Review: The Last House on the Street (by Diane Chamberlain)

My Rating: 4 stars

Diane Chamberlain is quite a prolific writer, with over two dozen novels to her name, yet so far, I've only read three of her novels.  However, with that said — seeing that I've enjoyed all 3 of the novels that I've read, Chamberlain has quickly become one of my favorite authors and I'm hoping I'll be able to find the time to explore more of her backlist at some point!  

Chamberlain's latest novel, The Last House on the Street, follows a similar pattern as her previous novels in that it features a dual timeline narrative with two strong yet flawed female protagonists and its center.  The first timeline starts off in the year 2010, in the small town of Round Hill, North Carolina, where a young architect named Kayla Carter is trying to piece her life back together after her beloved husband Jackson dies in a freak accident while working on their dream house.   Kayla knows that she needs to stay strong for her 4-year-old daughter Rainie, and even though it pains her to move into the house that she feels took her husband from her, she also doesn't want to throw away all the hard work that her husband (who was also an architect) put into designing it.  As she is about to move in though, a red-haired woman repeatedly tries to dissuade Kayla from moving in, and soon, all sorts of strange things start to happen.  The story then jumps back in time to 1965, where 20-year old Ellie Hockley, a privileged white girl who lives on a street in Round Hill that is named after her family, decides to join SCOPE, an organization whose purpose is to persuade the black population to register to vote once the Voting Rights Act is signed into law.  Raised in the Deep South, in a little enclave that was essentially isolated from the rest of the world, Ellie is shocked to realize how much her family as well as the entire community as a whole opposes her participation in the civil rights movement, but she comes to realize that this is her passion.  

The story alternates between the perspectives of these two courageous women (Kayla and Ellie) who couldn't be more different in terms of personality, but share the common struggle of having to stand up for what they believe in, even with the odds stacked against them.  I couldn't help but be drawn to both women and found myself rooting for them throughout the story, even during those moments when they made decisions that frustrated me.  Chamberlain does a wonderful job telling both women's stories, but what I loved the most was the way the two timelines merged near the end, in a way that was both unique and satisfying.   With these types of dual timeline stories, I usually prefer one timeline over the other, but I actually liked both this time around — though character-wise, Ellie was definitely my favorite.  

Just as she does with her previous works, Chamberlain once again presents an emotionally resonant story that defies categorization into any particular genre.  While there were elements of suspense with the "mystery" that unfolded in Kayla's timeline, the historical elements were also strong, especially in Ellie's timeline with the civil rights movement and everything that went on during that time period. 

This was definitely a worthwhile read and while I don't want to say too much so as not to give away the story, I will say that if you liked Chamberlain's previous book Big Lies in a Small Town (which came out back in 2020), you will probably like this one as well, since both were written in a similar vein (though they cover different time periods). Also, this story is extremely timely given the social justice theme that it covers, though a word of warning that some parts will be difficult to read (especially in Ellie's timeline given the historical context with the civil rights movement and the injustices that occurred during that time).

I personally can't wait for Chamberlain's next book, though of course, there are plenty of backlist options for me to explore in the meantime.  

Received ARC from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley

Review: Big Lies in a Small Town (by Diane Chamberlain)

My Rating: 4 stars

This may be only the second of Diane Chamberlain’s works that I’ve read, but based on how much I enjoyed this book as well as her previous one (The Dream Daughter, which came out back in 2018), I already know that I will likely be adding her to my “favorite authors” list very soon. 

With Big Lies in a Small Town, Chamberlain once again gives her readers a well-written, emotionally resonant story with realistic, well-developed characters and a wonderfully laid-out plot. Through a dual timeline narrative alternating between two time periods, both set in the small, sleepy town of Edenton, North Carolina, we get to meet two female artists from different generations – Anna Dale in 1940 and Morgan Christopher in 2018 – both of whom share the similarity of being “called” to Edenton to work on art projects, but their lives end up going down drastically different paths.  I don’t want to reveal too much of the plot outside of what the summary already gives, as this is one of those stories where it’s best to go in not knowing too much and see where things take you. Usually with these dual timeline narratives, I tend to prefer one timeline over the other, but in this case, I felt that both of the timelines were extremely well done and also came together beautifully in the end.  Crafting stories like this one — where the present and past timelines play off each other, with the present slowly revealing clues to the past, but in a restrained manner so as to still have elements of surprise for the reader — is definitely no easy feat and I feel that Chamberlain masters that here. Even though I already had an idea of where the story would go after the first few chapters (and I ended up guessing correctly), I still found the story thoroughly engaging to the point that I kept wanting to turn the pages to find out what happens next.  

Aside from the intricately-crafted plot, the other thing I appreciated most about this story were the well-developed characters.  I love stories with strong, yet flawed female protagonists at the center whom I am able to connect with and witness their growth — both Anna and Morgan encounter different hardships and, at times, end up having to bear consequences from poor decisions that were made, but yet they face these challenges head-on and grow from the experiences.  

Like some of Chamberlain’s previous works, I found it difficult to place this in any one particular category, as there were definitely elements that spanned different genres.  At the center is the “mystery” surrounding the mural that Morgan is tasked with restoring and the fate that befell its artist Anna Dale, yet there were also historical elements with the story’s setting in the real-life town of Edenton, especially during the 1940s timeline.  There were also elements of women’s fiction in terms of the experiences that Anna and Morgan went through, but the depth of the story gives it a bit of literary bent as well.

Overall, this was a hugely satisfying and enjoyable read, one that I definitely recommend.  I know Chamberlain has an extensive backlist of books that I’m hoping to get the chance to explore at some point, but I’m also looking forward to her next work and seeing what else she may have in store for us.  

Received ARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley.

Review: The Dream Daughter (by Diane Chamberlain)

My Rating:  4.5 stars

I’m not a huge fan of books about time-travel, as I oftentimes end up feeling lost and confused trying to remember the different timelines and the back-and-forth sequence of events that usually occur with these types of books -- so when I first read the blurb for this book and saw that there would be a time travel element to it, I was a little hesitant.  Add to this the fact that I had never read a book by Diane Chamberlain before (though I had heard a lot about her and do have several of her books on my TBR), I really didn’t know what to expect going into this.  Now that I finished reading this book, I am tremendously glad that I decided to go forward with it, as I ended up really really enjoying it! 

The summary uses the word “genre-spanning” to describe this book and I have to say that is a perfect description, as it truly is impossible to fit this into just one category – the time travel element seems to put it into science fiction but then again, that was only a small portion of the story (think of the time travel piece as a means to an end rather than the main arc of the story); there were also historical fiction elements with references to real historical events and a portion of the story taking place in the 1960s and 70s.  Mostly though, this story is about a young mother’s tremendous love for her unborn daughter as well as for her family, which puts her on a path that she never imagined possible – it is also a story about faith, hope, courage, sacrifice, and the lengths a mother would go through to save her own child.  In this sense, it would probably more appropriately fit into women’s fiction, but with a lot more depth to the story, plot, and characters.

I’ve heard that Diane Chamberlain is a masterful storyteller and after reading this book, I absolutely agree!  The writing was fantastic and the plot was amazingly well-thought out, with enough detail to make the story believable (despite the time travel element) and a surprising amount of twists and turns that kept the story lively and engaging.  What I liked most about this book though were the characters – Hunter, Patti, and of course Carly, whom the story mainly revolves around.   I love stories with strong female protagonists at their core and Carly absolutely fit the bill – her tremendous strength and courage  in the face of the situation she found herself in and the many difficult choices as well as sacrifices she had to make, one after the other, this was a character I not only admired, but also connected with on an emotional level.  Carly was such a well-developed character that I often felt I was right there alongside her as she embarked on her journey and as I got to know her throughout the course of the story, she ended up being a character that I didn’t want to let go.

Heartfelt, poignant, and emotional, this is a story that made me shed a tear or two throughout the read, but at the same time, it also made me smile and laugh in a few places. I deliberately went light on the plot with this review, as this is a wonderful story that everyone should experience for themselves, so I didn’t want to spoil anything.  This one is highly recommended!

Received ARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley