But I ain't looking back on the seeds I've sown: THE LAST HOUSE ON THE STREET.

The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Kayla Carter and her husband are so excited to be building their dream house in the neighborhood of Shadow Ridge Estates in Round Hill, North Carolina. But then tragedy strikes and he dies while working on the house. Then Kayla is confronted by a mysterious woman who warns her against moving into the property with her young daughter. Kayla finds the property creepy, honestly, between her husband's accident and the trees that seem to swarm the house. Soon she meets her new neighbor, Ellie, whose family has a history with the property that dates back years. Is Kayla's property really bad news--and does Ellie know why?

This is a mesmerizing story told from dual points of view: Kayla, in 2010 and Ellie, in the 1960s. It delves deeply in the South's horrible history of racism and does so in the most personal way, through our cast of diverse and fascinating characters. In the 1960s, Ellie decides to becomes involved with SCOPE, an organization devoted to helping black individuals register to vote. Everyone is against this--even, at first, the minister running SCOPE in the Round Hill area. Ellie's parents are appalled, convinced harm will befall their daughter, as well as what her involvement may mean for their family's reputation. Her brother, Buddy, worries about her safety as well. Her best friend, Brenda, refuses contact, and her boyfriend, Reed, ends their relationship.

But Ellie is strong and determined; she joins SCOPE, making new friends and falling in love with a black man named Win. Ellie's story is absolutely captivating, as Chamberlain makes clear the absolute prejudices and challenges facing black people in the 1960s. There's a lot of history and much of this story is heartbreaking and will anger you, as many of these tales from the 1960s can.

As for Kayla's story, it's not quite as engrossing as Ellie's, though it does provide the link between the two time periods. For Kayla, she's on a quest to discover if her property is haunted or if she's just suffering from bad luck. We learn how her life intersects with Ellie, which is interesting in itself.

Overall, this is such a touching tale--you become so attached to the characters and absolutely appalled at some of the events that unfold. Chamberlain does a great job at highlighting the utter injustices of racism through the prism of a story, as well as painting a sad history of a particular piece of property. HOUSE is part mystery and part historical/character driven fiction. It will certainly stick with you. 4+ stars.

I received a copy of this book from St. Martin's Press and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review.

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She got wiser every time you lied: BIG LIES IN A SMALL TOWN.

Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Morgan Christopher is shocked when she's plucked from prison and told she will be released early, as long as she perform a certain task: restore an old mural from the 1940s. Morgan, an art school dropout, has no restoration skills, but she is desperate to leave prison, where she is imprisoned for a crime she didn't commit. Once released, she finds herself captivated by the mural and what she finds underneath the layers of grime. Meanwhile, in 1940, young Anna Dale, an artist from New Jersey wins a contest to paint a mural for the post office in Edenton, North Carolina. She travels there to learn more about the town that she needs to capture. But once there, Anna is confronted both by kindness and deep-set prejudice.

I've never read a book by Diane Chamberlain before, and I really enjoyed this one. It's oddly captivating for centering on a painting from the 1940s. The point-of-view switches between Morgan and Anna and each are compelling narrators in their own right. This was one of those books where I found myself desperately wishing I could read faster, as I wanted to find out what happened to Anna (we're told early on she "went crazy").

I applaud Chamberlain for her original plot. It's odd, but not in a bad way, as it had me interested the entire time. She does a wonderful job of creating two completely different worlds: Anna's in the 40s and Morgan's in near present-day. She deftly weaves in art aspects; Morgan's drunk driving conviction and her past in prison; Anna's possible mental illness; and Morgan's benefactor, so to speak, Lisa, who springs her out of prison to fulfill the wishes of her late father, Jesse, a famous artist.

While this novel is mainly fiction, there are some great twists and turns, especially as we learn what happened to Anna. Chamberlain delves into race relations, as Anna confronts the prejudices of the south in the 1940s. Her writing style is easy, making you want to keep reading, and overall, I quite enjoyed this one. 4 stars.

I received a copy of this novel from Netgalley and St. Martin's Press in return for an honest review; it is available everywhere as of 01/14/2020.

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