This is another historical fiction gem from Diane Chamberlain that evoked many emotions while reading. It is told in dual timelines, one in 1965 right after the Voting Rights Act was passed, and the other in 2010 when Kayla and her husband are building their dream home in Shadow Ridge Estates in North Carolina, but he tragically dies while they are building. The home is in an area with tragic memories, and she is met with resistance by some that want her to leave, but there are others that are more welcoming, such as the elderly Ellie Hockley, whom Kayla gets to know and begins to learn there might be ties between her land and Ellie’s past. I liked the past timeline a little better but understood the current day of Kayla’s story was necessary to connect the past to the present and deal with the horrifying wrongs of the past.

This was so well done, and while definitely hard to read at times I am grateful for Chamberlain’s storytelling, as she was great at creating characters that were beautiful inside and treated horrifically, as well as creating characters that were basically the devil incarnate and utterly infuriating. However I believe she was spot on with how some people were back then and unfortunately still are today, making this a must read in my opinion. There is so much in here to unpack, and the audiobook was very well narrated, I really enjoyed listening to this one. I highly recommend this one, it was a five star read for me and as I noted above, it is a must read.

This was my third read by Diane Chamberlain and she is now firmly on my favorites list. Thank you to @NetGalley @Macmillanaudio and @stmartinspress for the ALC and advanced digital galley to review. This one is available now!

Diane Chamberlain is a reliable author of dual timeline historical fiction. So far, I have read this new release, The Last House on the Street, published on January 11th, as well as Big Lies in a Small Town, The Stolen Marriage, and Necessary Lies out of Chamberlain’s 30+ novels.

The two settings of The Last House on the Street are 2010 and 1965 in North Carolina. The 1965 timelines involve the Civil Rights Movement and the main character hears Martin Luther King, Jr. speak; reading this book this week is excellent timing to remember the impact of Martin Luther King, Jr. close to the national holiday that honors him.

The naïve white female protagonist volunteers to help with voter registration in 1965 and learns that her town, family, and friends are tied to hate in a way she could not have imagined. The 2010 female protagonist learns that her new home and the land surrounding it has a dark history, and the mystery aspect of the novel plays out as she discovers what happened in the 1960s.

The KKK plays a role in this story, and there is very disturbing violence in the novel, all the more disturbing knowing that the type of racism and violence in this novel is inspired by true events.

I found The Last House on the Street to be very engaging and recommend it to readers of historical fiction and those who are interested in reading a novel set in North Carolina during the Civil Rights Movement.

I enjoyed the history and setting of this book, though I had a hard time keeping track of the two main characters. They were so similar I kept mixing up which story went with which woman. Overall, it was a good read. 3.5 stars

A well told story from two perspectives and timelines set in North Carolina. A mystery woven through a story told during the civil rights movement and present day. This was a book that I couldn't wait to keep picking up to see what would happen next. Thanks to Netgalley for this review copy.

In a Nutshell: A dual timeline story, but where each of the two timelines belongs to a distinct genre and they don’t merge until the final few chapters. It’s a fairly engrossing read, but one that doesn’t turn fabulous until the final quarter. The book is marketed as a mystery; it is not.

Story:
2010. Kayla’s husband has died in a freak accident while building their new dream house in a new development called Shadow Ridge Estates, in a small town named Round Hill, North Carolina. Kayla is now apprehensive of moving into this home with her three year old daughter, and more so after a mysterious old woman warns her against the move. But with no other option left, Kayla has no choice but to shift. Soon, there are many events taking place that show her why she must get out of Round Hill ASAP. The only person who is somewhat welcoming to her is an elderly neighbour named Ellie Hockley, but even Ellie’s behaviour seems puzzling at times. Who wants Kayla away from “the last house on the street”, and why?
The story is told in the first person perspectives of Kayla from 2010, and Ellie from 1965.

The two timelines are covered mostly in alternating chapters. There's a certain amount of foreshadowing done in the contemporary narrative with respect to events in the past, but other than this link, it's like there are two stories running in parallel and one can’t see the connection between them until more than three-quarters of the book is done. This works both for and against the story.

The historical timeline outshines the contemporary timeline by far. With its coverage of racial privilege, white supremacist attitudes, the extensive yet covert spread of the KKK and the brave SCOPE project initiated by Dr Martin Luther King Jr., there’s a lot of intense, thought-provoking and emotional content in Ellie’s narrative. In fact, if the contemporary story had been discarded altogether, the book would have worked brilliantly and given tough competition to Jodi Picoult’s “Small Great Things” as a book about racism. Kayla’s story is nothing but the bland bread to which the delicious stuffing of Ellie’s story is adding flavour. It was like reading two books in one, one bland and one delectable.

(On an aside: As a non-American, my point of view of the actual historical events was that of an outsider. But as a global citizen, it was easy to identify with the struggles of the Black people to get their rights in a country where their ancestors were mostly brought by brutal force. Racial fights are far from over, and a lot of the thinking that is portrayed in this book is unfortunately still an extant problem in many nations, including the US. In the 21st century, we can’t live with the “I, me, myself, mine” mentality anymore. High time people all over the world, including my fellow Indians, realise this!)

Usually, in a dual timeline novel, both narratives belong to the same genre. As such, the reader gets a nostalgic sort of experience while reading the historical timeline and gets the explanation of the past while reading the contemporary timeline. However, in this book, the biggest flaw is that the two timelines are quite distinct in their nature. The 1965 timeline is a historical fiction for most of its journey except for a few tense events; the 2010 timeline is mostly like a psychological suspense. Each of these genres attracts a distinct kind of reader, so if you go into the book expecting a mystery-thriller, you will be as disappointed as the reader who was expecting historical fiction.

Most characters in both the narratives are either clearly black or clearly white. (And I don’t mean this in terms of their skin colour.) They have either a majority of good qualities with minimal or no bad qualities, OR vice versa. As such, it is not too difficult to figure out the potential antagonists of the story. Though this is marketed as a mystery, the suspense is easy for most avid readers to figure out because of this two-dimensional portrayal of the people in the book. Of the main characters, I found Kayla the weakest in sketching. Her character isn’t given much common sense but just false bravado. This again brings down the contemporary timeline. At the same time, Ellie's character is also quite erratic at times; I liked her timeline but didn't necessarily like her.

This was my second Diane Chamberlain book. My first was ‘The Midwife's Confession’, and I felt that it was great but it could have been so much more. The same feeling applies to this book. Nevertheless, I like the way Chamberlain makes me ponder while reading her works, and I am surely going to read more by her.

3.5 stars, mainly because I’m a historical fiction fan and that part of the story satisfied me.

My thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC of “The Last House on the Street”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

I loved every second of reading this! I've never read Diane Chamberlain before but she has a new fan now! I need to go read everything! This felt like such an important story to tell. It was very well done and hooked me from the beginning and kept me hooked throughout the whole book! I was sad because I read it too fast and it ended too soon! Major book hangover! I highly recommend it to everyone! DO NOT MISS OUT on this excellent book!

There are way too many emotions from this book. I finished it last night and am still trying to work through my thoughts on it.

First and foremost, I'd like to thank the author, publisher's St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for allowing me to review this ARC with honesty.

Okay so, I briefly remember reading the synopsis when I first selected this book. In weird way, I'm glad I didn't remember because going into this blind seemed to keep from running the other way with all the tension, pain and anguish that goes on through this book. And strangely enough, I didn't want to put it down from all that emotional turmoil. It wrecked me. In a good way. The story is essentially following two main protagonists. One is in the year 2010 (Kayla's POV) and the second is taking place in 1965 (Ellie's POV.)

This book deals with very dark yet real problems throughout history. It stems on hatred and prejudice. (Just a warning for those that feel triggered by racism, violence, murder and suicide.)

I don't know how many times the rage at what was happening, how much injustice screamed out through those pages.

This book will hurt you. It will make your eyes burn from fighting off tears. This book is not for the light of heart.

My Rating: 5 Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

(this is also posted on my Good Reads page and will eventually be posted on my blog and IG.)

Architect Kayla Carter is reluctant to move into the house she built with her husband Jackson; he died in an accident during its construction, and a mysterious woman warned her that no one should’ve put a place on the property. As Kayla settles in with her daughter, she learns about the violence that once filled the kudzu-infested woods surrounding their home. Set alternately in 1965’s North Carolina of freedom fighters and cross burnings and 2010’s small-town south, Chamberlain’s latest is an impossible-to-put-down and timely twister.

Powerful, sobering story, evoked so many emotions from me. It was the perfect book to read this week leading to MLK Day as a reminder of all those who have suffered. This book will be with me for a long time. This is my first Diane Chamberlain and certainly won’t be my last. She was not afraid to write about a difficult topic, hard to read, but so relevant.

Thank you Netgalley, St. Martins Press and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

My Review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 5 stars

I expected this one to be a fast paced thriller based on the cover, and it is more of a historical fiction with big town secrets. It is a multi POV between two women: Ellie in 1965 and Kayla in modern times, all circling around Round Hill, North Carolina. Ellie has lived in Round Hill her whole life and when the civil rights movement was picking up in the South, she signed up to help register black voters, despite the dangers and the shunning by her own family/friends. Kayla has just moved to Round Hill in a new development called Shadow Ridge with her young daughter after her husband’s tragic death. There are whispers about her new home and the woods in her backyard, including a mysterious stalker warning her to not move in. She hopes to befriend her elderly neighbor Ellie as to why the town is so against her moving into that house - and what other secrets are going on in this town.

Some parts were hard to read, due to a few triggers with torture/violence, but it was important to know grief and suffering that was happening during this time. It’s a slow paced novel with a heartbreaking, tragic forbidden romance. I almost DNF’ed it because it was utterly depressing to me, but the writing kept me going. I am glad I finished, and learned so much about that part of history (SCOPE project and volunteers). I loathe this cover and it does not do this book justice at all. Definitely check this out if you are looking for a 1960’s era historical fiction in the South!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

I was very fortunate to get both the ebook and the audiobook from NetGalley to review. Although it was a little slow in parts, I was surprised by the ending and enjoyed a story about this time in history. Not my favorite Diane Chamberlain, but an enjoyable read.

When I finished the last page of this book, I felt compelled to put my Kindle down and just sit in my feelings. Diane Chamberlain has always been a powerful, emotional writer, and her newest novel might be the best one yet.

This book was a page-turning combination of historical fiction and thriller, with dual timelines that left you needing more anytime you flipped perspectives.

In the modern day timeline, you have a young widowed mom who is preparing to move into the masterpiece of a new house that ended up taking the life of her husband. A mysterious woman shows up to her work and threatens her, telling her to not move in. As Kayla makes the move, strange and dangerous things happen to her and her family. An unexpected friendship with a neighbor turns out to add questions and hidden secrets that will end up changing how she views her house and the land’s history.

In the 1960s timeline, you follow a young white Southern woman named Ellie who defies her family and joins a social justice movement. Her choices not only put her own safety at risk, but end up having effects on those around her that she comes to love.

I cannot recommend this book enough. It is twisty. It is heartbreaking. It is beautifully written. It needs to find its way to your TBR!

Thank you NetGalley, Diane Chamberlain, and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this marvelous novel.

Another day. Another book. #dianechamberlain #thelasthouseonthestreet finally!!!! My first book in 2022 that I could NOT put down. I really enjoyed this one. We are in two time periods. 1965 and 2010. It’s amazing to read of a family from then and see how choices of our past can affect the future. Definitely grab this one. #bookstagram #readersofinstagram #bookrecommendations #netgalley #readingtime📖 #netgalleyreview #booklover

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
Diane Chamberlain does it again, she is amazing at weaving together the past & present in a way that hooks readers & keeps them engaged.
"The Last House On The Street",
was a hard topic to read but it was beautifully written.
I highly recommend this book to everyone.
I will read anything written by Ms. Chamberlain.

Kayla and her architect husband built their dream home in Shadow Ridge Estates, but a freak accident leaves Kayla a widow. She’s recently moved into their dream home with her daughter, Rainie and is happy to be loving closer to her father, Reed. A mysterious red haired woman comes to Kayla’s office to presumably discuss building a home, but the woman threatens Kayla and knows more about Kayla than she should. Ellie is living in Shadow Ridge as well, but in the home she grew up in. She has returned from San Francisco to care for her ailing mother and brother. The story is told in both the past and present to determine what exactly happened in Shadow Ridge, and why someone doesn’t want Kayla to live in her new home.

Many years ago, I read this author’s “Keeper Of The Light” which I loved. She has written many, many book since then, yet oddly, I have not read any of them. I decided it was high time that changed, so was delighted when I received a digital ARC of “The Last House On The Street“.

Now I remember why I liked her writing so much. The narrative flows easily, the characters were likeable, and the subject matter was engrossing. This time out she sheds some much needed light on North Carolina’s dark history. It is sad but true to realize that events such as those portrayed in this novel actually took place only about sixty years ago.

This is a novel about social justice, deep seated prejudices, forbidden love, and one family’s tragic secret history. Written at a time when we are still stressing that “Black Lives Matter”, it is a relevant, yet entertaining work of family secrets, social history, and yes… mystery. A winning combination. Highly recommended!

The Last House On The Street is an excellent book that will leave you feeling a wide range of emotions including anger and heartbreak. I loved that this book was informative - I learned about the SCOPE project, which is something that I wasn’t previously familiar with. I enjoyed the dual, interconnected timelines and there were a couple of twists that I didn’t see coming, which I always love!

Told through dual timelines, this riveting tale takes the reader back to 1965, into the life of a young white woman named Ellie who chooses to join the SCOPE Project and become an ally in the civil rights movement, despite pushback from her family and friends. How does her story intersect with that of Kayla, who is moving into a newly built house in 2010 with some ambivalence, both because her husband died in that house while it was under construction and because she was threatened by an unidentified woman who believed no one should be building houses on that street? You’ll have to read the book to find out.

The story seemed to be well-researched, and while it does focus on a white person’s perspective, I don’t think it’s a tale that embraces white savior vibes. If anything, we see the opposite. The narrative presents a person who believes she can make a difference, fueled largely by a past guilt, and she is forced to learn how horrific and widespread racism is and how dangerous her own ignorance can be.

I have seen a few people complain about Ellie’s naïveté and, while I don’t disagree with the fact that she was naive, it didn’t affect my perception of the book. It seemed to be an important statement for the story, in my opinion. I think, given her age and the commonality of trusting the people you’re closest to, especially when young, all that she lacked in her understanding of circumstances fit the story well. I think that the dangerous choices she made fit with her age, along with the fact that she had, for the most part, led a sheltered life, limiting her comprehension of how steep the consequences could be. I could comprehend the drive behind her choices. She was flawed and didn’t have a grasp on the enormity of prejudice or the human propensity toward cruelty, but few of us do at twenty.

While it was fairly easy to pick up on the direction the story was going in, knowing created such a deep unease in my gut that kept me glued to the pages, hoping maybe - just maybe - I was mistaken. Chamberlain masterfully built that suspense, making The Last House on the Street a merciless tale of utter intrigue and foreboding.

I love lyrical writing that really probes at the heart. The subject matter in The Last House on the Street is certainly heart wrenching on its own, but I felt the writing style was rather plain. It’s a personal preference, but I wanted the words to capture the depth of emotion the story encircled, as the two narrators experienced such tremendous loss and I couldn’t really feel it in their words.

The story is fantastic, despite this, and I think it illustrates human depravity and the lack of consequence well. I can’t say I enjoyed it, given the tough subject matter, but I greatly appreciated the tale Chamberlain told.

I am immensely grateful to St. Martin’s Press for my digital review copy through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Kayla Carter and her husband, Jackson, were both architects. With their young daughter, Rainie, they have decided to build a large home in Round Hill, North Carolina. But during the building of their home, Jackson fell from some steps and died. Now, that the home is completed, Kayla is hesitant to move into it. However, her father, Reed, encourages her to do do.

Reed has lived his life in this town and was once the mayor. Now, he is a widower but enjoys caring for his granddaughter, Rainie.

Back in 1965, Ellie and her family lived in the town and she was good friends with Brenda. Ellie is studying pharmacology to become a pharmacist like her father. While she has a good relationship with her father, her mother does not like her. Ellie decides to sign up for an initiative begun by then President Johnson where she would join a group of other young people to get Negros to sign up to vote. This decision caused much dissention for her with her family but she did it anyway. She met a black man named Win. (Time to get away from the word “negro.”) They ended up falling in love and he ended up being dragged by a truck by members of the Ku Klux Klan. Ellie never found out what happened to him.

Today, Kayla is discovering many strange things on the property she now lives on. When she meets Ellie, stories come out and she wonders if Win could have been killed near there by where she lives.

The story slowly unfolds showing to me more hatred for each other in the white community than against the black community.

This book peaked my interest so I did some research on the Ku Klux Klan in North Carolina in 1965. Indeed, there was activity of this sort during that time period. But, North Carolina was not the only southern state with that going on. In its beginning, the Ku Klux Klan was essentially called the terrorist wing of the Democratic Party. Makes one think.

I’m sure the plot of this book is intriguing to a lot of people but to me it almost appears to be somewhat inflammatory and only adding to the racial upheaval in the U.S. today. I do hope that was not the intention of the author.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

A Secret Binds Two Women in a Southern Town

Architect, Kayla Carter, is almost ready to move into the dream home she and her husband designed, but the move has become painful, because her husband died in an accident in the house. However, she can’t bear to sell the house, a reminder of how they planned and worked together. She’s also concerned about malicious incidents that have plagued the construction and is worried about how to keep her three-year-old daughter safe.

Ellie Hockley is Kayla’s neighbor. She grew up on the street, but in 1965, defying her parents, she spent the summer as a volunteer registering black voters. The experience opened her eyes to the plight of marginalized people, and she decided to devote her life to it. She hasn’t been home since that summer, but now her mother and brother are ill and she’s back.

Both women have faced heartbreak and their stories draw you into the tragedy. The tension rises when Kayla is visited by a red-haired woman who warns her of tragedy if she moves in telling her the site is haunted. Ellie befriends, Kayla, and tries to help her through the transition. However, the events remind Ellie of all she lost the summer she left home for good.

The story toggles back and forth between 2010 and 1965. Both stories are poignant, but Ellie’s is the harder one to read. It focuses on terrible abuses that happened in the South during the Civil Rights Era. The characters are both strong women. They face their trials with courage and dignity. The book is well worth reading particularly since it highlights a tragic period in our history.

I received this book from St. Martin’s Press for this review.