Author: Diane Chamberlain
Published by: St. Martin's Press on Jan. 14, 2020
Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller, Women's Fiction
Pages: 352
Format: Hardcover
Source: St. Martin's Press
Book Rating: 10/10
From bestselling author Diane Chamberlain comes an irresistible new novel that perfectly interweaves history, mystery, and social justice.
When Kayla Carter’s husband dies in an accident while building their dream house, she knows she has to stay strong for their four-year-old daughter. But the trophy home in Shadow Ridge Estates, a new development in sleepy Round Hill, North Carolina, will always hold tragic memories. But when she is confronted by an odd, older woman telling her not to move in, she almost agrees. It’s clear this woman has some kind of connection to the area…and a connection to Kayla herself. Kayla’s elderly new neighbor, Ellie Hockley, is more welcoming, but it’s clear she, too, has secrets that stretch back almost fifty years. Is Ellie on a quest to right the wrongs of the past? And does the house at the end of the street hold the key? Told in dual time periods, The Last House on the Street is a novel of shocking prejudice and violence, forbidden love, the search for justice, and the tangled vines of two families.
Review:
Thought-provoking, ominous, and highly absorbing!
The Last House on the Street is an alluring, mysterious tale that sweeps you away to Round Hill, North Carolina during 1965, as well as 2010, and into the lives of Ellie Hockley and Kayla Carter, two intelligent, young women whose strength, tenacity, and compassion will be tested when the ones they love are lost and the long-buried history of a town steeped with strong underlying racist mentalities, longstanding alliances, hidden betrayals, and dark secrets is finally brought to light.
The writing is effortless and eloquent. The characters are empathetic, vulnerable, and endearing. And the plot, alternating between timelines, unravels and intertwines seamlessly into a beautifully tragic tale about life, loss, love, family, friendship, self-discovery, regret, deception, cruelty, manipulation, power, privilege, racism, politics, mayhem, violence, and murder.
Overall, The Last House on the Street is another sincere, thought-provoking, incredibly affecting tale by one of my all-time favourite authors that does an incredible job of highlighting the weakness and ugliness of group mentality and the ease with which it allows one to participate in the most unforgivable of crimes, while also reminding us that compassion and kindness is the base of humanity that should ultimately always transcend socioeconomic status and skin colour.
This novel is available now.
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Thank you to St. Martins Press for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.