This book most certainly shouldn't be passed over. Kayla and her daughter are doing their best to move on after a life shattering incident left her a widow. When she starts mingling with the people on her street, the past comes back to everyone involved and they find out they have more in common than they thought.

🎂Happy Book Birthday📗

Thanks to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the eARC of The Last House on the Street. I’ve read a few @diane.chamberlain.author books and she never disappoints.

Told from the point of view of two women in two different time frames, this story starts with a bang. Kayla (from 2010) is thoroughly creeped out by a prospective client at her place of business. A woman who knows too much of Kayla’s personal information and refuses to share her own identity. Creepy factor off the scales. 🥴😵‍💫

Kayla moves into her brand new home with her young daughter and quickly tries to befriend the only other resident(s) on her otherwise new construction block.

Ellie has flown back to North Carolina to take care of her ailing brother and aged mother. She hasn’t been home since 1965 and would preferred to have kept it that way. She meets Kayla, who helps her bring in groceries one day. It appears a new friendship might be forged between these women, despite their age difference.

The story then begins to flip between Ellie’s summer of 1965 and the 2010 timeframe. The women’s stories begin to interlace right up to the very end when all is revealed. And 🤯.

The story has a smidge of a slow burn vibe for me, but I wholehearted enjoyed it. I highly recommend this historical fiction novel and can’t wait to read more Diane Chamberlain in the future. I’ve got The Silent Sister and The Stolen Marriage on my TBR backlog, perhaps I should bump them up since I enjoy her writing style so much?

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thank you NetGalley and Diane Chamberlain for letting me ARC read such a well researched and captivating read.

Two women. Two stories. Both on a collision course with the truth--no matter what that truth may bring to light--in Diane Chamberlain's riveting, powerful novel about the search for justice.

The Last House on the Street is one of the best historical fiction books I’ve read. So many emotions and so powerful! I had never heard of the Scope project so learning about it while getting acquainted with the cast of characters kept me flipping the page. I love when an author can keep my attention with a dual timeline but also be so descriptive I know what decade I’m in from page to page. Definitely one everyone should add to their 2022 TBR pile and bookshelf.

Stunning new novel by Diane Chamberlain! The past and present weave together in an engaging story of two women in a small southern town during the 60’s and today. The early times a fraught with social injustice and racial tensions. The current times hold mystery and secrets of the town. Highly recommend this 5 star book and any of Diane Chamberlain’s books. I’m a huge fan of her backlist so I was thrilled for the opportunity to read and review this one.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this book to exchange for an honest review.

Email: DaniReadsTooMuch@comcast.net
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You will be thinking about this novel for a long time to come.

A historical fiction novel with a hint of mystery thrown in will keep you turning pages late into the night. Expertly shifting between 1965 and 2010, Diane Chamberlain brings to light racial tensions and American politics. A cast of characters hiding their past and the truth from one another until the heart-breaking, gruesome truth finally comes out.

This is the first novel I have read by Diane Chamberlain, and I will definitely be reading more!

I want to thank Netgalley, and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This was my first read of this author, and i don't know why i waited so long. This book was touching and gave me all the feels, i couldn't put it down. Told with dual time lines, it was easy to follow and the characters pulled you into your lives. It really was so good.

I really enjoyed this historical fiction. Set against two timelines, an area of the Carolinas is coming to terms with the Civil Rights movement in the form of the Voting Rights Act in one timeline, while in present day (2021) a new tenant takes residence on a street riddled with that history. It seems many people do not want this housing development to take place, but why? While the mystery was fairly straightforward, I enjoyed the rich history and character development. I honestly found the 1960 timeline more interesting than the present day timeline.

"The Time is always right to do what is right." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Two women, two tragedies, a chance encounter and worlds collide!

1965

Ellie Hockley is a young woman who wants to stand by her convictions. She wants to do what is right. She applies to take part in the Scope project, trying to get people to register to vote. She will be living with black families, while she and her fellow volunteers try to get them to sign up and vote. It's not an easy feat. The Klan is not happy. They are burning crosses and doing worse, much worse. There are those in Ellie's life who are angry at her involvement, they do not like her decision and her involvement in Scope is affecting their lives.

2010

Kayla Carter's husband has died in an accident while building their dream home. Now she is a raising their four-year-old daughter alone. She has been told not to move in. In addition, strange things have been happening, dead animals are being left behind. When Kyla meets Ellie who has come back to town after being gone for 45 years, she begins to learn more about her neighbor, her father, and the land around her home.

I enjoyed how the dual timelines were told and how they intersected. Usually, while reading dual timelines, I tend to like one more than the other, but I have to say that I enjoyed both equally. I enjoyed how the timelines intersected and how the central mystery would unfold.

I was not disappointed. This was a well written and perfectly plotted book. I love a book that not only entertains me but educates and moves me as well. This book fit the bill. I was not aware of the
Scope Project or its purpose.

Diane Chamberlain never disappoints!

Riveting, well written and thought provoking.


Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

I loved this book. It was a beautifully written novel that led the reader thru one of the most turbulent times in history. Great characters, a fast moving plot that kept the reading engaged and entralled till the end. It was a nail bitter.

The Last House on the Street is another heart wrenching, heartwarming tale by wonderful author Diane Chamberlain. This is yet another brilliant story spun by this seasoned author. Her stories speak to the heart and in doing so can turn the reader inside out!

Once again this author shows her mastery of the generational dual timeline as she brings together Ellie Hockley of Round Hill, NC, a child of the 60’s, and Kayla Miller Carter, a millennial, in 2010. Kayla, who was recently widowed, and her young daughter Lainie are ready to move into the home she and her late husband, both architects, had designed. Kayla has very mixed feelings about the move as her husband had died in a tragic accident on site. And she is even less sure when several ominous, even threatening, things happen.

Ellie Hockley is back at her home at the other end of the same street for the first time in 45 years. She is home mainly to assist her older brother, Buddy, as he deals with end stage congestive heart failure, and her mother, who deals with dementia and has been in assisted living until Ellie’s return. She left home after the disastrous summer of 1965.

In the few months that Ellie and Kayla know each other, much comes to light as buried secrets of a shameful history from when the South caught fire with the passing of the voting rights amendment are unearthed in their small North Carolina town. And the connections that tie the two women together are more than having homes on the same street.

This poignant story will be hard to beat in the 2022 world of literary fiction. This mystery thriller is so well plotted with both rich characters and an even richer history! I very much enjoyed this book and I wholeheartedly recommend it!

Diane Chamberlin’s The Last House on the Street uses alternating time lines to link actions in the past to the present. This is a story that deals with love, loss, social mores and consequences.
The story drew me and piqued my curiosity about the people living in the last house on the street. What are their secrets? Do they impact the neighbors?
The story is well written with descriptions to make you experience the story and identify with the characters. The characters are interesting, some more relatable than others who make you shake your head at their attitudes.
I looked forward to reading this book. Ms. Chamberlain writes books with interesting storylines. This was not an exception. It has an intriguing plot with interesting characters. I have been purposely vague about the story because I don’t want to ruin it for others by saying too much.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good book. Thank you #StMartinsPress for approving my request. All opinions contained in this review are solely my own.

The Last House on the Street is a heart-breaking, generational, mystery and thriller that will leave you with both a broken heart and a warmed one.

Bouncing between the lives of two women, separated by a generation and tied together in multiple way The Last House on the Street gives us the stories of Ellie from 1965, her bravery, her love, her passion and her life, and of Kayla, a recently widowed mother of a three year old who sets to move into the home she and her husband built, and in which he died from a freak accident. As Kayla prepares to move into her new home she is threatened by a strange woman who stops in her office, and soon after moving in begins to discover more secrets and more threats as the days go on. Back in 1965 Ellie uses her summer break after sophomore year at college to be a part of SCOPES, mainly white northerners, helping black folks in the south prepare to register to vote as the country waits on LBJ to sign the action into law. It's here, as the only southern white girl, that she meets Winston. The handsome young black man, she quickly falls in love with. Ellie's eyes are painfully opened to the racism and presence of the Klan, not just in her home state, but also in her hometown. And, could it be true? In her family's home as well.

The two stories of these women quickly become entwined in many ways and together they carry each other and find safety in each other as they grow closer through the stories of loss in their lives.

I have so many words on this book and also no words at all. All at the same time. To say I loved this book feels wrong. but I did. It drew me in, making me feel the deepest of emotions, shed tears, and want to fight for both of these women.

I am giving this read a full 5 stars. Something I rarely do. I highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and author Diane Chamberlain for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Reviews being posted to Amazon and B&N at time of review, happy pub day! And to my Instagram account @the_literary_fox, later this week as I have more time to process everything I just read.

4.5/5

The Last House on the Street is now my second time reading Diane Chamberlain, and once again I was amazed. For the majority of this book, I was feeling a 4/5 for a star rating but once that ending hit and everything was revealed, I knew I had to go up. The story is told from Kayla's viewpoint in present and Ellie's viewpoint in past, and I was into both storylines, but I was especially curious about what would happen with Kayla. Both timelines ended up shocking me, but I also liked the way they ended up tying together. Ellie's POV is in North Carolina in the 60s and it hurts to read a lot of her viewpoint due to all the racism. Seeing what was happening through her eyes as a white girl was very enlightening, and I thought the way Chamberlain handled it all was very well done.

It took me a little bit to get into the book, but that was more about me than the story. I started the audiobook on the NetGalley Shelf app which is completely horrible unless you listen below a 1.5x speed, and I can't bring myself to listen below a 2x speed these days. Due to this, the narrator sounded robotic instead of normal and this definitely took away from my enjoyment at first. Luckily, Scribd had it, and once I got to listen to Susan Bennett in her normal voice, The Last House on the Street hit me harder and got me more invested in the story. At first, I thought there were 2 different narrators, and I loved that about Bennett's narration! She made the 2 character voices feel very different and was definitely the perfect person to voice this story. I really want to get into more of Chamberlain's backlist and if you like historical fiction with some mystery, you must read The Last House on the Street!

Thank you to the publishers for my advanced listening and digital copies of this book. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

Excuse me for a moment while I piece my heart back together and recover from sobbing uncontrollably.

Chamberlain is a master storyteller and The Last House on the Street is no exception. Two different stories, told by two different women during two very different time periods slowly intersect weaving a tale of social injustice, personal tragedy, and heartbreak. But amidst the sadness, there is beauty and strength and a raw humanness to which I found totally relatable.

Parts of the story felt almost like a thriller - Kayla and her home being targeted and vandalized, her husband tragically and mysteriously dying, the woods feeling haunted, etc. Other parts read as a historical fiction with Ellie seeking social justice and racial reform during the tumultuous 1960s. And still others felt like forbidden romance and contemporary fiction. I loved that the story (stories) didn’t fall into one bucket and it helped keep my interest because at times I did find the pacing a bit slow.

I also really liked that we knew fairly quickly how Ellie and Kayla were connected though we didn’t get the full picture until the very end. The two stories were so radically different that I was relieved Chamberlain didn’t keep us totally in the dark about they related to one another.

Themes of racism and bigotry felt uncomfortably current and Chamberlain did a tremendous job making the reader feel the plight of the Black community. Ellie’s coming of age and growth were eloquently written and made her character very empathetic.

This book was really well done and one that would appeal to most audiences. I definitely recommend.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a copy of this wonderful novel.

The Last House on the Street transports the reader to 1965, which is a period of unthinkable acts of racism and feelings of prejudice. Elle Hockley does something that most people in her town in North Carolina would never consider doing - she starts working with civil rights movements and canvassing to help people with registering to vote. The reader is then brought to 2010, where Kayla Carter is reeling over the loss of her husband and wondering if she should move into the house they designed together in Shadow Ridge Estates. It doesn't help that a strange woman has warned Kayla not to move in. At the forefront of the new housing development stands the Hockley house. Ellie, now in her sixties, has recently returned home after being away for decades. Being home has made the memories of the past all too fresh for Ellie. This small town in NC holds some shameful secrets - some of which are related to the Hockley's and Kayla's new home.

In my eyes, Diane Chamberlain can do no wrong. She has a way of writing that grabs hold of the reader and doesn't let go. Not only that, she isn't afraid to write about uncomfortable topics and address difficult issues. The Last House on the Street was fantastic!

This was quite the page-turner, and I am happy to say while I had an idea of how it would end there was a twist I didn't see coming that made it all the more satisfying.

This book traces the story of two women who've suffered unimaginable loss, and who share a connection they never imagined. Kayla Carter's life turned upside down the day her husband died, leaving her a widow with a young daughter, and the house they designed together finally ready to become a home. As the house was the reason for Jackson's death, Kayla understandably has mixed feelings about moving in. These feelings become even more prominent after a visit in her office from a mystery woman who seems to know a lot about her and her family, and who makes veiled threats about wanting to kill someone.

As the story progresses, we meet Kayla's only other neighbor - the Ellie Hockley and her dying brother & aging mother. At first they are just neighbors but a set of circumstances bring them together in ways no one could have imagined.

Their connection is explained via flashback to the summer of 1965 when Ellie was 20 years old. She is determined to do something to make her life meaningful that summer, and through volunteering for the SCOPE program she ends up getting more of an education than she wanted.

The characters are well developed, the writing flows naturally - even with swapping back and forth between 1965 and 2010. The tension builds easily as new facts come to light, and secrets long thought buried begin to come to the surface. You learn that what you think you know about a person is nowhere near the truth, and that even kind-seeming people are capable of horrific deeds.

It was a relatively fast read, and I am sure re-reading will bring even more nuance out that might have been missed the first time through. I highly recommend this book - it was very well done.

While building their dream home, architects Kayla and Jackson’s life is upended, when he falls to his death in the construction of the stairs. Kayla proceeds to move in with her four year old daughter when the house is ready, but has strange and eerie feelings about the house and the yard. When a creepy old women tells her she shouldn’t live in the house, Kayla starts to wonder about the past occurrences on the land she lives on and digs into researching its history.

Pivoting between 2010 and 1965, The Last House on the Street is a historical fiction thriller full of interesting characters, suspenseful twists, and social injustices of the Deep South. I always enjoy a book takes me places, and the writer definitely took me to the race relations of North Carolina in the sixties.

Although Ellie was raised to be a proper southern girl, she wanted to do something more meaningful than that so despite the displeasure of her friends and family, she chose to spend the summer helping to register black voters. There she met a young black man named Win, and it changed Ellie forever. What happened that summer has repercussions years later when Kayla, the daughter of Ellie's former boyfriend, Reed, moves down the street from Ellie's childhood home, and someone clearly doesn't want her there. This deeply affecting novel is extremely timely and relevant to so many things that are going on today including tense race relations, attempts to suppress voting rights, and the white supremacy, and Black Lives Matter movements. It will make you realize how little has changed in the world and how much further we have to go to attain true equality for all. It is a riveting and absolutely gut-wrenching read.

Kayla Carter’s husband is dead. She and her small daughter are now moving into the dream home that she and her late husband designed and built on the old Hockley Street. Things are painful enough, but when Kayla starts getting warnings about her new home from a disturbing stranger, Kayla must make some tough decisions, and that includes who she can trust. Things seem to get more interesting and complicated when she meets Ellie Hockley and her family, who live in the last original house on the street boarding the new development. When secrets surface, will Kayla and Ellie be able to survive the turmoil that ensues?

This novel by Diane Chamberlain was incredible. It is told in dual time periods which follow both Kayla and Ellie’s journeys. I loved reading about Ellie and her quest to register voters in a time period when there was such injustice and racial wars raging, as it was so enlightening, and was a real event in history. To me, that was the heart of the novel and kept me glued to the story. Ms. Chamberlain tied the story together beautifully and this is a book I will not soon forget. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for my advanced readers copy to review in exchange for my honest opinion

This is one powerful story!!
I always know when starting a Diane Chamberlain novel, I am in for a crazy, controversial, heartfelt journey!
"The Last House on the Street" did not disappoint!
It is truly an unforgettable plot that I am still thinking about.
It has suspense, mystery, family, and friendship and is woven beautifully between dual timelines in 1968 and alternating with 2010 in North Carolina.

I can simply say: "You will love it and will not imagine the ending! It is mind blowing and fantastic"!