In 2010 Kayla’s husband died in their family’s new house during the construction, but she and her daughter proceed with moving in despite the tragedy that occurred there. After moving in, she meets her new neighbor Ellie Hockley. Ellie has come back to Round Hill, NC after over 40 years away to take care of her sick brother.

In 1965 Ellie was a college student who went against her family and friends to join the SCOPE project, helping Black people register to vote. She was so dedicated to helping the Civil Rights movement that she left Round Hill for good to pursue her passion.

The Last House on the Street is historical fiction meets mystery. The story is told in alternating timelines between 2010 and 1965. There’s just enough suspense as the Kayla and Ellie’s stories connect that kept me on the edge of my seat.

The racism and violence in Ellie’s past is heartbreaking and hard to read at times, but The Last House on the Street is beautifully written and tells Ellie’s story so well.

I read this novel and then, I listened to this novel on audio. I really enjoyed the story. I liked the character of Ellie as she was a strong, caring individual. She could have walked away from the situation and started over yet she didn’t. Ellie held strong and thought about her family and what was best. I liked how the story moved from the present time period into the past and how the two connected. Presented with some questions at the beginning of the story, allowing the reader to time travel, gave us the ability to see we could get the answers we needed yet, also gave us more questions that we were able to get answers to later in the book.

Presently: Ellie is planning on moving into a newly built home with her daughter, Raine. This new home comes with a lot of memories although the house hasn’t had any family inside its walls. Ellie and her late husband, Jackson were both architects and have spent the past seven years designing this house. An accident claimed the life of her husband inside the studded walls of this dream home. Now, inside this newly developed estate, Ellie plans on beginning their new life with Raine in the house that her and her late husband designed. With her father close by, Ellie relies on him to help with the house and with four-year-old Raine but the emotional toll of this recent death still hits hard. With other houses being built around them, there is one older house that anchors the development and Ellie finds that she already has one neighbor, so she will be all alone. I felt this part of the book was more mysterious and adventurous. I found that I read these sections more slowly as it felt more discreet and secretive.

Time travel to 1965: Ellie wants to do something; she has a fire within her. Every summer she works at her father’s pharmacy but this year, she has heard about SCOPE and she wants to sign up. She approaches her parents about SCOPE: “place nearly five hundred predominantly white college students in nearly one hundred predominantly black rural and urban areas in Southern states.” This was part of the Civil Rights Act but her parents don’t care and refuse Ellie participation. Ellie is determined to go, so she forges her parent’s signature on the form and she prepares herself to go. What a ride this part of the book was. I looked forwarded to this time period as the excitement never ended. I was excited for Ellie yet I was scared as she went through some of the events.
What a great story, I enjoyed how everything came together. I think the audio of the book was nicely done too. I’m definitely going to be looking for more of her books in the near future. I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley, Diane Chamberlain and St. Martin’s Press in exchange for my honest review. 5 stars.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCOPE_Project#:~:text=The%20goal%20was%20to%20recruit,other%20leaders%20recruited%20students%20nationwide.

This was a heartbreaking, but incredibly important story. Set in dual timelines, though the majority of the story focuses on Ellie in 1965, as she goes against her family's wishes and joins a group to help Black voters register to vote in her hometown. It was heartbreaking watching Ellie try to help progress and being attacked by her town for it. It was also wild to think about this kind of violence happening in our state. After living here for almost ten years, I can say that NC views itself as a more progressive Southern state. But the events in this story were not that far in the past.

Diane Chamberlain is a prolific writer and we are all lucky that she is! Well developed characters, interesting story line, and exceptional writing make her books a must read for me. I think I have read them all!

This was a hard, and dark, read. It covered a topic of history that is incredibly sad. I am grateful she wrote this book! Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to read and review.

What a riveting story. I was immediately hooked into the story and found it a complete page turner. There were many difficult moments in this dual-story narrative of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. The story ties together the stories of Ellie from 1965 and Kayla from 2010. It was all done so well and I was stunned by the ending part of the book. The book is an emotionally powerful look into the historical SCOPE project and the obstacles that people, both white and black, faced at that time. Wonderful book.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC for exchange of my honest review.

With its dual timelines, The Last House on the Street is a historical fiction novel focused on a dark period in American history. Set in the 1960s South and in 2010, it is not clear until nearly the end how the two timelines will merge. Much of the earlier storyline is particularly heartbreaking, albeit compelling.

Just as she has done with her other books, Chamberlain makes her characters come alive. One of the main characters in the 1960s timeline was very unlikeable in many ways as she made reckless choices that caused irreparable damage to others, yet her depiction made me root for the character to make better choices. Highly recommend this book!

This story is told through alternating timelines. The past takes us to social activism to secure rights of blacks to vote. The present follows the story of a young new widow as she and her daughter struggle to find roots in the spacious home built and planned by her husband. The characters overlap and mystery from both timelines intersects. As answers are uncovered in each timeline the reader finds connection. Can a new beginning heal past wounds? Are we ever truly healed from tragedy? These are just a couple questions considered in this novel.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC. This is my honest review.

This novel was a surprising twist on a thriller with some romance thrown in. I loved how the novel followed both Kayla in 2010 and Ellie in 1965 and how their lives intertwine. Not only did the threats and fear of the woods for Kayla keep me intrigued, but the story of Ellie and her involvement in the civil rights movement kept me equally intrigued and waiting to read the next chapter. The book was very well written, filled with thrill, suspense, love, heartbreak, and devastation. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves suspense and doesn't mind a little history while you're at it.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you for advanced copy of this highly anticipated new story from Diane Chamberlain. This was my first experience with Diane Chamberlain and I can see why so many love her books! A dual timeline; The Last House on the Street follows Kayla in 2010 after the unexpected loss of her husband and Ellie's life in 1965 as a college student. I was immediately drawn to Ellie's timeline as part of the SCOPE project. I had never heard of SCOPE before and I really appreciate the thorough and thoughtful detail included in Ellie's story line. Suspenseful and full of history, The Last House on the Street was exactly what I was looking for!

While difficult to read at time it was so masterfully written I couldn’t stop. I loved the hope and resiliency within the story. Diane is a great author and her writing drew me in as a reader. My heart was in my throat so many times I almost had to put the book down it was so immersive.

Thank you @NetGalley for the ARC! This was one of my favorite Diane Chamberlain books. It had a little bit of everything in it. I couldn’t put it down! I thought it was beautifully written. It was definitely a heartbreaking story, but would 100% recommend it to people.

This is a story of our two main characters Kayla and Ellie. Kayla's story is told during 2010 shortly after the death of her husband while building their dream home. Ellie's set about fifty years in the past during the Civil Rights Movement.
First the characters Kayla and Ellie were both characters that I identified with very strongly. I though that both of these characters were developed so well. I also enjoyed all of the secondary and side characters that we got to see from both of the timelines.
The atmosphere was almost another character in my opinion. I thought that the spooky vibes from the forest were done in a way that had me guessing the whole time what was up with the area. I loved seeing how the forest evolved as we learned more through out the story.
Ms. Chamberlain's writing is engaging and compulsively readable. I read this book within twenty-four hours and I never wanted to put it down because the writing kept me hooked the whole time.
I felt like the plot moved at a decent pace and there were never any lulls for me. I also think that the logistics of how everything played out was done in a way that had me as a reader on the edge of my seat but also left me with a satisfying ending of the story.
My enjoyment of my reading experience was top notch I really hope that this becomes a movie because I would love to see everything brought to life.

I want to give a big thank you to the publisher and netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this amazing novel.

1965 in Round Hill, North Carolina is a good place to live for a proper Southern woman, but Ellie Hockley wants to be more than what is expected of her. As a college student with a boyfriend in good social standing, the last thing that anyone expects is for Ellie to volunteer to register black voters. Will her part in the battle for civil rights change Ellie's standing and put a target on her back?

2010 was supposed to be a good year for architect Kayla Carter and her husband. In the midst of building their dream home in Round Hill, Kayla’s husband dies in an accident on the property. The woods and lake behind the house are reputed to be haunted and Kayla soon realizes that she is in danger by those who seek to keep secrets hidden. Will her mysterious neighbor, Ellie Hockley, be able to shed some light on the past?

I usually like Diane Chamberlain's storytelling and characterization, but this book is not as successful for me. The alternating plot lines between past and present serve only to take the reader out of the story, fracturing the connection. I do like both Ellie and Kayla, but their separate stories are a bit too long winded and sluggish. The author telegraphs the ending too much, taking away from the mystery into what transpired in the past. Overall, The Last House on the Street does not bring anything special or unique to the genre and is an average read for me.

Disclaimer: I was given an Advanced Reader's Copy of The Last House on the Street by NetGalley and the publisher. The decision to read and review this book was entirely my own.

Diane Chamberlain is a master storyteller, weaving timelines seamlessly and she does it again with The Last House on the Street. Kayla Carter's husband dies in an accident but she knows she has to be strong for their daughter and move into the dream home they had been building before his untimely death. The neighbors are not particularly pleased with the single mom moving in. One woman warms her NOT to do it and says that moving in would be dangerous. Another resident of the community, Ellie, welcomes Kayla with open arms but immediately we know, she has a past that's waiting to be discovered!
Chamberlain tells the story in dual timelines and she has a gift for this. She does it well. This story explores racial issues and a broken, unchanging American political system. It's hard when you prefer one timeline over the other and I preferred the story told in the past. Chamberlain takes on difficult topics but does it so well.
4 stars

Another hauntingly beautiful masterpiece by Diane Chamberlain! I’ve come to really enjoy her writing style - historical fiction with dual timelines. And with a brilliantly genius hand, she weaves these two timelines together in a way that explodes bigger than any 4th of July fireworks show when they finally intersect.

You have Ellie in 1965 as she finds her way to becoming a civil rights activist by joining the Scope program to help minorities register to vote. Her personal growth and how she stands up for what she believes is right (against her family’s wishes and even her entire town’s wishes) is inspirational. And it’s a theme I feel a lot of people can resonate with these days. The manner in which the author handles some very sensitive and heart wrenching subjects is simply impressive. On a personal note, I very much appreciated learning a new aspect of this time in history I didn’t know much about. This is the stronger of the two timelines, but I feel like it had to be to set the stage for what eventually happens (not wanting to give any spoilers here).

Then you have Kayla in 2010 who has built this incredible house with her husband Jackson. She’s trying to figure out how to put the pieces of her life back together for her daughter after they tragically lose Jackson in a horrible accident. Yet all of these events start happening making her question if this new house is truly their dream home. When this timeline finally comes together with Ellie’s, it’s in a way I didn’t see coming.

I was captivated from the very beginning. This is a book that draws you in and you can’t put down. You feel the love and the pain, the anger and the excitement, the curiosity and the fear, the joy and the grief. You feel everything these characters go through. This book explores the delicate lines of prejudice, racism, betrayal, and trust while layering in love, hope, friendship and survival.

This book is the complete package!! Check it out! I get so excited when a new Diane Chamberlain book comes out and she never disappoints!

My thanks to Diane Chamberlain, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting story is historical fiction about the Scope Project which I was not familiar with. There are dual timelines which is similar to another book I read by this author that I enjoyed. Overall well written book.

It took me awhile to get around to reading The Last House on the Street, but I’m so glad I finally made the time for picking it up. The first few chapters started a little slow, setting up the story and teasing some secrets, then it was just full gas. It was well plotted, well paced, and very engaging with some heavier subject matter. A powerful alternating-timeline about the civil rights movement set in North Carolina in 1965 and the devastating fallout still resonating in the same community in 2010.

This story blends past and present seamlessly to tell a story of social justice, moving on, and personal growth during tough times. The racial issues mixed with a mystery made for an un-put-downable story.


I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

Diane Chamberlain is an auto-read author for me. I look forward to her latest release every year. The Last House on the Street did not disappoint. I loved how the past and present were woven together through the pages. And as usual, Diane's ability to write about important subject matters delicately but also intricately and accurately, was spot on.