher is serving a three-year sentence in the North Carolina Women’s Correctional Facility for a crime she didn’t commit—except no one believes her because she confessed to it. After her first year in prison, Morgan dreads waking up in her cell every day. She’d do anything, she knows, to get out of jail for good.

Her wish is fulfilled when the daughter of a famous artist comes to see her. Morgan has admired the works of Jesse Williams for years and is beside herself when Williams’ daughter, Lisa, tells her there’s a way for her to get out on parole. Shortly before his death, Williams updated his will to stipulate the opening of a new art gallery in Edenton. The gallery needs to open on August 5 and will house Williams’ own work as well as the work of other prominent artists and promising students.

Williams stated in his will that Morgan was to be hired to restore the mural painted by Anna Dale. The mural, Lisa tells Morgan, has been rolled up and lying in a corner of her house for decades. No matter what state it’s in, it must be fully restored and installed in time for the gallery’s opening in August. In exchange for the restoration, Morgan will get out on parole and receive $50,000. If the restoration isn’t completed in time, Lisa will lose her house.

Despite her complete ignorance in art restoration, Morgan jumps at the chance. She starts with the mural and soon gets involved in a mystery: although it was completed, it was never hung in Edenton’s post office. As Morgan uncovers one square foot of the canvas at a time, she discovers the secrets Anna and the town of Edenton fought to keep.

Author Diane Chamberlain weaves an easy tale to follow. By switching chapters between Anna and Morgan, she doesn’t keep readers waiting too long on the stories of either women. Anna’s character arc follows familiar territory of race relations in small southern towns in the 1940s while also offering surprises. Morgan’s chapters, in first person, bring to readers her confusion that she restore the mural as well as her determination to do anything to stay out of prison.

Both women fight for themselves in their circumstances but also learn to fight for others. The connections between them might seem obvious, but Chamberlain’s meticulous plotting helps the story unfold in such a natural, organic way that readers will find themselves worrying about Anna and Morgan as they second-guess what will happen next.

Fans of fiction set in small towns will thoroughly enjoy this one. I recommend readers Binge Big Lies in a Small Town.

Morgan gets the chance of a lifetime. Immediate parole from prison if she agrees to restore a post-office mural in a small North Carolina town. Morgan has no idea if she'll be able to complete the job, but she's willing to try. Alternating with Morgan's story is the story of Anna Dale, the original mural artist, in 1940.

I couldn't decide which part of the story I loved more. Chamberlain laid a perfect story that weaved past and present in such an intricate way. I could not wait for the minute every day when I could read!

Rating: 5/5 stars

Big Lies in a Small Town is the captivating dual story of artists Anna Dale and Morgan Christopher. In 1939, artist Anna Dale wins a national contest to paint a mural in Edenton, North Carolina. Alone after the death of her mother, Anna moves to Edenton to paint the mural and quickly finds that life in the South in the 1940s is much different from that in her native New Jersey. Prejudices run deep and women are expected to abide by certain expectations of propriety.

In 2018, Morgan Christopher is serving a prison term after taking the blame for a crime she didn't commit until she is freed by Lisa Williams, daughter of famed artist Jesse Williams, whose work Morgan always admired. Lisa tells her that Jesse's will stipulated that Morgan be hired to restore an 80 year old mural to hang in the gallery that the will requires Lisa to open in Jesse's hometown, Edenton, North Carolina. As Morgan begins the work, she finds strange and disturbing imagery embedded in the mural, which was never installed, and finds herself pulled into the mystery of what happened to Anna Dale, the mysterious artist who seems to have disappeared after the completion of the mural.

Chamberlain deftly weaves together the stories of the two artists dealing with different challenges in different times and pulls the reader into the mystery of the secrets held by the strange mural and what happened to Anna Dale. The story of the two women was captivating and I devoured this book in a couple of sittings. I recommend Big Lies in a Small Town for readers who enjoy a good slow burn suspense with a touch of historical fiction thrown in for good measure.

Oh what a tangled web she weaves!

I think one of the things I love most about a Diane Chamberlain novel is her ability to weave past and present into such an entertaining , thought provoking and suspenseful page turner, time and time again.

Big Lies in a Small Town does just that with solid characters, a fresh and imaginative story line, and some nice plot twists that were revealed at just the right time.

My only complaint would be the ending was not as strong as I had been prepared for, but still not enough to drop my rating any lower.

Probably one of my top 3 Chamberlain reads!

ARC provided by NetGalley

I think I’ve been smiling for the last few chapters of this book. Of the 71 (I think) books I’ve reviewed for NetGalley, this one is EASILY in my top 5 of all time. WOW. This book has so many twists and turns, well developed characters with so much heart and history and REAL people flaws. It captivated me from the very beginning. You will not be sorry if you buy this book. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher (and author) for giving me a chance to read and review this book.