THE LAST HOUSE ON THE STREET by Diane Chamberlain

 

A community’s past sins rise to the surface in New York Times bestselling author Diane Chamberlain’s The Last House on the Street when two women, a generation apart, find themselves bound by tragedy and an unsolved, decades-old mystery.

1965

Growing up in the well-to-do town of Round Hill, North Carolina, Ellie Hockley was raised to be a certain type of proper Southern lady. Enrolled in college and all but engaged to a bank manager, Ellie isn’t as committed to her expected future as her family believes. She’s chosen to spend her summer break as a volunteer helping to register black voters. But as Ellie follows her ideals fighting for the civil rights of the marginalized, her scandalized parents scorn her efforts, and her neighbors reveal their prejudices. And when she loses her heart to a fellow volunteer, Ellie discovers the frightening true nature of the people living in Round Hill.

2010

Architect Kayla Carter and her husband designed a beautiful house for themselves in Round Hill’s new development, Shadow Ridge Estates. It was supposed to be a home where they could raise their three-year-old daughter and grow old together. Instead, it’s the place where Kayla’s husband died in an accident—a fact known to a mysterious woman who warns Kayla against moving in. The woods and lake behind the property are reputed to be haunted, and the new home has been targeted by vandals leaving threatening notes. And Kayla’s neighbor Ellie Hockley is harboring long buried secrets about the dark history of the land where her house was built.

Two women. Two stories. Both on a collision course with the truth--no matter what that truth may bring to light--in Diane Chamberlain's riveting, powerful novel about the search for justice.

MY THOUGHTS

I've read several books by this author and loved each one. This one is no exception. It's another great one. A very sad book though. A though subject to read about too. So much has changed yet nothing has changed over the years. To much prejudice back then and too much now. Voter suppression then and it still exists today. What happened to black people back in the early to mid sixties was horrible. It is still horrible. All the killings and prejudice. All the things that happened then and a lot of what still happens today. This really needs to change. 

This is the story of two women and two time periods. How their lives will intersect. What happened back in 1965 and what is happening now in 2010. Two women of different ages. Different backgrounds but both white women. Both who have empathy for their fellow human beings. Both with lives and loves. Both lost someone so important to them. A story of the horrors of the KKK. The bigots of the south. How one woman tried to make a change and what happened to her. How a town can hide so many secrets and be so cold blooded. And so so many lies. So many lies from a family who claim to love each other. 

This book will make your skin crawl. Make you cringe. Make you weep and feel pain like you never thought you would. Things that happened in the sixties and even what happened to Karla in 2010. The extreme someone will go to just to hide the truth. To keep things buried. To keep answers from being revealed. I was both shocked and horrified at what a person with so much hate is capable of doing. And these things really happened back then and even now. How dare a person of color think they are equal or worthy or can possibly have a relationship with a white woman. What a town will do to keep things from moving forward. So sad.

This book is full of deep feelings that will keep you turning the pages. Secrets you will want revealed. You will want to know what happened and why. Who did what. Sometimes things are not as they seem. Sometimes you just can not trust people to do the right thing. Or to be honest. So many lies that tear families apart. Tear communities apart. It's just sad.

Thank you to #NetGalley, #DianeChamberlain, #StMartinsPress for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

5/5 stars and I consider it a job well done. I highly recommend this book. Have a few kleenex handy while reading this one.