Diane Chamberlain's newest novel tackles the civil rights movement of the 1960s and forbidden interracial love.

We have two story lines here that take place in North Carolina:

1. Ellie, a college girl in the 1960s, decides that she wants to get involved with a civil rights group to canvass black neighborhoods and get people to commit to register to vote when the Voting Rights Act is passed.

2. Kayla moves into her dream home in a wooded lot that she and her deceased husband, Jackson, designed and built together. Jackson died in the house when it was under construction by slipping on some nails that were left on a ladder. A strange woman visits Kayla's office and threatens her -- and other strange things happen.

This book was a Lifetime movie, but really tried its best to be serious by tackling prejudice and civil rights. It was interesting, but the story felt forced and the characters were not that well developed. While I don't feel like I wasted my time reading it (and it was not work), I would not recommend it. It was fine.

Some of the details that drove me insane:

1. How could you move into a huge brand new house where your husband died?
2. How did Kayla have soooo much money. Do you know how much it would cost to get custom drapes made for 50 windows, some of them floor to ceiling? Then through in all of the new furniture.
3. What drove Ellie to embrace civil rights to the degree she did? Yeah, she had a dead aunt who was an activist, but that wasn't developed enough for me.

Three stars from me.

Diane Chamberlain has been on my 'to read' list for ages. I've heard such great things about her books, but hadn't read any yet, so I was thrilled to get approved for an eARC of her newest, The Last House on the Street.

To be honest, I did not know what type of books she writes. And doing some research, it seems like she writes across many genres. I would call The Last House on the Street a cross between historical fiction and mystery.

The story jumps between two timelines; In 1965, Ellie is a young white student who becomes involved in the civil rights movement and falls in love. But her volunteer job upsets her family and The Ku Klux Klan begins to find a roots in her hometown with neighbors and friends. After one night changes everything, Ellie leaves and plans never to return.

In 2020, architect Kayla is about to move into the house she and her husband designed in Round Hill. Instead of it being the family home they dreamed of, Kayla and their daughter are moving in alone, after her husband died in an accident while the house was being built. Kayla starts getting threats and the house gets vandalized. The area is holding onto a dark secret, Newly returned neighbor, Ellie Hockley knows something, but isn't sharing.

Wow. I did not know what to expect reading this book. The two seemingly unrelated stories and time periods all come together for an explosive ending. It covers race, social justice, love, murder and so much more. It is a beautifully written book covering tough, but important topics. I couldn't put it down.

I would like to thank the author, publisher and Net Galley for providing a free ebook ARC of this title in exchange for my review.

I'm really not sure still how I feel about this book. I've read at least one other title by this author and enjoyed the story. But this one ... I'm not sure. This story is told in a dual time line (something that I don't always enjoy) and I felt the 1960's timeline was fairly predictable, and in our current climate with racial issues and politics, it was a bit more than uncomfortable to read. The first part of the book was a bit slow, and I had trouble really getting into the story. Then the story ramped up and left me feeling rather uncomfortable.

The story will probably stay with me for a long time, but I am not certain it will be in a good way.

I'm going to rate this as a 3 stars - I debated between 2 and 3 stars for a few days. I don't think the writing was bad, and the overall story wasn't terrible, but it was disturbing and took away from my enjoyment.

This is hard because I really wanted to love this book. But, I felt that the storyline set in 1965 was much more engaging and drew me in way more than the storyline set in 2010. Both are well written but I felt the author did a much better job with the earlier timeline.

I am not sure what I was expecting when I was selected to read this book... but this was not it! This is a great story of times in our history that were not the most positive. You will fall in love with the characters, you will cry and feel hurt for Win, all the while guessing what is going on in the book. I have a part of this book with me, and I am not sure if it will ever leave me... I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book!@

I received an advance reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for my review.

The Last House on the Street alternates between chapters narrated by Ellie, a privileged white college student from North Carolina who gets involved in civil rights volunteer work in the ‘60s, and Kayla, a young widow moving into a home she and her late husband designed from the ground up down the street from Ellie’s childhood home in 2010.

The stories initially don’t particularly overlap, but as the book goes on, the stories begin to coalesce and Ellie’s past experiences color Kayla’s modern day.

The voting rights movement is handled with sensitivity and care by Chamberlain, and characters in both timelines are generally well-rounded and empathetic. I enjoyed reading this book, both for the fictional characters and for the historical context they brought to life.

My only hesitation and the reason I didn’t give the book 5 stars is that I felt the conclusion was a little clunky. I caught on relatively early to what the trajectory of the conflict would be, and so when it finally came, it felt a little anticlimactic. The good guys were good and the bad guys were bad and that was that. But I would recommend the Last House on the Street to anyone interested in US race relations, historical fiction, and mystery.

My grandma read and reviewed this book for me. She is a big Diane Chamberlain fan, but this was not one of her favorite books. Here is what she had to say.

"I did not enjoy this book as much as several others by Miss Chamberlain. However, it was an interesting story. It made me sad and tense because Ellie was so selfish. The work she did for the Black community did not compensate for the deaths and unhappiness she caused. Choosing love when she knew it would only cause harm to Win was so frustrating to me. The mystery house was easier to accept and ended in a logical solution. Overall, the unhappiness and misery was a little too heavy for me, but could be great for someone else who is looking for a heavy read."

The Last House on the Street is a dual timeline novel which tells the story of Kayla, a new widow with a young child in 2010, and Ellie, a college student living in a small town in North Carolina in 1965. Kayla is an architect and she and her late husband, who had also been an architect, had designed and built their dream home on a new development in their town. Ellie, a young woman with secrets, decides to become a Civil Rights worker to help register Blacks to vote in rural NC. Diane Chamberlain skillfully weaves the two women's stories together as long ago bigotries, violence, and lies are revealed. No spoilers - but I was surprised by the sad truth that came out at the ending to this story. It really opened my eyes to what true racism is (contrary to how the Left screams racism about everything today) as Ellie described the deplorable conditions of the homes of the sharecroppers she visited. I highly recommend this book. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited to find Diane Chamberlain had written an historical fiction novel that was not about WW II. This book is centered around the civil rights movement in the United States, a period of our history often overlooked.

This book is told in dual timelines. The first is set in 1965 in North Carolina. It revolves around Ellie, a wealthy, white college student who joins SCOPE, a civil rights organization fighting to gain voting rights for African Americans.. The companion timeline is 2010 and revolves around Kayla, a newly widowed young mother who meets an older Ellie and gradually learns her story.

The connection between the timelines solidifies as the story progresses. There are surprises and twists as the story ends. This book moved quickly and kept me turning pages.

Thank you Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for an advance copy of this book.

At first I found this book a little slow to grab my interest, and I almost moved on to something else. But I had read good things about it, so I stuck with it and I am so glad that I did. The backstory of civil rights work in the 1960s is well-done, and the tension that builds during current time continuously increases, yet at no point did I suspect what was finally revealed as the piece that tied the two time periods—and the two women—together. A well-written and satisfying story, and a reminder of the ongoing struggle that persists to this day.

This is the fifth book by Diane Chamberlain that I’ve read. Her MO is to write historical fictions that take place in North Carolina.
In 1965, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act and the SCOPE project took place over the summer to register blacks in six southern states. This book, told in a dual timeline, covers the project in North Carolina. Elly is a 20 year old white woman, a sophomore in college, when she decides to sign up as a volunteer.
The second timeline of the story takes place in 2010. Kayla is a young, recently widowed architect when a strange woman comes to her office and knows more about her than she should. And tells her not to move into her newly completed house.
As is so often the case with dual storylines, the historical one is much more interesting than the latter. It details the breadth of the bigotry of the day, the prevalence and hatred of the KKK. I’ll never think of the hymn The Old Rugged Cross the same way again.
I was engrossed by Ellie and her story, but Kayla seemed more like a plot device than a real person. It didn’t take long to determine how the story would play out. It’s that obvious. But I did enjoy learning about the SCOPE project. This was probably my least favorite of Chamberlain’s books just because it was so obvious. I would have also liked for her to have woven a little more historic facts into the story, but that’s a personal preference of mine.
My thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.

This is a well-crafted suspense novel that kept me turning the pages past my bedtime. It is so much more though – it offers an historical insight into the civil rights movement of the 1960s on a very personal level and bridges that time period to 2010. Unfortunately, given the current racial milieu, it underscores the question: “How far have we really come in over 50 years?”

In 1965 Eleanor (Ellie) Hockley lives a life of privilege in a small North Carolina town. She had spent her summers helping her father in the family-owned pharmacy, but this summer she decides to use her break from college to volunteer as a “Freedom Fighter,” helping to register black citizens to vote. In the process, several pivotal things occur: she discovers how sheltered her life has been to the realities of injustice; she falls in love with a man that can only mean trouble for both of them; and she realizes the hidden bigotry within not only her community, but her own family.

Leaping a head 35 years to the same small town, in fact the very same street Ellie lived on, Kayla Carter moves in to her new home with both anticipation and dread. The spectacular house is the fulfillment of the collaborative efforts of Kayla and her late husband, Jackson, both talented architects. However, her joy is marred by the fact that the house is the sight of his accidental death. Compounding her misgivings, she senses an oppressive quality about the woods surrounding the house and starts receiving threatening messages related to the property.

The chapters alternate between the two perspectives and skillfully build the tension until the explosive truth connects both time periods and the two women’s lives. The protagonists are believable and the emotional tone is dramatic and realistic. Some of the events were unexpected and shocking, but consistent with the attitudes and behaviors of the times. Kudos to the author for a novel that kept me engaged throughout and earned 5 stars by both her compelling storyline and evocative prose.

My thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This review is being posted immediately to my GoodReads account and will be posted on Amazon upon publication.

So many novels lately have been heavy handed with social significance. Diane Chamberlain treads more softly in her story of two eras -- late 1960s and present day -- but still brings home the issues of inequality and voter suppression. She does this through a suspenseful story set in a small town that saw violence in the civil rights era and still feels the repercussions. Sometimes Chamberlain descends into sappy "chick lit"; this is NOT one of those times. Her characters are well drawn and their stories are compelling. I enjoyed this book very much and it left me pondering the past and its impact on today.

This is another brilliant masterpiece by Author Diane Chamberlain. This book captivated me from the first page right through to the very climatic ending. This story is told in a dual timeline which finds Kayla Carter, in 2010, who is in the process of moving into her dream home that she and her husband, Jackson, designed. Tragically, during the building process, Jackson, dies in an accident. Strange things begin to happen that makes Kayla think she and her 4-year-old daughter, Rainie, are not wanted in that house. She begins to hear that the area her house is built on is haunted. The other timeline takes place in 1965 in Round Hill, NC with Eleanor, "Ellie" Hockley, who is the daughter of the town's pharmacist, and living a very comfortable lifestyle. Ellie is a pharmacy student and after the spring break, she decides she wants to spend the summer working for SCOPE, an organization founded to help Black people register to vote. This is during the Civil Rights Movement where prejudice and social injustice run high especially in the southern states. Ellie is met with opposition from her parents and her boyfriend of four years, Reed Miller. This is such an amazing story about how these two families from different time periods end up being intertwined and all the loose ends are connected so well in a very surprising ending.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this phenomenal book in exchange for an honest review.

I don't think that Diane Chamberlain could write a bad book if she tried. She has such a beautiful way of weaving story lines together in a way you can't see coming but melds together so perfectly. I was hooked from the beginning with this one, and although there were a few times it seemed to get slow, I couldn't put it down. Chamberlain has the ability to address controversial and "hot button" topics in a way that makes everyone able to relate and truly feel for the characters. Please add this one to your lists! This one is a 4.5 star rating for me - I wanted more resolution to the ending with 2 specific characters, and there were a few times it got a little slow for me, but still highly recommend picking this one up when it hits shelves!

I loved this book. The chapter set up, pace, and plot of following two characters through different eras (and ultimately coming to the same recent time spot in end) both mirrored the other Chamberlain book I read (Big Lies in a Small town) AND was superb. Although many similarities in style and plot lines, the storylines and characters in this book were exceptional. It was a bit of a modern-day thriller meets historical fiction. I highly recommend if these are your genres.

Another fantastic novel by Dianne Chamberlain. Incredibly moving story of a young woman growing up during the civil rights movement. Ellie defies her friends and family when she volunteers with a group trying to help black people prepare to vote. As a young college student from an affluent family, Ellie had no idea the living conditions and the extent of the racism the families she met had dealt with, or the ways it would change how she viewed the world. Told from the point of view of two different women 45 years apart, each dealing with their own heartbreak, this novel is not to be missed.

Wow. There’s a lot of emotion packed into this book.

It started off very slowly for me so I put it down and finally came back to it the other day and I am so so glad I did.

The Last House on the Street has a duel timeline, 2010 and 1965 and it really had my mind spinning. This focus of this book is racial inequality and in 1965 working to get black folks registered to vote.

This was hard for me to grasp and really made me miss my grandma, who was married to a black man and had my mother in 1971. I hope she had a better life than the people in this book.

Historical fiction is a new genre for me, and while I enjoy it I also find it devastating; knowing so much of these events come from actual happenings. My heart will be heavy with this one for a while, but I definitely recommend checking it out.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this riveting novel. This book is a must read. You will adore the characters from the very beginning as you continue to learn about them and the different paths their lives take. It has a high level of suspense that will keep you reading late at night! The story is well written as the author takes you back and forth from past to present. A gem of a novel!

A community’s past sins rise to the surface in New York Times bestselling author Diane Chamberlain’s The Last House on the Street when two women, a generation apart, find themselves bound by tragedy and an unsolved, decades-old mystery.

1965

Growing up in the well-to-do town of Round Hill, North Carolina, Ellie Hockley was raised to be a certain type of proper Southern lady. Enrolled in college and all but engaged to a bank manager, Ellie isn’t as committed to her expected future as her family believes. She’s chosen to spend her summer break as a volunteer helping to register black voters. But as Ellie follows her ideals fighting for the civil rights of the marginalized, her scandalized parents scorn her efforts, and her neighbors reveal their prejudices. And when she loses her heart to a fellow volunteer, Ellie discovers the frightening true nature of the people living in Round Hill.

2010

Architect Kayla Carter and her husband designed a beautiful house for themselves in Round Hill’s new development, Shadow Ridge Estates. It was supposed to be a home where they could raise their three-year-old daughter and grow old together. Instead, it’s the place where Kayla’s husband died in an accident—a fact known to a mysterious woman who warns Kayla against moving in. The woods and lake behind the property are reputed to be haunted, and the new home has been targeted by vandals leaving threatening notes. And Kayla’s neighbor Ellie Hockley is harboring long buried secrets about the dark history of the land where her house was built.

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.