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.

The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain
This author’s books have sometimes been hit or miss for me, loved some and others I could not get into. This one grabbed me from the start. I am not quite the age Ellie was during the 60’s but I am old enough to remember that era and I shed some tears over it.
I enjoyed the story set in that era as well as the more recent story. Sometimes it was wrenching to go from one to the other. The big twist at the end was not hard to figure out mostly. Even so, it was an excellent book.

I have read and enjoyed so many books by Diane Chamberlain. She's such a talented writer who gets into the heart of issues and spins a tale that enraptures you from the first chapter.

The Last House on the Street is one of her finest. This book deserves the hype.

Narrated in two timelines of the 1960s where racism and bigotry was normal and blatant and the second timeline is 2010. Both the timelines take place in North Carolina with the stories interwoven. The interwoven timelines have a beautiful love story, compelling characters and an intriguing mystery.

I don't want to reveal more but suffice it to say that this book will make you smile, cry, make you angry and yet you won't be able to put it down.

Kudos to the author for writing such a compelling book with such good characters. I will definitely be recommending this book to everyone.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“The Last House on the Street” by Diane Chamberlain
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Release Date: 1/11
Genre: historical fiction- dual timeline

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’a Press for an ARC of this book! This is my second book by this author and it did not disappoint. I’m not a huge historical fiction reader, but this was five big gold stars. Wow! I had so many emotions while reading this. The entire story was captivating and had me curious on how it would all be tied together. The author did a great job connecting the two POV and dual timeline making it intriguing and seamless. I would definitely recommend!

POV Ellie Timeline 1965- Ellie is 20 years old in the heart of the Civil Rights movement when she joins a group called SCOPE. They go house to house trying to get people of color registered to vote. The problem is there are so many ignorant racists in her county the job becomes dangerous.

POV Kayla Timeline 2010- Kayla is an almost 30 year old widow. She custom built her home with her husband and he died on the property in a freak accident. She now has to come to terms of either selling her dream home or moving in with her four year old daughter. When she decides to move freaky things keep happening. It seems no one want her living there.

This book packs a serious punch. It gripped me from the start and left me stunned in the end. The book flips back and forth between two timelines. Kayla is moving into her newly built home that she designed with her husband. He died in an accident in the home just months before it was finished. Kayla is hesitant to move in but decides to try and move forward for her and her daughter. The home is the first one completed at the end of the street where Ellie grew up. Back in the 60s, Ellie's life changes completely when she becomes involved with SCOPE, a civil rights organization that was helping to promote black voting rights and spread the word about what they hoped would be an upcoming law establishing those rights. Ellie knows that life with SCOPE will be different but has no idea how much it would truly affect her in so many ways.

I loved Ellie's heart. She pushed forward for what she believed in despite the reactions from her family and friends. I loved how open she was to new experiences and that she saw everyone as they should be seen - people deserving of the same rights no matter the color of their skin. Not only that, she tried to do something about it. She could acknowledge how truly privileged she was and how angry she was about the way they were treated. I enjoyed the romance between her and Win. My heart absolutely broke over all the obstacles they faced. I loved the way that this story brings to light just a small piece of the Civil Rights movement.

There is a mystery to this book as well as Kayla has received various messages warning her away from her new home. Strange people show up and things begin to happen that leave Kayla feeling very nervous. She ends up connecting with Ellie and it all ties together in the end in a very emotional way. There are points in this book where I was just so angry about the ease with which Ellie was able to change certain things and make certain decisions in a way that Win and the others would never be able to. It brings to light the injustices that still exist today and are definitely real to the story. I did have some feelings about Ellie's decisions towards the end of the book but don't want to give spoilers away. I will say this book will stay with me for quite some time. 4.5 stars rounded to 5

CW: racism, violence, KKK, death of spouse, death of baby, death on page

Thank you so much to the publishers for sending me an arc in exchange for my honest review. I have read one other Diane Chamnerlain book (Big Lies in a Small Town) before and I really liked it. This book was in the same format. Historical Fiction and Modern dual time lines interweaving each timeline together to give us a beautiful story. Her writing is very skilled and I love how it came together.

This was my first Diane Chamberlain book. I think it was very well written about such a hard topic. This book will give you all the feels and surprising jaw dropping moments. If you love dual time lines and historical fiction I highly recommend.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the digital galley. All opinions are my own.