This novel is told in alternating time lines, 2010 and 1965 set in North Carolina. It’s 2010, and Kayla’s husband dies just before they move into their North Carolina dream home in the gorgeous Shadow Ridge Estates. Kayla and her young daughter proceed with moving in. But when she is approached by an older, mysterious woman who tells her not to move in, strange things start to happen. It's a haunting novel that connects the tragic past with the present. Many thanks to NetGalley for this ARC.

What a phenomenal 5-star read!

This was my first read by Diane Chamberlain and it certainly won't be my last! This story gripped me from the very first page and had me reading long into the night!

The novel is told in dual POV through the eyes of Ellie in 1965, and Kayla in 2010. Kayla and her young daughter, Rainie, are moving into a new house – a house that tragically took the life of their husband/father during construction. Strange things happen around the house, and numerous warnings are given to Kayla about the property on which the house sits.

Ellie is a young woman who finds purpose with the civil right movement happening in her southern state. She joins an organization called SCOPE, which is focused on educating and encouraging the registration of Black voters. SCOPE is met with ignorance and hate from her hometown of Round Hill. Ellie becomes an outcast, and her family and friends feel the heat of her decisions especially when she forms an attachment to Win, one of her colleagues.

The two women’s stories merge unexpectedly and tell a story that should never be forgotten.

This book is a hard book to read, but a hard book to put down. I felt so much love for some characters, and loathed others. The relationship between Ellie and Win had my heart breaking, knowing that it was doomed from the start. I had never heard of SCOPE and the work they did and look forward to researching a little more about them.

I highly recommend putting this title on your reading list!

This book was told in two timelines, 1965 and 2010, it was a little bit hard to adjust to the alternating timelines, because I really wasn't invested in the 2010, I had a hard time getting into that one. I preferred to stay in the 1965 timeline, it was more interesting to me, a little predictable as far as the tragedy that happened, and I didn't want to read that, as real as it was, but the Scope and the civil rights and the things that the author wrote about was a lot more interesting to read about than the 2010 version, which was also sad, but it didn't seem to go as deeply into the story as the 1965 one did. The connect wasn't there, that being said, it did finally connect at the end and we see the story nicely wrapped up.

The author did well with the world building, the storytelling, it was just another reason why she is one of my favorites.

Thank you for allowing me to read and review this

This book brought an era and time of the 1960s vividly to life. I wasn't sure where the flashbacks were going at first, they didn't seem to be related to the present day story. But after a few chapters, it all started tying together. The author did a great job describing a Southern small town during the turbulent 1960s and how ordinary citizens can or won't work to make a difference.

Definitely a page turner! Events from 1965, during racial tensions and the KKK was very active, effect the present when the main character moves into her new home after losing her husband to an accident there. Someone doesn’t want her living there and strange things begin to happen. Great ending for the reveal to answers of what actually happened on those grounds in 1965. Thanks to St Martins Press for the opportunity to read an ARC of this great book.

This is a tragic story that spans two timelines. 2010 Kayla has lost her husband. Who died in a tragic accident during the building of their dream home. 1965 Ellie has left home to join the SCOPE project against her families wishes.
Someone is trying to deter Kayla from moving into her new home as the past and present collide in this tragic tale.
A great read!

Thanks Netgalley and publisher for the ARC.

The Last House on the Street tells the story of Ellie Hockley and what happens when she goes against her family's beliefs to volunteer to help register black voters in the sixties. When Ellie falls in love with a fellow volunteer, she finds out the true meaning of prejudice and how judgmental and cruel people can be.

The story switches back and forth to 2010 where architect, Kayla Carter and her daughter move into a beautiful home that she and her husband designed. Kayla soon meets a mysterious woman who warns her about moving into the house. The property is rumored to be haunted and Kayla soon finds out that there are many other secrets surrounding its past.

The two women have two completely different stories, but both want to find out the truth about the mystery that surrounds the property. The story is well written and keeps you guessing the outcome until the very end. Diane Chamberlain does an excellent job describing the racial tension and prejudices that were prevalent in the sixties.

Chamberlain’s latest novel resonates strongly with our times . Kylie is a widow , mother to young 3 year old when she receives a strange visit from an older woman . Told during two timelines one during the 60s at the height of civil unrest this book is suspenseful and poignant . This story will stay with yo7 long after the last page is turned .

This is a really moving historical story about the Voting Rights Act that every white person should read. Though I knew the basics about the Voting Rights Act, this story really brought that era to life and made me consider things in a much more personal way - the way all good fiction does.

This is a story of two alternating timelines, focusing primarily on Ellie, a white girl who, in 1965, decides to join the Civil Rights group SCOPE to help fight for voting rights for African Americans. Ellie is the only Southerner in the group. Through her decision, Ellie learns little by little that her beloved white family members and friends do not accept and love people of other races the way they accept and love her. The story alternates with 2010, when new resident Kayla meets an older Ellie and learns her story.

I thought this story was written with a lot of pain and heart. It is, of course, written by a white person (and primarily from a white girl’s perspective) - so as an emotional and educational tool for white reader about the era, I think it does its job more than ably and in a way that really makes you connect with Ellie and the other characters in her life. It is harder for me to say how this book would be received by Black readers, and how real it might feel to them, but I’m interested in seeing more reviews about that.

Really appreciated this look at an important historical era that is often overlooked by history and the American education system. The end of the book is especially sobering. 4+ stars.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC.

I want to thank St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review The Last House on the Street by author Diane Chamberlain.
The story alternates between 1965 and 2010.
Ellie lives in North Carolina in 1965 and is currently a white college student. She decides to devote her summer to helping southern blacks be prepared to register to vote. As a civil rights activist she will go house to house and also live with black families. Her family and friends are not only against what she is doing but many are active members of the KKK.
In the later time period you meet Kayla and her daughter Rainie. Strange, awful things are happening in their beautiful new home.
How do the two periods connect.? Will the secrets be revealed?
“Ellie—We’ll fly away—love Win.”
The Last House on the Street publishes 01/11/2022.

While alternating timelines are never my favorite to read, this story is easy to follow. It is set in two different years, 1965 and 2010, with the two main characters, Ellie and Kayla, alternating.
Kayla is a young widow moving into the house she and her architect husband designed. It's in a new subdivision where not everyone is welcoming. There are incidents almost from day one. Some say there are evil spirits and maybe there are.
Ellie has just returned home, after many years, to care for an ailing brother, and the mother who despises her. Ellie was raised here in NC during the civil and voting rights movement. It was the time of the Klan and Gearge Wallace.  As a teen she volunteered with a group registering blacks to vote. That caused a family and community rift spanning decades.
Kayla's new house is close to Ellie's family home. Their lives will become intertwined with the history of the land and the town itself.
It is an emotional depiction of family during a  time when race divided towns, people, parents and children. The wounds and heartbreak last a lifetime. It was a dark time with a difficult subject matter and it's not easy to read about. It was emotional and powerful. There is mystery and suspense, but it was much deeper than just solving a crime. As hard as it was to read about my country's history, I could hardly put it down.
I would put this in the historical category, as well as a great mystery. The book seemed very accurate to time period and was well constructed.
I was familiar with this author's name, but had never read her works before. Now I understand why she's earned such a following. She's written an important story with lessons still to be learned about race today. It will linger with me, as all good book should.
Thanks to Netgalley for the advance digital copy of The Last House at the End of the Street, by Diane Chamberlain, and to St. Martin’s Press. These thoughts and opinions are mine alone, given voluntarily.

The Last House on the Street intertwines the past and present with the stories of Kayla, a newly widowed woman who just moved into her dream home shortly after the accident that took her husband; And Ellie, a young college aged woman fighting in the civil rights movement of 1965.
In present day Ellie is Kayla’s only neighbor in the newly developed neighborhood, and when a mysterious woman threatens Kayla, Ellie is there to help solve the mystery. In the “past” chapters, we follow a young Ellie as she joins a civil rights group helping Black southerners register to vote.
I really enjoyed this book as a whole; The way the present day mystery and the past civil rights storylines were woven together so seamlessly created a book I didn’t want to put down. Diane Chamberlain has written strong, believable characters that I was rooting for the whole way, and a story that I won’t be able to forget.

Told from 2 voices in 2 very different eras, the story sets up a mystery that kept me reading. Following these two women as their lives touch in so many ways, yet are so very different. The back story revolves around a group of civil rights workers in 1965, yet moves quickly to the very surprising reveal in 2010. I have to admit, I thought I had it all figured out, but there were so many things I did not even guess. The last chapter is a cool down after the explosions, wrapping the story up but leaving room for me to see another life for these women.

This is the book that everyone needs to read right now!! We live in a sad world where race is still an issue today and this book shows us how hate crimes if the past are still an issue today. I love the main characters in this book and I love that justice was served for that good man who was only doing his job.

I went into this one blindly and I'm so glad I did. What a story- wow! The story is told from two different time periods (1965 & 2010) from multiple POVs (Ellie & Kayla). We meet Kayla, newly widowed, as she's moving into her new home that her & her husband designed. Little do they know- there's a ton of history behind their lot. We meet Ellie in 1965 as she's working with SCOPE (an activist group who is working to help African Americans register to vote) and we watch her grow as she thrives in this organization. We also meet a few characters along the way that make you smile, make you laugh, and make you hate. Everything so nicely came together (even though it was heartbreaking) and the plot of this book really made you think. I would recommend this one to anyone.

Thank you to NetGalley, Diane Chamberlain, and St.Martins Press for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. This one hits shelves in January of 2022!

I love all of Diane Chamberlain's recent books and this one was no exception! She has a way of developing characters that you greatly care about and that you remember afterward. This story is told from the view point of two of the characters in the story. The story goes back and forth between two time periods and characters; 1965 and the civil rights struggle and the other is from the view point of a newly widowed mother in 2010. The stories blend together seamlessly as we find out how the characters' stories are related. There is also a mystery that keeps one guessing. The back and forth chapters of the two time periods always end at a place that makes you want to keep reading until you get back to where the last time period section left off. This book kept me engaged throughout and looking forward to Ms. Chamberlain's next novel!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's press for an ARC of this novel.

This is an excellent book. It has a very well developed plot , relatable characters, an insight in the struggle for voters right in the south in the 60’s with a touch of mystery thrown in. I highly recommend it to everyone.

Another timely story by Diane Chamberlain.

As always, the writing is spot-on for the era and for the characters. I felt the story flowed well and the dual timelines worked well. The characters were well-developed, and I thought their individual voices came through.

A novel of shocking prejudice and violence, forbidden love, the search for justice, and the tangled vines of two families.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

In 2010, Kayla, along with her daughter, has just moved into a new house that she and her husband designed, but her husband was killed in an accident during the construction of the house. This already has her wondering if moving into the house was the right move, then a strange lady threatens her and tells her she shouldn’t live there. Then we get the story of Ellie back in 1965 as she volunteered with a movement to help black people register to vote which was not at all well received by her friends and family in North Carolina. Kayla’s new house is on the same street where Ellie’s family home is.

This was definitely a general fiction or women’s fiction novel, not a mystery, in my opinion. There are reveals at the end but we don’t even know what the mystery is until shortly before it is solved. This is a timely novel and it is interesting and informative about voting rights in the south in the 60’s and the attitudes of white people at that time. Though outside of my usual genre and a bit slow to develop for me, it is a really well written book. I thought I remembered a little more mystery in previous Diane Chamberlain novels but I could envision myself reading more from her in the future.