This was a really well written and emotional novel that I enjoyed. As with many other historical fiction novels, this was a dual timeline and I found myself much more invested and interested in only the past. I enjoyed learning about the SCOPE program and seeing Ellie learn and grow from the naive privileged small town girl she started off. Switching away from the 1965 timeline to the 2010 was jarring for me and I feel like it pulled away from the tension that was building in the past timeline events. I also felt that Kayla was not as well developed and I didn’t relate to her the same as I did Ellie. I think the author did a fantastic job balancing the factual historical events and the drama/suspense fictional narrative. While it is an emotional read with many heartbreaking aspects, I think it also has a strong message of hope and growth. This is a moving novel that I think historical fiction fans will really enjoy. 4/5⭐️

Thanks to @Netgalley and @StMartinsPress for the DRC. The Last House on the Street will be out on January 11.

A small town in North Carolina holds the secrets for two women. Told in dual timelines, it binds the two women to a story of tragedy and an unsolved mystery.

Ellie Hockley was raised to be a proper Southern lady, but she is also growing up in a time where the Civil Rights Movement is just beginning. Conflicted by the prejudices in her own town, she makes the decision to work for SCOPE, registering black voters in her county. Her decision causes conflict with her family, her community and results in a horrific tragedy.

Kayla Carter and her husband designed a beautiful home for themselves in Ellie's old neighborhood. It was their dream home, a place they could raise a family, and grow old together. All of those dreams were broken when Kayla's husband is killed in a freak accident. When she decides to go ahead and move into the home, she starts to receive mysterious threats, and then a mysterious woman keeps showing up who seems intent on scaring her away from moving into the neighborhood.

Two women that are on a collision course in search of the truth about what had happened that night in their small Southern town.

A powerful and emotional read!

This was my first Diane Chamberlain book so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Now that I’ve read it, I’m thinking I might have missed out on some great stories by not reading any of her previous books. This dual storyline book that alternated between 1965 and 2010 was engaging, including drama and a mystery. The ending was intense and thought-provoking.

The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain is a dual-timeline novel. We meet Ellie a twenty-year old Caucasian who signs up for the SCOPE project. Kayla in 2010 is a recent widow with a young daughter. Her husband died before their dream home was completed. It is the only house in a new development and Kayla is warned away. Just outside the development is a home that has been there for three generations and the dying owner refuses to sell. After Kayla moves into her new home, she meets Ellie Hockley who grew up in the old home and they become friends. Kayla can tell, though, that Ellie has secrets. Something happened in this area almost fifty years ago. Is it time for the secret to come to light? The Last House on the Street contains good writing, but I thought the pacing was slow. As I kept reading, I was wondering if the book would ever get moving. I enjoyed Ellie’s story more than Kayla’s. Ellie’s story tells of the bigotry, violence, and hatred that was prevalent in the south during this time. There was a great deal of unrest in the south. It was interesting learning about the SCOPE project. Ellie’s character was significantly more developed than Kayla’s. For most of the book, Kayla is unnecessary. Her character lacked emotion and depth. As I read, I could soon see how everything tied together and how the story would play out. I wish the storyline had not been so obvious. I had trouble getting through the first two thirds of the book because of the slow pacing and there was little action up to this point. The ending nicely wrapped up the story. This was not my favorite Diane Chamberlain story. It was not the same caliber as her last novel. The Last House on the Street is an emotional and dramatic story that will take you back to 1965 in North Carolina.

4.5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⛅

I would first like to Thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Publishing Group for the E-ARC of The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain. I have read a few of Ms. Chamberlain's books before and liked her writing style, flow of the story and character development. This book did not disappoint in those areas. I felt a real connection to many characters, bur especially Ellie, Win, Buddy and Kayla. The story moves from 1965 with Ellie as the main character in one chapter and Kayla , the main character in 2010, in the following chapter. The author sets up the story by telling 2 different tales, but by the end of the book, the stories slide seamlessly together. I would definitely rate this book at a 4.5, if only we were given half points!
I did not read any reviews prior to starting the book and decided strictly by the title that it would be a mystery/thriller book. There was, indeed, a 45 year old mystery to be solved, but the story was Soooo much more than that. I found Ellie's story very compelling. The focus of Ellie's story is the Civil Rights Movement in 1965 , The Voting Rights Act of 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King, and a Voter Education program named The SCOPE Project. The author did her research in describing this very real project and how this program changed the lives of both blacks and whites as told through Ellie's voice. Ellie's participation drastically changed Ellie's life and deeply affected her family and friends. I found Ellie's bravery and commitment very inspiring.
I think Historical Fiction is quickly becoming my favorite genre in literature!
I liked Kayla's story as well, which I felt added to the mysterious backstory of this small (minded) town in South Carolina. Kayla felt she was not wanted in the neighborhood and felt like she was being pushed out of her own house. Several threatening events occurred that underlined her fear. The ending of the story wrapped up all the missing pieces and was a hopeful outcome for Ellie and Kayla.
#NetGalley

This latest book by Diane Chamberlain is fantastic! It is told alternating between the years of 2010 and 1965. The storyline during 2010 focuses on a widow, Kayla and her young daughter. They are about to move in to the dream house that she had designed with her husband. Tragically he has a fatal accident while working on the house. Kayla is left vulnerable, guilty and afraid after she is warned by a strange woman not to move into her the house. Many secrets surround the new home and strange things happen to Kayla and her daughter. Someone does not want her there and will go to great lengths to scare her away. The storyline during 1965 focuses on Ellie a headstrong, compassionate college student that joins the Civil Rights group SCOPE during the summer. The main focus of the group is to help black people register to vote and share the importance that their voice matters. During this time that idea was met with much resistance. This was a terrible time in history and this story depicts all of the injustice and hate during this time that is absolutely heart breaking. Despite all of the bad, there are good people that emerge strong and determined to do what is right regardless of the price they must pay.

This is such a strong powerful story that will leave an impression on the reader. It stays with you for a while. As difficult as it was to read at times I was hooked. It is written so well and unravels the mystery in such an intriguing way that kept me reading late into the night.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This isn’t really my usual genre and I thought the synopsis looked ok but I kept hearing such good things that I decided to give it a go. I listened to the audio version and the narrator immediately drew me in with her voice. The storylines were interesting and the interconnection even better. I enjoyed the character development and the author’s writing style. I will definitely be looking for more books by this author!

Diane Chamberlain delivers once again with a hauntingly beautiful tale of two women in two different stretches in time. The story alternates between 2010 and 1965. It begins with Kayla Carter in 2010. Kayla and her husband spent years designing and building their dream home in a new development in Round Hill, North Carolia. Sadly, before Kayla, her husband, and their four-year-old daughter can move in, Kayla's husband dies in a freak accident at the house. What's more, on the day before their move-in, a strange, obviously disguised, older woman shows up at Kayla's office and delivers a vaguely threatening message that she shouldn't move into their new home.

The book then shifts to 1965 where we meet Ellie Hockley, a 20-year-old UNC college student. It's an era fraught with racism as the US tiptoes toward equal rights for Blacks, a time when the country waited for LBJ to sign the Voting Rights Act. Ellie, like her now-deceased Aunt Carol, is passionate about racial equality. She is inspired when she learns that a local minister is involved in organizing a group of white students from the north to come south and work over the summer to register Black voters. It's part of a program called SCOPE, the Summer Community Organization and Political Education project, affiliated with Martin Luther King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Ellie is determined to spend her summer making a difference and decides participating in SCOPE is the way to do it. Her family and friends, however, are dead set against Ellie getting involved like this. They, like so many, think the Blacks in their town are doing just fine without Northerners butting in. They're sure that if the Voting Rights Act is passed, it's up to the Blacks themselves to get out and register. Definitely nothing their sweet Ellie needs to be involved with. But, of course, she will persist.

The book alternates chapters about Kayla and Ellie, who will actually meet in 2015 just after Kayla moves into her new home . . . at the end of the street where Ellie was born and raised and where she is now temporarily living. I loved Ellie's story and wish that the book focused solely on her. The events of 1965 are hard to read about, and my heart broke over and over again as I read about the lives of Blacks during that time in this seemingly lovely, picturesque North Carolina town. Kayla's story, on the other hand, seemed to me to be just a tool for the author to bridge the years when a long-buried secret from 1965 is discovered in 2010. In a twist of the trope, the 2010 chapters read like they were in black and white, while the 1965 chapters were in vivid color with richly drawn characters and events. I'd give the book a 5-star rating for 1965 and a 3-star rating for 2010, so 4 stars overall.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me an eARC in exchange for an honest review. The Last House on the Street is a beautifully told story that will stay with me for a long, long time. It is scheduled for publication on January 11, 2022.

The Last House on the Street
Diane Chamberlainain
January 11, 2022

In 2010,Kayla Carter and her husband, Jackson moved to North Carolina to join an architectural firm in Kayla’s hometown. They bought land and together designed their new home. In the middle of the construction, Jackson was on the site. He fell down the stairs and died of injuries. The tragedy was very difficult for her to endure. Kayla and her 4 year old daughter are staying with her father in her childhood home. He helped care for Rainie afternoons after she was home from preschool. The large country home at the other end of the road belonged to the once, pharmacist and his family. He, his wife, Pat, a librarian in town and their 2 children lived a pleasant life. It was 1965 when Buddy and his sister, Eleanor lived in this huge home surrounded by trees. It was a different time then. Schools were just beginning to become integrated. The Klan was active in southern states. In North Carolina small towns hid their members well. Eleanor was making decisions about her summer employment. She wanted to take a break from her father’s pharmacy. She wanted to join Scope, an organization that promotes voter registration for African-Americans who at the time were not encouraged to have that right.
Each family lived different lives as history changed and attitudes became more liberal. Ms. Chamberlain’s latest book, The Last House on the Street gives us a view of President Johnson’s Voting Rights Bill Act. It had not been acted on as yet but there were those who hoped it to be on the docket soon while others felt it should be bi-passed. This wonderful piece of literary fiction will be published by St. Martin’s Press on January 11, 2022. I am ever so grateful that they allowed me to read and review this terrific novel via NetGalley. Not a quick read, it is a marvelous work that brought many memories back to me from that era. It is one not to be missed. Chamberlain’s work is impressive and a wonderful read. I applaud her latest accomplishment.

This was a great book by one of my favorite authors .
I had a difficult time getting into the storyline but stuck with it and it evolved into a riveting story.

Kayla an architect and her young daughter move into a newly constructed house in a new neighborhood. Hers is the first house completed and the house in which her husband died.

A mysterious woman comes into her office one day, knowing all kinds of things about her which unnerves her.

Ellie is a teenager in the 60's and gets involved in the civil rights movement, canvassing for the negro right to vote.
She lives in a small town in the south, so there is a lot of danger and prejudice.

We learn the Ellie's boyfriend is Kayla's father.

The growing unrest along with the presence of the KKK in her town takes on tragic proportions one night, leaving two young men dead, a white man and a black man. The white man dies in an accident and the black man dies a horrible death from some of the KKK members.

The woods behind Kayla's house are creepy and considered to be haunted due to a long ago tragedy,

When Kayla is having her property fenced human bones are found and we at last learn all the answers to the events that occurred on one tragic night. Most of these answers can be figured out OMG shocker which isn't.

This book was hard to put down. It follows two main characters in dual timelines, but the story was easy to follow, and while you suspect the two stories will intersect at some point, the author does a nice job of allowing the connections to unfold slowly. In 1965, Ellie is a twenty year old white girl from Round Hill, NC, who disregards her family's disapproval to sign up for the SCOPE project, living and working in a poor Black community to encourage the residents to register to vote once President Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act into law. She finds herself thrown into the Civil Rights movement, learning first hand of the hardships, racism, prejudice and violence that the Black community faces. In 2010, Kayla and her young daughter are moving into the house that Kayla and her husband designed, months after he died there in a freak accident. Kayla is visited by a strange woman who tries to dissuade her from moving into the house, and Kayla continues to receive threats after she does anyway. Kayla meets Ellie, now 65 years old and back in Round Hill for the first time in 45 years to care for her ailing mother and dying brother at her childhood home, down the road from Kayla's new house. Are the threats against Kayla connected to Ellie's past? Can justice be found for the events that drove Ellie away from NC, 45 years later? Strong character development, smooth plot that keeps you turning the pages to find out what happens next.

This is a wonderfully written novel written from dual perspectives. It focused on The Scope Project in the 60’s and a small town in NC in 2010. I love how the story tied together so well. It was beautifully written and I loved the character development.. Please give this book a chance! Thanks to Netgally and St. Martin's Press for the arc,

One of my favorite authors and ultimate storyteller, Diane Chamberlain, returns with her best yet! A moving dual timeline, two women a decade apart, where two powerful stories intersect in THE LAST HOUSE ON THE STREET.

Intricately woven and meticulously researched a spellbinding compelling tale of long-buried secrets which began at the height of the civil rights era and a forbidden love story.

Contemporary: Set in North Carolina in 2010, meet Kayla Carter and her young daughter, Rainie. She and her husband are successful architects, and her husband recently died in a tragic accident while building their new home. Currently, she is set to move into the beautiful home they had designed together; however, she has mixed emotions due to the location of his death. Yet she knew he would want her to be happy there.

As the novel opens, an older mysterious woman approaches Kayla at her office and warns her not to move into the new home. Shortly after that, strange unexplained things begin happening.

A new upscale development, Shadow Ridge Estates —her house is the last one on the street in the middle of thick woods, a lake, and eerie kudzu that looks like monsters. The others are currently under construction. However, one older house across from her does not fit in this development, and rumors are the owners would never sell.

Historical: Set in North Carolina in 1965, we meet Ellie Hockley and her family. Ellie is a college student at Chapel Hill and becomes inspired to advocate for black voting rights even though she is white. She loved her Aunt Carol which has passed on and would approve. Her parents are totally against it.

Ellie comes from a rich well to do southern family, and her dad is a local pharmacist. Her dad, mom, and brother Buddy think she is out of her mind to participate in this project.

Ellie joins SCOPE (Summer Community Organization and Political Education) project. Most of the students are from the northern areas as volunteers to register black voters in the South as part of President Johnson’s voting rights bill act.

This would involve staying with black families and canvassing the area. Most families have no electricity, poor in rural areas, with outhouses. She would also have to be careful of white men in trucks that hate whites with blacks and the KKK.

Ellie chooses to go against her parent’s wishes and soon becomes immersed in the project and soon discovers she adores these families and becomes a song leader. In the process meets a black student which she respects, Winn. She falls in love with him. However, in these times, this is deadly.

Fast forward to 2010 and Kayla moves into the house. Ellie left this town years ago and resides in California. However, Ellie must return to the old house to take care of Buddy and her mom in the house across from Kayla. Kayla and Ellie meet and the dark haunted past comes to the surface and the lies, murder, tragedy, and hatred buried in these woods for an explosive finale.

What a book! A combo of historical, thriller, psychological, domestic, suspense, mystery, literary, romance, southern, and more. These characters linger long after the book ends. I particularly enjoyed the 1965 timeline and Ellie’s character. I grew up in the 60s in the South in NC and can relate to Ellie and this time. Diane’s account is spot on and I became enthralled in both storylines and plowed through it in one day - devouring it. I loved Ellie and Winn and despised her small-minded town, parents, and friends.

After reading the digital copy, I was granted approval for the audiobook narrated by one of my Oh, my! I listened to the audiobook a few weeks later, and Susan’s performance was award-winning! Diane and Susan make for a dynamic duo and one of the BEST audiobooks of the year.

It is sad our horrific history and our country even today. Those who have so much hatred against blacks would kill and destroy lives. In Chamberlain’s winning signature style, the author takes us on a journey where she explores the dark side of humanity. The parallel storylines connect seamlessly for an explosive ending that will have your jaw-dropping.

Beautifully written, Diane is a writing machine and one of the best authors out today. I have read every book she has written and am unsure how, but she continues to get better and better if that is possible.

If you have followed my book blog for the last 8 yrs. you are aware, I am a huge fan of the author and her books. Heartfelt, her stories will pull on your heartstrings time and time again.

She writes books that make you feel and think. You are assured of learning something new along the way that will have you googling. Her books are meticulously researched and well written. Her characters are so real you feel like you are experiencing everything they are feeling and seeing. She is not afraid to tackle topics such as racial, abuse, social injustice, and others.

Her settings tend to be set in the South, particularly in NC (I am a native). She takes bits of essential and often forgotten history and re-imagines it. Crossing many genres- SUPERB! Her best since Necessary Lies (my all-time favorite) and Big Lies in a Small Town.

THE LAST HOUSE ON THE STREET my top 3 books of 2022 thus far. This is a must-read and ideal for book clubs and further discussions. Worthy of 10 stars and prime for the widescreen.

A special thank you to #StMartinsPress # Macmillan and #NetGally for an advanced digital and audio copy. I also purchased the hardcover copy to add to my Chamberlain collection.

Blog Review
www.JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins #JdCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 💖💖💖💖💖 +++
Pub Date: 01/11/22
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An enjoyable read. I liked the plot of this book. I have never read a book by this author before. I will look for other books by this author.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and author Diane Chamberlain for the advanced copy of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
•
Told in dual POV across two different timelines, The Last House on the Street is an engrossing read that doesn’t hold back.

•2010•
Kayla Carter, newly widowed after her husband died while building their dream home, ends up moving in with her young daughter. However, she’s received a threatening visit from a strange older woman not to live there and other strange and horrid things happen after they do. After she moves in, she meets her neighbor, Ellie, who is caring for her brother and mother after being gone for 45 years.

•1965•
Ellie Hockley, a 20 year old university student in North Carolina, decides to spend her summer volunteering with SCOPE (Summer Community Organization and Political Education), a group dedicated to helping Black Americans register to vote. Her family and community are vehemently opposed to the idea, but Ellie continues on with her work. In this time, she becomes close to those she works with and the families she meets, but especially a fellow college student who is Black, named Win.

While at times some of the plot was predictable, I could not put this book down and lost several hours of sleep devouring it. I was mostly compelled by the 1965 chapters, but the 2010 ones helped to see how the stories overlapped together. I appreciated learning about SCOPE, as I was unfamiliar with the group. It was a very heavy read at times, and didn’t gloss over the reality of the time period. I recommend reading the author’s note on Goodreads to learn about her inspiration for the story and the importance of continuing to strive for equal voting rights today.

I liked this book a lot. It touched on so many different topics in a way that felt nuanced and sensitive and timely, but not forced. Strong writing, solid plot, too.

I’ve read a handful of Diane Chamberlain books, and every time, she’s knocked it out of the park. The Last House on the Street continues that streak, tackling themes of racism, grief, and family.

Kayla Carter is grieving over the loss of her husband while their gorgeous new home was being built. She and her young daughter have been staying with her father, but he’s ready to downsize and it’s time for them to move into the house. But Kayla has trepidations about the house that’s surrounded by trees, with its large and abundant windows, the creepy lake on the property, and of course the memory of Jackson’s death.

When a strange woman shows up at her office, knowing details about her life and threatening to kill someone, Kayla becomes even more anxious about the move.

In 1965, Ellie Hockley becomes involved in the Civil Rights movement. As a white southerner, her presence in a group working to help the poor Black people register to vote is dangerous, and her family is dead set against it. When she becomes drawn to one of the Black volunteers, both of their lives are in jeopardy, as the Klan is alive and well in their rural North Carolina county.

The Last House on the Street is a dual POV novel, switching between Ellie mostly in the past and Kayla in the present, but Ellie also turns up in Kayla’s life, as she’s returned home to care for her ailing mother and brother in their family home, down the street from Kayla’s new home. Kayla is intrigued by the older woman, her past relationship with Kayla’s father, and how she may fit in to what’s been going on with Kayla’s new house.

Each chapter is fairly short, and keeps you invested in what’s going on. I found the chapters in the past were more interesting and action-packed as tension due to the racial issues is palpable. Ellie quickly goes from a naïve young woman to someone with a passion for helping others, regardless of what her family and friends think.

The conclusion is powerful and surprising (though I did figure out one or two of the revelations), and definitely a satisfying one, and I recommend The Last House on the Street.

Friendship, family, racism, and big ol' secrets take primary stage in this story of two women. Ellie became involved in the push to register Black voters in the South in the late 1960s before leaving home for decades. Kayla builds a house near Ellie's family home just as Ellie returns home to care for her ill brother and elderly mother. In so many ways this felt like two completely different stories and could have both been stand alones. Often when moving between the two timelines, I had to stop and think about what had been happening when I left it previously. While the book contains several different surprises, I felt most of them were very obvious and I waited to the characters to catch up to my thinking. I say most because there was one thing that did take me by surprise, probably because chances are slim that it would have actually taken place. But this was a solid story about racism and how even individual families were divided over the issue.

I enjoyed reading Diane Chamberlain's The Last House on the Street. I will be looking for more by this author in the future. Four stars.

Review of The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I started off 2022 with a huge reading bang with two back to back 5 ⭐️ reads. This book was so wonderful. I could not put it down and can’t recall the last time I was so invested in a story and the characters. This is just my second book by this amazing author but I’m a fan for life and will be an auto buyer for sure. Can’t wait to get to her backlist too. This one is told in dual timelines and will give you all the feels. Have your tissues ready. It tackles important issues as I now realize her books tend to do which make them all the better.

Quick synopsis: Kayla is about to move into her dream new home she designed with her late husband (who fell in a tragic accident while helping building the new home) when she gets a very odd visit from an even odder older woman. This woman threatens Kayla not to move there and clearly knows all about her and her life. When Kayla and her daughter do move in, terrifying things begin to happen. Down the street is the Hockley family home which used to be the only home on the street. Ellie has returned from CA to take care of her dying brother and elderly mother. Ellie’s story was told in the past timeline describing her time during the most important summer of her life; the summer that haunts her forever.

This was my second book in #theyearofnetgalley challenge being hosted by myself and @abookwormwithwine. (Let either of us know if you want to join the group!). I am looking forward to the buddy read discussion next week! A huge thank you to @netgalley, @stmartinspress, and @diane.chamberlain.author for my advanced copy. It’s out January 11, so don’t forget to grab a copy!