I really enjoyed the book "The Last House on the Street" by Diane Chamberlain.

Kayla and Ellie are two women whose lives intertwine over the new house that Kayla has built near Ellie's childhood home. As we follow Ellie's life during the civil rights tension of the 1960s, we gain a growing picture of why someone might not want Kayla to move in to her new home.

This book kept me fully engaged and wanting to know more. There is a lot more depth to the Ellie portion of the story than Kayla's, as Kayla is really just a mechanism to tell Ellie's story. I enjoyed the style of writing a lot!

This has a little language but not much, a moderate romantic scene and some graphic violence (as befits the civil rights setting).

This would make a great book club pick!

The Last House On The Street is the new novel by Diane Chamberlain that you need to put on your radar and it releases tomorrow, Jan 11!

It has two interweaving timelines; 2010 and one during the 1960’s right before the Voting Rights Act was signed. The story is set in North Carolina. Do you see where I’m going with this? This is the south where all the white people claim to not be racist, but also think segregation is the way God intended. This is the south where your super nice next door neighbor, or your best friend’s dad or the nice lady at the hair dresser might actually be involved in the KKK. Our main protagonist, Ellie, is a 20 year old who wants to make a difference.

These heavy topics are handled with fully fleshed out characters and an interesting and occasionally heartbreaking storyline that kept me turning the pages late into the night (well I read a digital copy so I guess I was tapping on my iPad). Both timelines are effortlessly connected. There are themes of social justice, grief (sudden loss of husband, not a spoiler, we learn of this right at the beginning) interracial relationships, and probably many more that I’m not thinking of. In a nutshell, read this book.

Many thanks to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this advance copy.

I've read several books by this author and loved each one. This one is no exception. It's another great one. A very sad book though. A though subject to read about too. So much has changed yet nothing has changed over the years. To much prejudice back then and too much now. Voter suppression then and it still exists today. What happened to black people back in the early to mid sixties was horrible. It is still horrible. All the killings and prejudice. All the things that happened then and a lot of what still happens today. This really needs to change.

This is the story of two women and two time periods. How their lives will intersect. What happened back in 1965 and what is happening now in 2010. Two women of different ages. Different backgrounds but both white women. Both who have empathy for their fellow human beings. Both with lives and loves. Both lost someone so important to them. A story of the horrors of the KKK. The bigots of the south. How one woman tried to make a change and what happened to her. How a town can hide so many secrets and be so cold blooded. And so so many lies. So many lies from a family who claim to love each other.

This book will make your skin crawl. Make you cringe. Make you weep and feel pain like you never thought you would. Things that happened in the sixties and even what happened to Karla in 2010. The extreme someone will go to just to hide the truth. To keep things buried. To keep answers from being revealed. I was both shocked and horrified at what a person with so much hate is capable of doing. And these things really happened back then and even now. How dare a person of color think they are equal or worthy or can possibly have a relationship with a white woman. What a town will do to keep things from moving forward. So sad.

This book is full of deep feelings that will keep you turning the pages. Secrets you will want revealed. You will want to know what happened and why. Who did what. Sometimes things are not as they seem. Sometimes you just can not trust people to do the right thing. Or to be honest. So many lies that tear families apart. Tear communities apart. It's just sad.

Thank you to #NetGalley, #DianeChamberlain, #StMartinsPress for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

5/5 stars and I consider it a job well done. I highly recommend this book. Have a few kleenex handy while reading this one.

Diane Chamberlain has a wonderful way of drawing the reader into a story. In this case, Chamberlain has created a dual time line centering on a young widow named Kayla Carter in 2010 and a college student named Ellie Hockley who gets involved in the civil rights movement in 1965. The story of these two women sends them on a collision course with the truth of what happened one brutal night long ago. I learned a lot about the civil rights movement, in particular the SCOPE program whose goal was to recruit white college students from the North to help prepare African American people in the South to vote once the Voting Rights Act was passed. The book makes you think about how divided the country was in 1965 which I think is relevant to today's world.

The Last House on the Street is my 3rd Chamberlain read. Big Lies on a Small Town definitely put her on my radar as a top writer with important, engaging storylines last year and I was excited to pick this one up. The SCOPE scenes in this story were fantastic and so interesting. You can tell that there was research done to achieve the historical details from the SCOPE training in Georgia to the canvassing and protesting in NC. I appreciated the care with which Chamberlain shared the songs, descriptions of the families, and the struggles that they were going through during that time, but I wanted more from this side of the story. While there were certainly aspects of this story that I found myself enjoying, there were a few bits that I didn't. I found the 2010 story line to be a bit unnecessary for the story. It seemed like parts of this timeline were included purely for shock value, or to add a twist. Most of the twists are in fact very predictable. The staggering differences in tone between the two timelines make the switch between them jarring and confusing from a genre perspective. Ultimately, a deeper dive into SCOPE and expanding on this part of story would have made a more meaningful read. And without getting into too many spoilers... I did not believe in or support the romance that occurs in this story and found it to be used as a tool for writing a horrible tragedy. While things like this definitely did occur, I don't feel like we were given the foundation for it to occur in the context of this story. Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for this eArc in exchange for my honest review!

The Last House On The Street by Diane Chamberlain is a riveting novel about a small southern community’s past sins rise to the surface when two women, a generation apart, find themselves bound by tragedy and an unsolved, decades-old mystery. The 1965 story follows Ellie, a 20 year old white woman who joins a civil rights group working to register black citizens to vote in North Carolina. The story in 2010 follows Kayla, a young mother whose husband recently died in a tragic accident while building a new house on the same block as Ellie's family.

I was immediately drawn into the plot and characters. I especially was fascinated by Ellie's story and growing commitment to activism. I didn't always love Ellie and Kayla or their choices, but found them relatable. I was so intrigued by their stories and wanted to know what would happen. The plot was well-crafted and information was slowly revealed in a way that kept me hooked. I listened to the audiobook which was well narrated by Susan Bennett. I really enjoyed this compelling novel!

Thank you St. Martin's Press/Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for providing this ebook/audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for a gifted copy of The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain. All opinions are my own.

This dual timeline book alternates between
Kayla in 2010 and Ellie in 1965. Kayla is an architect and a widow. Does she want to live in her newly designed home without her husband? Ellie is a civil rights volunteer. She believes in change and wants to help to make it happen. Eventually as their paths cross a mystery is revealed.

The Last House on the Street delves into the dark and usually hidden side of living in the south in the 1960s. Do you really know your neighbors, friends, and even your family?

Diane Chamberlain has again created an interesting and thought provoking historical fiction. I'm looking forward to her next book.

Mystery & Thrillers
Women's Fiction
Release Date: January 11, 2022

This story is a little bit history and a little bit mystery. It is told from alternating points of view beginning in the present year of 2010 and then from the year 1965.

Two women whose lives will be upended with all the ugliness of the past.

Kayla Carter is a mother to a three-year-old daughter, Rainie, and their lives have been turned upside down. Kayla and her husband, Jackson, are architects and are in the process of building their dream home when Jackson dies following a freak accident in the home they are building. Kayla and Rainie move in with Kayla's father while the house is finished. Kayla has ambivalent feelings about the house where she is worried there are too many memories tied to Jackson and yet, she doesn't want anyone else to live in the house.

Kayla and her daughter move into the new home and for Rainie's sake, Kayla pushes her apprehension away. Things don't stay quiet for long and Kayla runs across items in boxes of her husband's belongings that have her questioning why she was kept in the dark.

Eleanor "Ellie" Hockley is back in Round Hill to care for her brother and mother. Ellie had left years ago to California and is haunted by events from her past.

Back in 1965, Ellie was in college for pharmacology, following in the footsteps of her father and even working part-time for him. Ellie's father reads an article about SCOPE. A program to get black voters registered and Ellie knew she was going to be a part of it.

Ellie after hitting a few bumps in the road found herself as a volunteer. After living a privileged life, Ellie experienced what living in poverty was like while living with a family. She was partnered with Win, and the two of them made a great team. Against the rules, they develop feelings for one another. Ellie's family demand for her to come home and it isn't until during a protest where Win is targeted that Ellie agrees to go home for his protection.

Kayla and Ellie get to know one another but it's not until Brenda brings up Ellie's past that Kayla is shocked to learn the connection between Ellie and her father. Ellie ends up at Kayla's home and confides in Kayla and it's not long before another buried secret will come to light.

I enjoyed how the story unfolded from telling of the present to the past even though parts were hard for me to read knowing that not long ago how much hatred lead to treating others as less than human. To some extent still exists with viewing others as lesser than. I admired Ellie for standing by her principles but was hoping for a different ending for her, although justice finally prevailed.

I received an ARC from NetGalley via St. Martin's Press and I have voluntarily reviewed this book.

What appealed to you the most in this story?

I loved the dual timelines, following the lives of Ellie in the mid 60s and Kayla in 2010, and how their narratives come to connect the tragic past with the present. Ellie was my favorite, and I found myself connected to her story and living right beside her as she stepped into her own shoes and began working towards making the world a better place.

I also appreciate how the sensitive issues including racism, interracial relationships, and activism were approached and written about.

How was the pace?

This book held a steady pace with fast page turning moments.

I was completely captivated by the raw honesty of this narrative from the beginning and found myself caught up in learning about the tremendous obstacles in place to keep Black citizens from registering to vote, along with Martin Luther King Jr’s SCOPE initiative to help them register.

How was the audio version?

I’m so glad I went with the audiobook! Susan Bennett is just a phenomenal narrator and has done another amazing job. I think listening to the story really brought even more emotion to the each of the character’s lives and drew me deeper into their lives. I was in tears by the end, as the 1965 timeline drew to a close.

Did the author do her research?

Yes! Not only did she do a fabulous job bringing history and facts to life, but she also got me to read more history and research SCOPE more too! I love how Chamberlain wrote this fictional story with layers of factual history to educate and inform readers. The fact that this occurred within the lifetime of my parents and so many others still alive today is beyond my comprehension.

Do you recommend this book?

I cannot recommend this unique, riveting and wonderfully written book enough! Fans of Diane Chamberlain and those who have yet to read one of her books should definitely pick it up as soon as it hits the shelves on January 11th!

Thank St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing a gifted ARC in return for my honest review.

This was my first Diane Chamberlain book and it did not disappoint. It will stick with me for a long time. I learned a lot from this as I wasn’t alive in the 60’s. The alternative timeline is my favorite.

5 Act on your Convictions Stars

What a MAGNIFICENT book this was!! I’m never disappointed when I pick up a book by Ms. Chamberlain! This story is one that moved me in so many ways. We flip back and forth between to time periods that were very smooth and kept me enthralled with the winding story that both Kayla and Ellie are telling.

With Ellie’s story we’re taken back to a period of great turmoil in our country and things she does, says and the people she spends time with truly shape her entire life and have long term affects for her family. I was spellbound by these chapters. I felt her convictions on what’s right and wrong; her agony of discovering secrets about her family and friends and her burgeoning love with a man that at this time in our country was not tolerated especially in the South.

Kayla’s story is in modern time and is quite intriguing with the happenings surrounding the building of her new home. And her daughter Rainey is just so precocious and sweet. I love how Ms. Chamberlain made us connect all the dots with Kayla’s family history. I felt her pain with the recent death of her husband and how that one event really sets in motion how these two women enter each other’s stratospheres.

The pace of this book is perfect in how the stories move along and the way they intermingle. There were true moments of “what did I just read” and also the ultimate moment where my mouth was literally hanging open because holy cow!!! The attention to detail that Ms. Chamberlain includes in this story is amazing. I felt like I was back in time with the characters and all their machinations!

This is a not to be missed book!!

I feel like the blurb did not give a very accurate description of this book and it's not one I would normally have chosen to read. I got the impression it was more of a mystery/thriller type of book, which is my preferred genre. It alternates between 1965, which focuses on civil and voting rights, and the more current year of 2010.

The 2010 storyline did have some mystery to it with a crazy stalkerish old lady making death threats and the creepy lot with a haunted reputation where Kayla and her now deceased husband built their house. Strange things begin happening on her property that start to feel like warnings to leave.

The 1965 storyline was more historical fiction involving the passing of the law giving black people the right to vote. Ellie leaves her rich privileged family to canvas the poorer towns in her county encouraging the black community to vote. Along the way she encounters dangerous situations like a cross burning on the front yard of the house she's staying in, KKK rallies, and men shooting shotguns at her trying to run her out of town. The story also features an interracial relationship, which was very dangerous in those times.

Overall, the mysterious ending was satisfying, although I was able to guess most of it. But I enjoyed the story more than I thought I would.

Diane Chamberlain has nailed the difficult task of wrapping a murder mystery around a time of political upheaval. Count yourself lucky if you are too young to have lived then and/or have first hand knowledge of the horrors of the violent racial miasma that ran rampant in the United States in 1965. What am I even saying? It hasn’t gone away - it is in the news every other day - - the shame, the horror of hatred and blatant racism. Chamberlain doesn’t leave it at that, she also typifies the young who feel they have to address the unfairness and become involved, often rushing in with the best intentions while leaving the door open to disaster. Chamberlain makes sure we realize that zealots come in all shapes, sizes, genders, colors and attitudes. While Chamberlain has focused her attention on the near “Deep South” eschewing that the Carolinas are so much more progressive than the deep and dark prejudice and violence of Mississippi, Alabama, etc. those Satan Robes and Hoods are equally deadly in any State, and they existed in many including the Northeast.

Not to detract from the current time line, the past is just so powerful that everything else struck me as just noise and background. This is a really interesting book that looks hard and long at the “then and now” and doesn’t flinch from exposing prejudices that don’t die but become better cloaked in the guise of gentility. The characters are not pencil sketches but deep depictions of those who hate, those who defend, those who churn and those who stand and fight. A powerful, thought provoking book.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a copy.

The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain is a great “whodunit” from the past and the present. This book is made up of two mysteries: one from the past and one from the present. The stories wrap around each other, each revealing more of the characters and the storyline.

Kayla Carter and her husband planned the perfect house to share with their daughter. As the house was almost finished, her husband died in an accident and Kayla has to figure out how to move forward. She has had a weird visitor almost threatening her about their future house. Kayla is spooked, but moves on.

Ellie Hockley is home after 50 years. She came home to help take care of her brother as was dying. The story goes back and forth from when Ellie is young to present day. Each layer opens up another layer of the story.

This book reminds us that prejudice and violence sometimes goes together in the most hateful way. Love does not conquer all, sometimes deep seated hate rules. Eventually secrets and truths are revealed - shocking and unexpected with the vitriol. The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain was a great read.

absolutely loved this book and kept me excited to keep
Reading. Will read more from this author
Thank you

The past and present collide in this heartbreaking but wonderful story that starts in 1965 when Ellie, a young girl who wants to do her part to change the world by helping black people register to vote in the South. The story goes back and forth between Ellie and Kayla who I’m the present is dealing with a heartbreaking time of her own. Kayla is visited by a strange women who makes her apprehensive about moving into the dream house that her and her husband built. There are stories about the woods behind the house and Kayla is going to try to find out what happened in the woods back in the 60’s. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Title: The Last House on the Street
Author: Diane Chamberlain
Publisher: St Martin's Press
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Five
Review:
"The Last House on the Street" by Diane Chamberlain

My Opinion:

'The Last House on the Street' was quite a historical fiction. Mystery, suspenseful read with grief, and romance will draw one into Kayla Carter and Eleanor [Ellie] Hockley's story. Yes, this was about 'family, love, racism, and injustice.' We find that this was from Round Hill, North Carolina, in a neighborhood called Shadow Ridge Estates... of two timelines, 1965 and 2010. What was it about these two timelines that will direct how these characters are linked? Be ready for many surprises, along with twists and turns that will keep the reader turning the pages. For example, what will happen as Kayla finds out about her town and family. "What had happened on this land in 1965 that Kayla's father was trying to warn her about moving to this area that Kayla's husband had built for her?"

And with Ellie living next door, how will these two connect? What did Ellie working with SCOPE do with it, and what happened to her family? One thing that is for sure this author did her research to give the reader quite a story. I'm not sure whom I felt sorrier for...With the subject being so involved with intense racism, Kayla or Ellie, the root of it all is emotional and heartbreaking. To get all of the answers to these questions and more, you must pick up "The Last House on the Street' to see how well this author brings us this read. It may take a while, but these two-time timelines do come together, giving the reader one heck of a story by the end.

This story wasn't an easy read, definitely will stay with me, but it was a story worth telling, and using these dual timelines and multi-generations was well-done.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC and my leaving my honest opinion.

The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain is a poignant heart breaking story that highlights today’s current events. Told in a dual timeline it easily goes back forward between them. The smooth writing style keeps this novel from feeling disjointed. While my heart is often with Ellie in 1965, 2010 is just as interesting.

The past is often haunting and this one is no less. I am from NC so while this book shed light on cruel people and terrorist groups, all of NC is not like that. Still to disregard the truth makes it easier to let the same things happen again and they must not. Told this way by Diane Chamberlain causes a more personal connection to the times and the people who lived through it.

Highly recommend.

An ARC of the book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley which I voluntarily chose to read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I loved this book so much. Just couldn't put it down. An absolute gem of a book by an author who just doesn't disappoint. Emotional and intense. It will have you glued to the pages from beginning to end. Absolutely check out this phenomenal winner of a book. Happy reading!

I recieved this book as an advanced copy from NetGalley and St. Martins Press in exchange for my honest review. So here goes: I loved it and couldn’t put it down. I found myself asking “why did this happen”? This is a well-written historical fiction that is written in current and recent history timelines. I highly recommend reading The Last House on the Street - it will evoke strong emotion. I’ve not read any other Diane Chamberlain book, but will definitely do so now.