In this book, we get a dual timeline view. One of the timelines in Kayla, who was working on building her dream house with her husband, hoping to build a perfect life with their daughter. Then, her husband dies and Kayla is struggling with the choice to live in the house they designed together. She meets an elderly neighbor who creeps her out, and she's wrestling with lots of bad memories about designing the house. In the other timeline, we are confronted with the 1960s and issues of race and class. White college students are joining together, against the wishes of their parents in some cases, to help ensure that young black people are able to vote. They are taken in by black families and canvass the neighborhoods, and it's an eye-opening experience.

The dual timelines were each emotional and attention-grabbing in their own right. The emotional and gripping modern timeline kept me guessing. The flashback timeline resonated with me. We still struggle with those same issues today with voter suppression and inequality. One would think there would have been much more progress, but this book illustrates that we aren't the modern and evolved people we think.

Told through the lens of human emotions and experiences, the writing was lovely. It was emotionally driven for the most part but didn't feel overdone or excessive. I felt like I got to know these characters as people, fully fleshed out and clear. I'd recommend this book if you like a thought-provoking read. It will make you rethink your actions and what you can be doing to improve the world around you.

The narration was ok, but I did feel like I would have liked a bit of a more dynamic vocal performance. The voice was lovely and soothing, but there were a few times that I realized that I hadn't a clue what I'd heard over the last few moments, because of the even, steady tone of the reader. It certainly isn't an audiobook you could listen to in the evening unless you're attempting to fall asleep. I'm not a fan of audiobooks as I'm falling asleep, because then I have to keep going back to find the last part I remember, which is tougher with an audiobook than a paper book. Perhaps additional music or effects would help.

This book is a historical fiction. This is also my first Diane Chamberlain, but will not be my last. The story encompasses issues that are relevant in today’s society. I had never heard of the SCOPE project and was glad that it was brought to my attention. I will be finding another rabbit hole to go down to broaden my information. This story was definitely hard hitting, I feel angry at the racial injustices that were present back in the 1960’s and unfortunately still appear to be relevant in 2021. I will definitely be recommending this book!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced audio copy. The thoughts/opinions are strictly my own.

This book was amazing, only made better by the narration itself. I like one storyline better than the other, I found that it moved smoother and had a better pace. The narration was the best I've ever heard. I applaud the amazing work of Susan Bennett.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the early digital copy in exchange for an honest review!

I didn't read the synopsis to this book when I requested it on NetGalley because Diane Chamberlain is easily one of my favorite authors, even though I've only read one other book by her. Big Lies in a Small Town is an all-time favorite book, so I had to pick up her newest one.

Even though this didn't leave as big of an impact on me, I'd still consider this an impactful read. You follow Ellie as a young girl in 1965, in a town chock full of racism and oppression. She signs up for a program called SCOPE where she helps the black community register to vote. This is during the time that LBJ was preparing to sign the Voting Rights Act. This was my favorite timeline in the story. It was pretty much the heart of the whole book. The other half of the novel is set in 2010. It followed Kayla, an architect and recent widow, and her daughter Rainie. She and her husband planned to move into their newly built house before he died. The residents of the neighborhood all warn her not to live there.

I think this book had so much potential, but there was something that didn’t quite click with me. It felt so much longer than it needed to be, and I didn’t think the characters were developed as well as the other book I read by Chamberlain. It, unfortunately, felt redundant in an odd way. I don’t know how to describe it. However, I still enjoyed it, and I will continue to read Chamberlain’s novels. It’s still a four-star read, and I’d recommend it to those who are interested!

There are many triggers in this book, including racism, murder, and abuse. I think you can expect all of that from a book that takes place in 1965.

I’m not sure why, but the audiobook was very echoey. I don’t think I would struggle as much if it wasn’t like that. Other than that, I didn’t have any issues with the narrator. I think if you want to listen to the audiobook anywhere else, I would recommend it. It seems like an easy one to listen to in the car and on-the-go.

This started off really slow for me. But there was something about it that kept me hooked. The end was absolutely incredible. I sobbed.

4.5 ⭐️ Rounded to 5
This is my first book from this author. I was given an opportunity from NetGalley and the publishers to listen to an advanced copy in early December. Happy Publication Month!

I always enjoy dual timelines… This one and 2010 and 1965. I found myself more interested in the 1965 story, mainly because I learned something about a real project in history (SCOPE) I knew nothing about. Both fascinating and tragic, frightening and haunted. I was intrigued from the get go!

1965 is a love story filled with secrets and mystery, race and ugliness…2010 is filled with sad memories yet enthusiasm for a bright future. The combination was just right for me.

This was a tough read / listen for me. This one will stick with me for a long time. But all the love. Very powerful. The writing is excellent - this was my first Diane Chamberlain book, but definitely won't be my last. I listened to the audiobook version and the narration was excellent and really helped bring to life the raw emotion experienced by the main characters (and the reader). This one is a dual-timeline narrative set in North Carolina with the main historical focus on the Civil Rights era and the heroic work done by young people in the South towards passing the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Our history is ugly, and it's hard to face it, especially when it often seems like we haven't really come that far and there are still far too many with the same bigoted views today as there were in the 1960s. It was a tough read. And a timely read, considering Congress is currently in a battle today over expanding the Voting Rights Act. I'd highly recommend this to any fan of historical fiction, political or social history of the US, or background on what people are still fighting over today - the right to vote.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publishers for the free audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you, NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to review this audio.

It was a great book. I have been reading this author for the last several years and I have really enjoyed all her titles and this one did not disappoint.

I really enjoyed the story and it was an emotional read too. Also, it had enough mystery to keep me interested and continuously listening.

Wow! This book is fantastic! A historical-fiction mystery unfolding in dual timelines with the story moving forwards and backwards. My first novel by Diane Chamberlain and I greatly enjoyed it.

Ellie is the main character in the story unfolding in 1965. Kayla is our main character in present day, 2010.

The novels unfolds as Kayla is moving into her new house after suffering the loss of her husband. Her new house that happens to be in Ellie's parents neighborhood. Ellie who's back in town after 45 years- what's kept her away? What does the last house on the street have to do with it?

The story that unfolds in 1965, Ellie's is heartbreaking, gut wrenching and also part love story. I didn't know much about SCOPE but the narration pulls you in. Told with vivid imagery and descriptions, I see this novel staying with me.

I listened to the audio version and the narration was just as good as the writing.

I enjoyed the back and forth of the time period during this book. I definitely enjoyed the past parts of the story the most. I like how the present tied into it but the past was more compelling. Overall though the book was good and would recommend it to others.

Thank you NetGalley, Diane and MacMillion Audio for the advanced audio copy of this. Unfortunately, to no fault but my own, I didn't realize this was a historical fiction novel. This isn't usually something I read on a normal basis and unfortunately couldn't get into it.

The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain is a fantastic thought-provoking listen. I was immediately pulled into this book with the two timelines. One historical with the subject of voting rights and the other is current day. I loved how the author wove them together. Having not lived in the South, I was never aware of such bigotry and hatred. Listening to the book on MLK day, issues were very relevant. I could envision so many details. Susan Bennett was fantastic with her voice conveying the right emotions. I loved the twists in this book. Thank you #NetGalley and #Macmillan Audio for letting me listen to this book. It will stick with me.

The last house on the street

By Diane Chamberlain

5 stars

This is a dual timelines book, for me, it started slow then I couldn't stop reading/ listening I had the privilege to receive both the audio and eBook of this. My First read by Diane Chamberlain and it didn't disappoint at all. This book had me in tears she writes such powerful words and what a lot of people went through back in the day in the south. Usually, when you have dual timelines, one outshines the other in this story, they're both great. I love how it tells Ellie's story and how it also incorporates Kayla, and you find out their connections. This book will make you feel every emotion.

Thank you net galley for the advanced copy.

I enjoyed this book although it was not what I had thought it would be from the synopsis. The characters were interesting and I was intrigued how their stories would eventually connect in the present time. I think the ending was satisfying and I would recommend it to a friend as an interesting read.

2010: Newly widowed Kayla Carter is preparing to move with her young daughter into the dream home she and her husband had been building when an accident claimed his life. She receives an ominous visit warning her against moving in, and a series of strange things happen on the property.

In an alternating storyline set in 1965, Eleanor Hockley learns about SCOPE, a program that will be bringing in white students from the north in an initiative to register Black voters in the days surrounding the passage of the voting rights act. Eager to participate, Eleanor is quickly faced with the realities of racism and white supremacy in her family and in her community.

I was pleased to see that Chamberlain avoided engaging in a narrative of white saviorism here: Despite Eleanor's motivations to work with SCOPE, her participation puts others at risk, and there's open conversation around the limitations of her involvement. Chamberlain openly discusses racism and white supremacy throughout this narrative, including the wide-reaching impact of the KKK in North Carolina.

Chamberlain created a historical fiction novel here that also feels at times like a thriller, and her storytelling and characterization made me care deeply about her characters. Unfortunately, while the 1960s storyline kept me engaged (and ripped my heart in two), the modern storyline fell flat for me. Kayla’s story often felt only like a way to wrap up the storylines from the past.

While I questioned early in the book whether this was Chamberlain’s story to tell, I felt like her author’s note made me better understand why she chose to tell this particular story. As a white reviewer, there are certain aspects of the representation here that I can’t comment on. While I would encourage all readers of this book to pay attention to the content warnings, I particularly encourage readers with lived experience of racial trauma to consider the content of this book before picking it up.

I switched back and forth between listening to this on audio and reading it physically, and I think that Susan Bennett did an excellent job with the narration. I was always able to follow where I was in terms of POV, and her narration made me feel engaged and invested.

Thank you to @stmartinspress for an ARC via netgalley, Macmillan Audio for an ALC, and @bookfriendsbookclub for a physical copy in their giveaway. All opinions are my own.

How can a brand new house hold such dark secrets? Kayla and husband, both architects, had designed together and were building, their dream home in a high end new subdivision in their quiet little town of Round Hill, North Carolina when her husband was tragically killed in a construction accident. Having already given up their former home, Kayla has no choice but to move in, along with her four year old daughter, even though the house already holds sad memories and the woods surrounding the property now feel dark and claustrophobic more than welcoming. Especially considering the visit she gets at work from a strange older woman who warns her not to move in.
Kayla soon meets her neighbour, Ellie Hockley, whose home used to be the only one on the street, and it becomes clear that Ellie is also harboring secrets that stretch back 50 years.
The other storyline concerns Ellie fifty years ago as a young girl and her work with the SCOPE project, which encouraged political activism and worked to protect voting rights. As prominent members of a small North Carolina town, that didn’t sit well with her family and neighbours, to say the least.
But what is the connection between Kayla and Ellie, and why does someone not want her moving into the new house? And what dark secrets about secret love, violence, prejudice, and social justice are being kept by the woods at the end of the street after all this time?

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing me with an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain is a wonderful novel that explores a lot of the negative history surrounding the racial justice and civil rights movements of the 1960s, and ties it back to present day issues and changes through a wonderful suspense novel. I loved listening to this on audio. The story was so interesting and follows a small town girl named Ellie as she navigates her world when she is forward thinking while the rest around her are not quite so much. This novel tied together themes of love, friendship, compassion, and racial justice in America alongside the immense progress that has been made from the civil rights era until now.

The narrator was engaging, the characters were interesting, and the story line was wonderfully split with a "then" and "now" perspective. It was an emotional and difficult listen at times, but I did enjoy it and by the end I felt so connected to the characters and loved the setting, storyline, the whole thing was really wonderful! I also love that this book came out very close to Martin Luther King Jr Day which is very appropriate as he does appear as a character in this novel.

5/5 stars!

I really enjoyed this story. It was a very rich and sobering plot. This story goes back in forth into the past in the 1960's in the thick of huge civil rights movement of allowing black people to vote. Ellie is a white girl from the south and feels compelled to volunteer with SCOPE to help with getting black people to register to vote. She meets a boy while in SCOPE and they fall for each other which sparks outrage in her hometown and the KKK go after him one night and is never heard from again. Elly finds herself back in her hometown to help take care of her elderly mother and dying brother. She finds herself meeting old ghosts from the past and reliving the trauma from that night. She meets her ex, Reed's daughter who husband met and unfortunate accident while remodeling the home down the street from where she grew up where the behind that house in the trees is where the KKK would meet.
Lots of series of events unfold but I don't want to give anymore away. It all leads to solving the mystery of what happened that night long ago. This book was well thought out and rich in plot. I easily got wrapped up in the story while listening to it. The narrator did a great job as well.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for gifting me with a copy.

SO grateful to have the chance to listen to this audio, especially during MLK weekend. This is my 2nd audio from the author and both have been phenomenally done. I really enjoyed the storylines of both past and present.

Diane Chamberlain’s storytelling amazes me every single time, and her engaging writing style sweeps me away immediately. I’m always hooked within the first few chapters of her books. In her latest, Kayla and Ellie are new neighbors in an up-and-coming housing development in Round Hill, North Carolina. We soon discover that they are connected in some way, and must piece the puzzle together. Through a dual timeline involving the two female characters, the author gives her readers a remarkable story full of mystery, history, tragedy, and family affairs. I appreciate Chamberlain’s willingness to take on heavy subject matter like prejudice, racism, and social justice. This seems to be a common practice in her novels, and it’s the reason why I’ll read anything she writes. She’s definitely a favorite of mine. The Last House on the Street is available now!