THE LAST HOUSE ON THE STREET: THIS FAMILY'S SECRET WON'T STAY HIDDEN FOR EVER...

2010. Kayla’s husband has died in a freak accident while building their new dream house in a new development called Shadow Ridge Estates, in a small town named Round Hill, North Carolina. Kayla is now apprehensive of moving into this home with her three year old daughter, and more so after a mysterious old woman warns her against the move. But with no other option left, Kayla has no choice but to shift. Soon, there are many events taking place that show her why she must get out of Round Hill ASAP. The only person who is somewhat welcoming to her is an elderly neighbour named Ellie Hockley, but even Ellie’s behaviour seems puzzling at times. Who wants Kayla away from “the last house on the street”, and why?The story is told in the first person perspectives of Kayla from 2010, and Ellie from 1965.The two timelines are covered mostly in alternating chapters. There's a certain amount of foreshadowing done in the contemporary narrative with respect to events in the past, but other than this link, it's like there are two stories running in parallel and one can’t see the connection between them until more than three-quarters of the book is done. This works both for and against the story.The historical timeline outshines the contemporary timeline by far. With its coverage of racial privilege, white supremacist attitudes, the extensive yet covert spread of the KKK and the brave SCOPE project initiated by Dr Martin Luther King Jr., there’s a lot of intense, thought-provoking and emotional content in Ellie’s narrative. In fact, if the contemporary story had been discarded altogether, the book would have worked brilliantly and given tough competition to Jodi Picoult’s “Small Great Things” as a book about racism. Kayla’s story is nothing but the bland bread to which the delicious stuffing of Ellie’s story is adding flavour. It was like reading two books in one, one bland and one delectable.Usually, in a dual timeline novel, both narratives belong to the same genre. As such, the reader gets a nostalgic sort of experience while reading the historical timeline and gets the explanation of the past while reading the contemporary timeline. However, in this book, the biggest flaw is that the two timelines are quite distinct in their nature. The 1965 timeline is a historical fiction for most of its journey except for a few tense events; the 2010 timeline is mostly like a psychological suspense. Each of these genres attracts a distinct kind of reader, so if you go into the book expecting a mystery-thriller, you will be as disappointed as the reader who was expecting historical fiction.Most characters in both the narratives are either clearly black or clearly white. (And I don’t mean this in terms of their skin colour.) They have either a majority of good qualities with minimal or no bad qualities, OR vice versa. As such, it is not too difficult to figure out the potential antagonists of the story. Though this is marketed as a mystery, the suspense is easy for most avid readers to figure out because of this two-dimensional portrayal of the people in the book. Of the main characters, I found Kayla the weakest in sketching. Her character isn’t given much common sense but just false bravado. This again brings down the contemporary timeline. At the same time, Ellie's character is also quite erratic at times; I liked her timeline but didn't necessarily like her.This was my second Diane Chamberlain book. My first was ‘The Midwife's Confession’, and I felt that it was great but it could have been so much more. The same feeling applies to this book. Nevertheless, I like the way Chamberlain makes me ponder while reading her works, and I am surely going to read more by her.3.5 stars, mainly because I’m a historical fiction fan and that part of the story satisfied me fairly.Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book at my request and these are my honest thoughts about it.

If you are a fan of dual timeline narratives with a rich source of history entwined, just pick out a Diana Chamberlain novel. She’s the best in creating emotional content that has a reader reading late into the night to know how the ending would turn out to be.The Last House On The Street is as her usual style a dual timeline story that has two strong protagonists. Kayla in the present time is a widow who is trying to get her feet back on solid ground after the sudden loss of her husband and Ellie in the 1960s is out to make a difference in the world irrespective of her entitled background. The past focuses on a turbulent time of history in 1960s with the backdrop of Summer Community Organization And Political Education (SCOPE) which was a project aimed at educating the Blacks to vote using door-to-door canvassing by white guys and girls.Most dual-time stories have an enriching past and a not too exciting present and this could be boosted by my love for historical fiction. The Last House On The Street, however, has a slight distinction, the past is thought-provoking and intense but Ellie as the central character failed to endear herself to me. She’s fighting her parents and friends by joining SCOPE which was fine as someone who wants to do the right thing but then all her actions came across as selfish and without thoughts of consequences to others. In effect, I loved the historical aspects of the past but somehow was not charmed by the character sketch of Ellie. I felt Kayla more relatable, even though she doesn’t leave much of an impression on a reader’s mind.The research by the author in capturing the civil rights movement of that time is excellent, no doubt about it. The ending in the past is disturbing but the final culmination scene that interconnects the two parallel stories lacked the impact that I had expected. The mystery element of the story is fairly guessable for avid readers, even otherwise, I wouldn’t advise anyone to read this expecting earth-shattering suspense.I am probably the outlier for this book, but having read a few of her other works like Big LIES IN A SMALL TOWN AND THE SECRET LIFE OF CEECEE WILKES, I am going with 3 stars for the Last House On The Street.