In 1965, Ellie is the twenty year old white daughter of a prominent pharmacist in her small North Carolina town. When mysterious people and occurrences seem determined to keep her away, she starts searching for answers. She has reservations about moving into the house where her husband died, but she also feels obligated to fulfill their dream. Her and her husband were architects building their dream home when he died while working on their house. In The Last House on the Street we meet Kayla, a recently widowed mother of one. I always learn something new when I pick up one of her books. What I enjoy most about Chamberlain’s books are how they’re always rooted in historical facts. And while the three novels I’ve read by Chamberlain all tend to have some kind of mystery, this is the first one I’ve read that takes a darker and creepier tone. This dual point of view novel flips between Ellie in 1965 and Kayla in 2010.

My thoughtsĭiane Chamberlain’s latest novel is a historical fiction set in the deep south during the mid 1960s as the civil rights movement is growing, and it felt even more fitting that I finished it on the day we observe Dr. Is Ellie on a quest to right the wrongs of the past? And does the house at the end of the street hold the key? Told in dual time periods, The Last House on the Street is a novel of shocking prejudice and violence, forbidden love, the search for justice, and the tangled vines of two families.

Kayla’s elderly new neighbor, Ellie Hockley, is more welcoming, but it’s clear she, too, has secrets that stretch back almost fifty years. It’s clear this woman has some kind of connection to the area…and a connection to Kayla herself. But when she is confronted by an odd, older woman telling her not to move in, she almost agrees. But the trophy home in Shadow Ridge Estates, a new development in sleepy Round Hill, North Carolina, will always hold tragic memories. When Kayla Carter’s husband dies in an accident while building their dream house, she knows she has to stay strong for their four-year-old daughter. From bestselling author Diane Chamberlain comes an irresistible new novel that perfectly interweaves history, mystery, and social justice.

The last house on the street review