***I received an ARC from Netgalley and the Publisher in exchange for my honest review.***

Diane Chamberlain does it again. She is such a rare gem in that she can hook you into a historical fiction piece so much sooner than other authors. This book has it all; a little mystery and a little history all wrapped up with a pretty little bow. The interwoven story of Ellie and Kayla is one you won't want to miss.

There usually isn't a Diane Chamberlain book that doesn't completely suck me in, but this one was different. I just couldn't get into the plot, and I didn't care about the characters like I have in many other books by Diane.

An interesting and compelling read which is told in a dual timeframe. In the present day we have Kayla who is moving into a new home that she has designed with her husband. She is met with threats and strange occurrences upon her move into the home. In the past we have Ellie who lived in the same neighborhood as Kayla now does. Ellie joins the SCOPE project in order to help Black people register for their right to vote.

The two women's stories become intertwined when Ellie comes back to her childhood home. Once there, the secrets from her past become known. The story moves at a quick pace as we come towards a resolution. I definitely learned alot about the SCOPE project and the civil rights movement reading this book.

Wow! I really enjoyed this book. Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres and I know a book has scored a home run with me when I have to look up more information about events/facts found in historical fiction books, IWhen looking up the SCOPE project, I learned so much more about those times and attitudes and that helped me do a better job of understanding story. The author did a great job of interweaving two timelines with the characters. I have not read any books by Diane Chamberlain but after reading this one I will definitely be reading more of her books,

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book and the opportunity to share my honest opinion.

Thank you to @stmartinspress and @librofm for my [gifted] listening copy of @diane.chamberlain.author The Last House on the Street ❤📚
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A slow burn, historical novel told in dual narration(my favorite). 2010: a widowed architect moves into a home she and her late husband designed, but things begin to occur and this house doesn't feel like a dream, but a nightmare. 1965: A white female student works for SCOPE, along with fellow activists in the Civil Rights Movement.
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The two women's lives come together in an emotional ending. A powerful story that was very moving via audio.

A mystery, historical fiction, and a topic I hadn't heard of up till now? Sold.

The Last House on the Street is a dual timeline novel, focusing on the SCOPE project, which I hadn't heard of before the novel. SCOPE involved white students who spent a summer living in the south with black families, helping set up voter registrations, canvassing neighborhoods, etc.

In the novel, Ellie is a SCOPE worker in the 1960s timeline, despite the negative reaction of her own family. In the more present day, she is Kayla's neighbor, Kayla being a single mother who has moved into a new home in the neighborhood Ellie lives in after the death of her husband. Kayla has been warned off moving into her new home, but the why is not yet understood. To get there, the women's stories and timelines converge.

Definitely an enjoyable historical fiction novel and a must read for those interested in voting rights in the 1960s. I think the best part of the novel was learning about a topic I now need to know more about.

The Last House on the Street is told in alternating points of view, in alternating time lines. Kayla's point of view is in 2010, and she is moving into the title house, the Last House on the Street. Ellie is a neighbor (the only other neighbor in the new development) and she has lived in her house since she was in her 20s. Ellie's point of view is told in the 1960s, when she was a Civil Rights activist in her own small county in North Carolina. Ellie begins the story as naive, and a little shy, unsure of herself and what she wants to be. She joins a program, SCOPE, that is helping to register the African American people in the county to vote (for when they are actually given the vote.) She doesn't realize what dangerous work it will be, canvassing and talking to people, when the white townspeople and things like the Ku Klux Klan are beginning to pick up steam. This story tells, from Ellie's point of view, her few weeks in SCOPE before a tragedy occurs that changes the trajectory of her life forever. Ellie comes back to her small town many years later (when she is in her 60s) and meets Kayla, a newly widowed woman that has just built the only other existing house on the street. When strange things begin to happen to Kayla, and she is warned off by many people about living in her house, she begins to investigate the history of the land and the area, and finds out a lot of questions that need to be answered.

This story, to start with, was definitely not what I thought it would be. I was expecting a psychological thriller, based on the title of the book and some of the description of the book. Instead this is a book really about Civil Rights, and almost a "social commentary" on that topic. That is not to say that it wasn't good-- it just wasn't what I thought I was going to be reading. I did like the characters of Ellie and Kayla. Ellie was strong, even when she thought that she wasn't, and bravely did her own thing when everyone was telling her not to. She learned a lot in her few weeks with the SCOPE program, and it shaped the way that she would live her life going forward. We should all strive to have a little more "Ellie" in us. This book does contain a mystery (several layers of mystery, actually) but it wasn't the psychological thriller that I was expecting.

Thank you to the author, narrator, publisher and Net Galley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Diane Chamberlain has an engaging writing style, and I always love when a book has me “googling” for more information on a topic. But, I am a bit of an outlier by not finding it to be a 5⭐️ read…….

<i>The Last House on the Street</i> set the spooky atmosphere chained to place by bygone evils so well, I could feel it in my house, as I read. That's good writing. I was hooked. I followed Ellie and Kayla's stories, and it took me some time to finally determine relationships, and finally begin to realize where all was heading. To evil, evil, evil. The draw to these kinds of tales for me is because we think we are done with them, cured, so to speak. All is well now.

So not true. It lingers. Uncovered everyday.

A sincere thanks to Diane Chamberlain, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review.

I love the multiple timelines. The civil rights movement is such an impactful event that happened and I love reading about history within a story. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone!

The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain is an amazing historical fiction read told in alternating timelines from 2010 and in 1965 - and the stories merged so wonderfully. I really loved this writing on my first book from Chamberlain - lots of interesting information from history that really opened my eyes. Overall this is an important and timely read that will stay with me long after. Really enjoyed this!

Alternating timelines which explain a complex relationship between the mysterious events between the past and present in Round Hill and Shadow Ridge Estate.

In 2010, Kayla Carter reluctantly moves into the beautiful new home that she built with her now deceased husband, Jackson and 3 year old Rainie. Kayla and Jackson worked as architects and built their dream home at the end of the street in the new development called Shadow Ridge. Once she begins moving into the new home without her husband who suffered a fatal fall while building the house, she encounters resistance from locals who believe the house should never have been built.

The story transitions to 1965 to provide the historical aspect of Round Hill many years ago in North Carolina during the turmoil of the civil rights and prejudice. During this time, Ellie becomes involved with wanting to carry on her Aunt Carol’s legacy as an activist for civil rights. She decides to join a group SCOPE who are white students organized to help Negroes register to vote. It’s a dangerous and controversial decision for Ellie which isolates her from family and friends.

The past and present collide when Kayla meets Ellie who has returned to help care for her elderly mother and dying brother, Buddy. Many mysterious events in the present are revealed which relate to traumatic events of the past in Round Hill. It’s an important story about family, history, and reparations.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this book from NetGalley and St Martin’s Press. This review is my voluntary unbiased opinion.

Good dual time story!
Loved it!

Description
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

My, oh my! How I love some Diane Chamberlain! She can seriously do no wrong!

The Last House on the Street was another shining example of Chamberlain's writing talent. I was absolutely in love with the main character and her work during the Civil Rights Movement in 1965 despite being born and raised in the American South. Despite her family and friend's disapproval, she carried on with her work to register black voters, and discovered things about herself in the process.

The timeline also shifts to 2010 where a woman has built a house on a piece of land at the end of a street. She continues to receive warnings and threats not to move into the house. But why?

I adored this book from start to finish and would highly recommend.

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Diane Chamberlain, and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to review.

📚 BOOK REVIEW 📚
The Last House on the Street
By Diane Chamberlain
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’m continuing to work through my Netgalley backlog, and this is another book that I left unread for far too long!

The Last House on the Street is a powerful, heartbreaking tale that tackles the ongoing issue of racism.

The story follows two timelines. Ellie is a young white girl in the South who volunteers to help support allowing Blacks to vote. The hatred and ignorance she and her cohorts encounter is so real and so raw that it had me in tears several times. Kayla is a young widow in present day. She and her husband built a new home near where Ellie grew up. Kayla’s husband is killed in an accident, and she and her young daughter move into the house after his death. Eventually we see how Ellie’s experiences years ago are still impacting life in her town.

As someone who grew up in the South, I could relate so much to the often unspoken remnants of racism that remain in present day. I commend @diane.chamberlain.author for tackling such a hard topic, and doing so with honesty and grace. This book is an absolute stunner and I highly recommend it.

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the ARC in exchange for my opinion. This book is available now!

Wow! What a shocking and powerful book. By melding a past and present timeline this book really drove home that the civil rights movement was really not that long ago. I feel like this book was a powerful story that had something for everyone - there was a mystery, some romance, a coming of age story and so much more all packed into one book. This would be a great book club book and would probably spark some great discussions.

Oh, how good was this book. I love historical fiction. I like learning about things that ive never even hear about it...
The dual point of view worked very well. It wrapped up nicely.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

Told by two narrators, one in the present and one in the past, we learn about dark family secrets. While a lot of Chamberlain's books deal with very heavy subject mater, this one left me haunted by the hate that others can still hold onto.

Diane Chamberlain's latest historical fiction novel The Last House on the Street is a definite five star for me. In this book, she tells the stories of Kayla and Ellie, two women in different timelines who are each battling some personal issues and trying to figure out their futures. Each storyline is full of drama and completely engaging. They eventually connect together for a very dramatic finish.

In the present day, Kayla Carter is moving into the home she and her husband built for their family. Unfortunately, her husband died in an accident during the building of the house. When a mysterious elderly woman warns her not to move into the house and strange things start to happen at the house, Kayla begins to doubt her decision to live there. In the timeline set in the past, Ellie Hockley joins the SCOPE project and spends a few summer weeks trying to help register members of the black community to vote. Her family, friends, and community are all opposed to her work and trouble ensues for her and the other members of the project. The connection between the two timelines becomes clear as the story progresses.

The storyline in the 1960's is both inspiring and upsetting. Ellie's desire to stand up for what she believes in even when no one in her life supports her is admirable. The book does a good job of providing information about this very important civil rights project. The references to the Klan and its operations are disturbing, but they are important reminders of the adversity faced by people trying to make positive change during that time period. The reader should be prepared for many emotionally charged moments in the story.

Everything about this book is done well. The characters are well-developed with both likeable and unlikable traits. While there are some stereotypes in the book, they seem necessary to make the points the author is trying to make. The pacing is just right with enough development of both characters and plot without making it drag. Overall, I really have no complaints.

I would highly recommend this book to fans of historical fiction and dual timelines. It will not disappoint.

I really enjoyed how this book went back and forth between two different times that were ultimately intertwined. I really enjoy this author and always look forward to see what she brings out next!