Publisher: St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio
Published: January 11, 2022
Source: Print – ARC Paperback via St. Martin’s Press / Audio via library
Summary:
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.
My thoughts:
Diane Chamberlain has become a must-read author after her last few books and I could not wait to get my hands on this latest one. It was one of my most anticipated reads for this month and it totally delivers. This is also one of the selections this month for my online bookclub, the #bookfriendsbookclub, and we are not only discussing the book tonight but we will also be chatting with Diane as well. I’m so excited!
As soon as I started reading this book, I was captivated and that feeling never let up. Told in a dual storyline, I was equally invested in both timelines, which is not always the case. Sometimes with the dual narrative, I find I am more drawn to one timeline over the other, but here, I loved both. I found both women, Kayla in the present day and Ellie in the past, to be intriguing characters and right away I found I needed to know what was going to happen next with them. I very quickly became emotionally attached to these characters.
I loved the way this story unfolded, moving back and forth in time, slowly unraveling mysteries in both, while ever so slowly weaving a tale that eventually winds together both seamlessly and emotionally. This story packs quite the punch, shedding light on a small slice of history that should not be forgotten, however hard it may be to read about. While these events happened years ago, the sad fact of the matter is some things aren’t that much better now. And that is what makes this book so important and so timely.
I loved learning about the SCOPE Program in the South, a program aimed at helping register Black voters in the early 1960s. This was a program I had never heard of prior to reading this book, nor did I realize all the other obstacles that Blacks had placed in front of them if they wanted to try to get themselves registered. This was so eye-opening and exactly why I love reading historical fiction – I always learn something new!
I highly recommend this story to both historical fiction fans and fans of mystery and suspense. This genre-bending story will certainly appeal to all as it is completely captivating. It is definitely one powerful story that I know will be staying with me for a long time and I will be telling everyone I know to pick it up!
Audio thoughts:
I have listened to many of Diane Chamberlain’s books because they translate so well onto audio and this was no exception. Susan Bennett narrates this one and she does an amazing job. She really brings her A-game to this one, giving the characters their own unique voice and her pacing is spot on! I ended up listening to this entire book in one day because I was so captivated and that was in part due to the story and in part due to the narration!
