Diane Chamberlain weaves yet another fabulous book with a well developed plot that switches back and forth between two time periods that holds the reader on the edge of the seat! DC has a knack for twisting and turning and weaving a complex storyline that leaves the reader well satisfied because you don’t see the final twist coming and it catches you by surprise! DC is one of my favorite authors because each of her books is unique and very well thought out and well written… this one was filled with mystery, and intrigue and kept you guessing right up until the very end. Highly enjoyable, and a real page turner!
Many thanks to Netgalley and St Martin’s Publishing Group for the opportunity to read and review this advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my review.

3.75 voting rights stars (rounded up for the SCOPE project)

This one features a dual storyline, one from 1965 and one from present day. I really enjoyed the earlier storyline, more than the modern storyline. Ellie is our main character, and she is a young college -aged woman in North Carolina. I loved learning more about the summer project she signed up for – The Summer Community Organization and Political Education (SCOPE) Project. White college students were recruited to help register voters prior to President Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act on August 6, 1965. This story seems especially timely since the Supreme Court recently ruled to gut most of this act.

While Ellie was passionate about this volunteer work, her family and friends were against it and tried every possible way to get her back home. I loved reading about this important community activity. I didn’t love the attitudes of many people about the work and goals of the project and the racism. In fact, many of the volunteers were threatened and violence was not uncommon.

The modern-day story features Kayla, an architect who recently lost her husband. She is getting ready to move in to her recently completed home with her small daughter. The house is the last one on the street and surrounded by woods. It now feels like there are too many trees to Kayla and it is especially difficult because her husband died in an accident at the house. There is a mystery surrounding the woods.

The two stories eventually intersect, and we ultimately learn what happened with Ellie and that summer she worked on the voting rights project and why she fled North Carolina 45 years ago. Overall, I liked this book and the writing was quite good, but I didn’t connect with the characters as much as I did with some earlier Diane Chamberlain books.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain.

Gosh I adore Diane Chamberlain. If you haven't tried any of her stuff, I highly recommend it. She's excellent with historical fiction, and I love how much care and research she puts in her work.

Kayla and her four year old daughter have just moved into the their dream house in a quiet new development. But the situation is far from dreamy, because her beloved husband died while building it. Now gripped with grief and leaning on her dad for support, Kayla has to figure out how to move forward as a single working mom.

But grief turns into utter confusion when a woman comes into her place of work, full of warning and hostility about her new home. Kayla is so rattled that she calls the police, feeling threatened and scared. Why would someone feel so strongly about the location of her new home? She is new to the area, she knows nothing about this town. But she will soon learn more about Round Hill, North Carolina, and how close it's secrets hit her family.

As I've said, so well researched, so sweet, so tragic, so gripping. Chamberlain hooks me always with the very first page. I love the characters and the backdrop. I always learn a lot about a targeted moment in our history. Very good.

I received a free e-arc copy through Netgalley.
This book follows two timelines: Ellie as a young woman growing up in the south where the KKK meets locally and in current times after Kayla's husband has died in a freak accident in the new house they are building. Diane Chamberlain as an author often hits some hard topics, but this one was a bit anxiety-provoking for me to finish because I knew that something bad was going to happen and I was right. A stomach twister of a book with the horror of thinking that these kinds of things can still occur in our racist society.

Diane Chamberlain's latest novel features a dual story line in two different time periods. The first story takes place in 2010 where a young widow is just about to move into her dream home when she gets several warnings not to move in. The second storyline takes place in 1965 in the same town as young college student Ellie joins the Civil Rights Movement to help get Black people registered to vote. Just how these two stories intersect, even fifty years after tragedy proves just how talented an author Diane Chamberlain is. This novel will pull you in almost immediately, even as you read about a very dark period of US history.

The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain

2010 What had been an exciting chapter in their lives changes into a sad step forward for Kayla Carter when her husband dies while building their dream house in Shadow Ridge Estates, Round Hill, North Carolina. Now Kayla and her four year old daughter are moving into the huge, finished home and Kayla feels dread and sadness rather than the excitement she would have felt if her husband was still alive. What had seemed like a happy place before, now seems closed in by the surrounding woods, too big, too full of memories, even though the place hasn't been lived in yet.

1965 The same location and Ellie is a young college student, ready to tackle the social ills of the time. The SCOPE project needs white volunteers to live with black families to help prepare them and their neighborhoods to get out and vote. Everyone in Ellie's family and community is against Ellie volunteering for this project but Ellie is not to be deterred despite being admonished that her joining the project is destroying her family, the family business, and the community. Ellie follows her heart when doing do isn't allowed and she and those dear to her pay the price.

It's hard when a dual timeline story has a timeline that is much more appealing than the other timeline. I preferred the 1965 timeline to the 2010 timeline and felt jarred whenever we were taken to 2010. Meeting Ellie and other characters from 1965, in 2010, feels anticlimactic and lessens the tension of the events of 1965. What happens in 1965 is heartbreaking so maybe it's best that the later timeline allows me to stand back from the 1965 events, but that earlier timeline is the one that captured my heart. I do love how Chamberlain has taught me so much about past events that I wasn't aware of, in this book, and other books I've read by her.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

The Last House on the Street sounds like a murder mystery-and it is-just not the one you were expecting. Although much of the story takes place over fifty years ago, its theme is still relevant (maybe even more so) a half century later. What happened at The Last House on the Street is revealed slowly-you know something terrible occurred in the woods where contemporary McMansions are now being built, but the reality is much worse than anything you imagine. The story is engrossing and very emotional, but what resonates most is the passion Diane Chamberlain bestows on her characters, and their strength in the face of unrelenting bigotry. It is shocking events like those depicted in The Last House on the Street actually happened, but what is even sadder is how little things have changed, even though we want to believe they have. Much of The Last House on the Street centers on the civil rights movement of the 1960's-specifically getting The Voting Rights Bill passed. Although President Johnson signed the bill in 1965, decades later we're still embroiled in the same fight. Miss Chamberlain deserves much praise for not sugar coating what life was like for African Americans living in the deep south. You can't read The Last House on the Street and not feel enraged at the hatred people had for others just because they had a different skin color. The Last House on the Street is a timely and deeply moving novel that will stay with you long after you've turned the last page.

I found this book to be immensely well written and I thought it did a good job of providing a complex, layered, civil rights story that adequately relates the drama and feeling of the time period. I really felt that this story really needed a more firm tie in from the past to the present. I felt that the relationship with Ellie and the Kayla just seemed to be forced and just off in portrayal. I think some of their interactions were just off and did not make sense to the story. I felt that they actually drew away from the story. It became pretty obvious what had happened toward the end and I was not satisfied with there being no resolution that made any kind of reparation in the end when the story was based on civil rights and what grew between Ellie and her partner in the movement. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley.

In 1965, Ellie Hockley is growing up in the town of Round Hill in North Carolina. Ellie has graduated high school and enrolled in college. Her future seems to be well planned and predictable. During her summer break, Ellie becomes involved in volunteer work to help black voters to get registered. As Ellie follows her ideals and becomes a civil rights advocate, a chain of events driven by prejudice and racism starts that could end in disaster for Ellie.

Fast forward 45 years to 2010. Kayla Carter and her husband are building a beautiful new home in an exclusive neighborhood in Round Hill, North Carolina. They plan to raise their young daughter, Rainie, in this perfect dream home. Then tragedy strikes, and Kayla’s husband dies in a freak accident. Kayla and Rainie move into the house only to find that the woods behind the property are rumored to be haunted. And her next door neighbor, Ellie, has secrets about the tragic events that occurred on Kayla’s property in the distant past.

Diane Chamberlain has created a masterful piece of work with THE LAST HOUSE ON THE STREET. I was immediately emotionally drawn into this wonderful, but sometimes gut wrenching, story about the civil rights movement in the 1960’s. The writing was superb and it felt very real, so much so that you may shed a few tears along the way (I certainly did). This is my favorite Diane Chamberlain book so far, each of her books seem to be better than the previous one. I would highly recommend this great historical fiction novel and it deserves all of the stars!

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be posted to my Instagram Blog (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the near future.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ark! I was beyond excited to receive approval for this book is Diane Chamberlain is one of my favorite authors. This book seems like a difficult one to pin a star rating on but if I had to I would give it four stars. I enjoyed the timeline between the present in the past, and particularly loved the 1960s time frame. Diane Chamberlain rights so eloquently and beautifully it is hard to put any of her books down. While this was not my favorite by her, I still really enjoyed it, and learned a lot about the SCOPE Program, which I knew nothing about. This is definitely a great book to read if you are interested in Civil Rights history.

Gripping story by Diane Chamberlain - couldn't put this one down. Told in duel timelines, the story of two women, one in the 1950's and one in 2010, who are connected in ways neither could have imagined. Diane Chamberlain brings us back to a dark time in our country's history with the story of Ellie, who spends a summer fighting for civil rights, much to the dismay of her family and friends. Fast forward to 2010, when Kayla must figure out the mystery surrounding her new home and the secrets that her town has held onto for years. Excellent story, vividly written - doesn't get better than this! Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy.

What a story! What a book! A race relations book that is a mystery and page turner written in dual timelines. I was up almost all night finishing and I was totally blown away. The storyline about the civil rights group takes place in 1965. That is shocking. In 1965 I was in grade school in a well off university town. I don’t think I ever really knew how racist it was in North Carolina. And today in the US it is still horrifyingly filled with bigots. A great book. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the chance to read this. Opinions are my own

There isn't an emotion that I didn't experience while reading this heartbreaking and haunting story. This well-researched novel is written in two timelines, the 60's and 2010, and the crossover between the two seamlessly unravels the story.

A 1965 timeline centers around the turbulence and turmoil of the Civil Rights Movement and the Voting Rights Act. Ellie, a young white college student is spending her summer helping African Americans register to vote and fight for their civil rights. When her friends and family reveal their bigotry and prejudice, she must decide to follow her convictions or return home. Themes of injustice, prejudice, racisim, violence, and grief are abundant, as is the presence of the white supremacist group, the Ku Klux Klan.

The 2010 timeline centers around a young widow, Kayla, who is preparing to move into the dream home that she and her late husband designed and built. Family and community members discourage the move and mysterious things begin to happen to her and her daughter.

When 1965 and 2010 collide, things get real for both women, as each searches for the truth. Decades-old secrets are revealed and both women learn that people are not always as they seem.

As I read the passages describing the living conditions and treatment of marginalized citizens in the 1965 timeline, it hurt my heart that 56 years later, there remain marginalized citizens living in the same conditions. The characters were all believable and the writer's inclusion of real organizations and important people from history enriched the story. This is a story that readers will remember long after the last page is read.

Thank you St Martin's Press, Diane Chamberlain, and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

1965

Ellie Hockley is a naive 20 year old, “coming of age” during a time when President Lyndon B Johnson is about to sign into law the Voting Rights bill Act, with the aim of registering more black voters and removing racism from American Politics. She joins a program called SCOPE-Summer Community Organization and Political Education Project, despite protests from her family and friends. Many White Volunteers spent the Summer, living with Black host families so they could canvas their neighborhoods and educate them on the importance of registering to VOTE, and following through with their vote on Election Day.

It’s sad that I grew up in the United States and am just learning about this actual project from a story. 🤷🏻‍♀️

What is even sadder is that 56 years later, we are actually suppressing Voter’s rights, and making it HARDER to vote, instead of easier, and that Racism still exists. 💔

2010

Kayla Carter and her husband, Jackson, both architects, designed their dream home, and built it on a prime lot, nestled in the Woods of the new Shadow Ridge subdivision, on the outskirts of Round Hill in North Carolina. But, Jackson died in an accident prior to its completion, and now Kayla and their 4 year old daughter, Rainie will be moving in without him. Just prior to moving day, a mysterious older woman named Ann Smith, warns Kayla that she shouldn’t move in, and makes some threatening comments about wanting to kill someone. And, she may not be the only one that doesn’t approve of the last house on the street.

But why?
And, how do these two timelines intersect?

Diane Chamberlain has an engaging writing style, and I always love when a book has me “googling” for more information on a topic. But, I am a bit of an outlier by not finding it to be a 5⭐️ read…….

With the exception of learning about SCOPE, most of the 1965 timeline was predictable if you know anything about the blatant racism of the 60’s. And, the motivation behind the “scare tactics” in 2010 didn’t make much sense. This timeline was weaker, the threats not well fleshed out, used primarily to bring resolution to the events from 1965.

Still, it is an important and timely read.


Thank You to St. Martin’s Press for my gifted copy. This title will be available on January 11, 2022 and it was my pleasure to offer a candid review!

This was such a great book and I love how the author told the story. This book goes back and forth between the past and present day. There is somewhat of a mystery as to what truly happened in the past and how it affected all those involved. I love the way the truth is finally revealed and you find out what really happened back in the woods. There are times I thought I had it all figured out, but I was wrong. This story will truly keep you on your toes!

This was a book that I went in blind and I was pleasantly surprised. I was expecting an everyday mystery based on the title, but I was not expecting how much depth the story would have. The story follows dual timelines and both are equally interesting. 2010 follows Kayla, a recently widowed single mother and 1965 follows Ellie, a young woman fighting for civil rights against her families wishes.

A story set in a Southern state in the sixties was definitely hard to read because it makes you sad and angry that people were treated with such hate. I loved how both timelines tied into each other so well and how it kept you guessing all along. It is a beautifully written book and a wonderful story and I highly recommend it, but don’t want to post spoilers.

This is my first book by Diane Chamberlain, but it definitely won’t be my last.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This story was amazing

Full RTC to come,

Kayla and her daughter moves in the house after Kayla’s husband dies before they move into their dream home in Shadow Ridge Estates. as soon they stablish a woman comes up to them telling them they shouldn't be living there, not knowing what the real deal is she ends up looking for answers.

Diane Chamberlain is a master a writing novels that will stay with you long after you’ve finished! The Last House on the Street comes out at the very beginning of 2022 and I can already tell you it will be one of my top favorites of the entire year! The storyline is complex, but read like a movie in your mind with such well-developed characters. There are layers upon layers that Diane brilliantly builds on to creat an intricate plot that keeps you on the hook until the last page. The Last House on the Street is a 5+++ star novel that I recommend everyone!!!

It took me a little while to really get into this story, but having read other Diane Chamberlain books I knew it would be worth it. The Last House on the Street takes place in North Carolina in both 2010 and 1965, with alternating points of view. It tackles some serious civil rights and race issues so be advised this is not a "nice" story, however, it is an excellent book with beautiful writing and well developed characters. This book was a rollercoast of emotions for me, I was angry, sad, happy, disgusted and ultimately blown away. 4 stars only because the first 30%was a little slower than I had hoped - but please read this book!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for granting me this advanced copy of The Last House on the Street in exchange for an honest review.

This book was written in a then and now viewpoint. At times I got a little confused at how it tied in. It was really slow at the beginning, around the half way point, it started picking up. Once it did, I really got into the story.
The now was mainly about Kayla and I could feel for her, recently widowed and moving into a big house with just her daughter. Someone is doing things to scare her away.
The then was about Ellie and her quest to help with the Scope project. This part was very emotional.
The ending wasn’t really a shocker because I had figured it out when the main thing happened. All in all, a decent read once I got into it.