I was lucky to receive an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review and opinions. I love all of Diane Chamberlain's books and this one was no exception. Outstanding! This is a hard topic to read but very touching. I don't think she can write a bad book and can't wait for her next one!

Diane Chamberlain is the first author who made me glad that I stepped out of my comfort zone and tried historical fiction. Her characters are well written and I always finish knowing so much more about the time and event that she is highlighting.
The setting for both timelines is North Carolina. In 2010, we meet Kayla, a mother who has recently lost her husband in a tragic accident. In 1965, Ellie is a college student who has her eyes opened to the terrible cost of segregation. What these two women have in common will become clear as the story unfold.
Kayla is between a rock and a hard place. She and her husband Jackson spent years designing and building their dream home. She can't bear the thought of living there with her young daughter without him, but also cannot fathom giving up the place they worked so hard to build. Before she moves in, she receives a threatening visit from a woman who warns her not to live in the house. Kayla is upset but cannot imagine why anyone would want to keep her away from this beautiful location. It seems that the woods behind her house have known tragedy and some secrets that are not meant to be discovered. It is this tainted land that will bring Kayla and Ellie together.
Ellie decides the right thing to do with her summer vacation is to join a group names SCOPE who is working to educate poor African Americans about their impending voting rights. Ellie soon sees the poverty that these good people endure and is determined to make a difference, even though her friends and family adamantly refuse to support her or her mission. Ellie learns a very hard lesson though, as she had no idea how powerful the Ku Klux Klan is even in the town she grew up in. When a horrific act of violence causes her to lose someone she cares for, she leaves her hometown and vows never to return. Her mother and brother's illnesses bring her back to her childhood home, and her newest neighbor, Kayla. Ellie will learn a hard truth, and Kayla will discover who or what is haunting her woods.
While Kayla's story was heartbreaking, it was Ellie's chapters that had my total attention. Seeing this point in history through her eyes was sickening, and gave a real voice and face to the horrors that make up a shameful part of our history. A story that will make you think, take your breath away, and break your heart.

I've read all of Diane Chamberlain's book, and needless to say, I'm a fan. I've loved them all, but this one is different: deeper, darker, and more intense. It shows an author at the height of her powers, and it will stay with me for a long time. I grew up in the South, and I had only a glimmer of the racism that was/is still so prevalent there. This book showed the 1960s clearly, when the Voting Rights Act was about to be signed, and how the white population hated the thought of black people voting and the black residents were beginning to believe they could have power. Two points of view--from the mid'60s to current days--show eastern North Carolina in all its complexity. Brava! A brave, powerful book that will stand the test of time.

Diane Chamberlain's books NEVER fail to keep me in suspense, pull at my heart strings, and make me hope for humanity all at the same time.
I was so enthralled with the story, the struggles of Ellie going against her Southern Family and friends to register people to vote.
I loved the flawed characters, especially Ellie's brother Buddy.
I admit that I had to take a break when we find out about Win...I won't spoil the story, but needless to say, I had to take several breaks and get a box of tissues.
Ms Chamberlain knows how to weave the past and the present together in a seamless fashion. This book is sure to delight and make people think about the hate we have in our own hearts.

This book was sent to me on Kindle by Netgalley for review…it is historical fiction about the time I was a teenager…at times, it is horrifying, and at others, I wished the good parts would become prominent…this is not light reading…

I love historical fiction and dual time lines, so this one really spoke to me. Ellie is from the south and when she volunteers to help register blacks to vote, her family and most of the townspeople turn against her. Kayla lives in 2010 in a brand new home she and her fellow architect designed. Many strange things happen to Kayla and her daughter, and their story is woven in with Ellie’s. I appreciate NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to be an early reader in exchange for my review.

Diane Chamberlain has written another wonderful book that sticks with you long after it is done. I love the way she writes in two different character’s voices in different times and weaves them together to show how everything is related. Ellie’s story begins in 1965 as a college student who spends the summer with a group of other young people, helping inform African Americans the value of registering to vote. But being in North Carolina, she is met with resistance from family and friends. The summer changes her life forever in many ways. In present times, Kayla, a widow with a young daughter, is an architect who designed her new home with her husband who died in an accident on the property.
After Kayla and her daughter move into their new home, strange things begin happening around the property and she wonders if they should move. As the book unfolds, we see how Ellie and Kayla’s lives intertwine and how things that happened in the Summer of 1965 has repercussions even today. This is another Diane Chamberlain book not to miss.

I enjoyed this book. It had a few twists and turns. It was a quick, easy read. This was the first book I have read by this author.

In the Last House on the Street, Diane Chamberlain takes us back to 1965 in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement. Ellie finds her purpose fighting for the equal voting rights of the Southern black population. Ellie goes against everything she has ever known of her Southern privilege, leaving her family and town with so much disappointment in her. The town turns against Ellie and her family, costing her family money and their good Southern name in the town.
Fast-Forward to 2010, Kayla and her husband's dream home is finally complete and ready to move into. Since her husband's tragic death, Kayla has debated whether or not she could move into this house. That's when the weird things begin to happen.
Diane Chamberlain flips between 2010 and 1965 with her storytelling until suddenly the parallels between the two stories is apparent. The choices one makes in the past, you forever carry with you.
Diane Chamberlain is a fabulous storyteller. The Last House on the Street will have you looking at the Civil Rights Movement in a new light, at least it did for me. Her chapters were clearly marked with the year and I found it extremely easy to go between the two different eras. I will always be on the lookout for work by Diane Chamberlain and will always recommend her work to others. Special Thanks to NetGalley, Diane Chamberlain, St. Martin's Press for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest opinion. 5 stars for me!

Great, great book! I was expecting to be disappointed after reading summaries of this new title - boy was I surprised. I actually couldn't put it down. In my opinion this is probably her best book yet! I could imagine the characters in several of the scenario's and being right there with them as well as the location of the incidents.

I'm fairly new to Diane Chamberlain, but Dream Daughter was a 5 star read for me so I was thrilled to receive a galley of her latest book.

The novel is a dual-timeline, as many seem to be these days. The 1965 timeline follows Ellie, a young college student in North Carolina, who is drawn to work with the group SCOPE (Summer Community Organization and Political Education project), to help convince black residents to register to vote, prior to LBJ signing the Voting Rights Act..

The other half of the book is set in 2010, when Kayla Palmer moves into the neighborhood to a home that she & her husband designed & where he has died in a tragic accident. Strange things begin to happen at the house that possibly tie back to the neighborhood's past.

Without giving away any spoilers, this book really brings up a lot of emotions & the civil rights section of the book brings up a lot of social justice issues that are relevant to this day. We tend to think of people as either bigots & Klansmen or non-racist, but there is a lot of in-between. This book made me somewhat understand the actions of Southerners who were not outright racists, but who also didn't see why things needed to change.

The book was a quick read with a climactic ending.. 4.5 stars for me. I highly recommend it.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own, and not influenced by receiving this book.

In The Last House on the Street, Diane Chamberlain takes us to 1960’s North Carolina; a place and time nor ready to embrace the growing civil rights unrest. In an alternating timeline, we are in the same location 50 years later seeing how the neighborhood has changed along with our central characters.

As the story weaves back and forth, the tone and attitudes of 1960’s is captured perfectly. It was a time when what you did could spell ruin for you and your family in their community— quite a difference from today’s attitudes. Whether it was right or wrong, its reality is depicted with pitch-perfect precision.

Loved this book!

Diane Chamberlain has done it again. I was sucked into this one from the beginning and finished it in less than a day. Chamberlain is an extremely talented storyteller, weaving the past and present day storylines together seamlessly. The connection between the two timelines was established fairly early on in the book, which is a little unusual for these types of stories. Ellie was a very strong and well developed character and I found her story to be very intriguing. I feel like there was more Chamberlain could have done with Kayla; she felt a little flat and off to me. While I guessed one of the major twists, the other one threw me for a loop and left me wanting much more. I can’t wait to see what Diane Chamberlain has in store for us in the future.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Diane Chamberlain for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Diane Chamberlain does it again! She is flawless at weaving together the past and present in a way that hooks readers and keeps them engaged! I will read anything by her!

Something eerie and spooky is happening around a new house designed and built by a married couple of architects (one deceased). The story will keep you wondering until the very end. Such a great read.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book is a hard one to review. It deals with some tough issues about racism and the KKK.
The book goes back and for in time which is not my favorite.
The story itself was well written and kept my interest.
I was glad there was closure at the end.
Thank you, Net Galley, for an advance copy for an honest review.

I loved this book. Read it in one sitting. Hard topic to touch on but was so beautifully written. The characters pull you right in to their lives.
Was grateful to receive an arc of this book. Love this author she never seems to disappoint.

Thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for an early release of this book.

I was beyond happy to be sent an ARC of Diane Chamberlains new historical fiction novel, The Last House on the Street. Releases next year on January 20th, 2022. Thank you so much @diane.chamberlain.author @stmartinspress ❤️ Here’s a couple of my favorite quotes.

“I knew . . . I knew in a way I couldn’t explain even to myself . . . that I was going to be one of those white students working to register Negro voters. I knew it the way I knew my own name.”

“It’s much easier to put our heads in the sand and let someone else do the hard work, isn’t it,” he said. “But somebody has to do it. It’s the only way to bring about change. I like the way your generation has picked up the torch and run with it.”

“Do you love him?” I hesitated a moment too long. “There’s my answer,” he said, getting to his feet. When he looked down at me, his cheeks were blotched with red. “I still love you, Ellie. You know we had something good. We had the real thing for four years. The real thing isn’t always sunshine and roses and it’s not always . . . exciting or thrilling, but it’s solid. That’s the kind of thing that lasts. That’s what we had, you and me.”

Diane Chamberlain is truly a master storyteller. Her stories are always extremely well crafted and mind-consuming. Her newest novel focuses on The Civil War and the Martin Luther King Jr. movement. It was an extremely emotional story and there’s obviously a trigger warning due to violence and racism. Once I started it, I couldn’t stop and then I ugly cried in many places. Put this one on your calendars because it’ll be a must read.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this book for an honest review. Unfortunately, I only read 3% of the book. I have zero interest in reading about racial issues. If I had known this was going to be part of this book I wouldn't have bothered with it. It is not that I don't care about racial issues but it has become too political. I am tired of all of it. If I want to hear about this I can turn on any news station. I read books to escape from political subjects. I have always like books written by Diane Chamberlain and I won't hesitate to read other books she has written, in fact I encourage you to read her books as she is an excellent writer.

I think I'm going to be the odd one here in saying this book was not my cup of tea but please read the rest of my review so I can explain why.. ... I am not a fan of historical fiction in general, so that is literally the only reason that I didn't love this book.

The book itself was great it had a few different timelines and focused on racism And the KKK in the past but also bought it to the Future and how it was relevant to our current times. This book did a great job of relating the past to our current times and the storytelling was excellent.

Overall I would give this book five stars because there was absolutely nothing wrong with it other than it wasn't a genre I prefer.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.