The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain

The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out over a week (busy week)

Pages - 338

Publisher - Headline Review

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

From bestselling author Diane Chamberlain comes an irresistible new novel that perfectly interweaves history, mystery, and social justice.

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. But the trophy home in Shadow Ridge Estates, a new development in sleepy Round Hill, North Carolina, will always hold tragic memories. But when she is confronted by an odd, older woman telling her not to move in, she almost agrees. It's clear this woman has some kind of connection to the area...and a connection to Kayla herself. Kayla's elderly new neighbor, Ellie Hockley, is more welcoming, but it's clear she, too, has secrets that stretch back almost fifty years. 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.


My Review

Kayla 2010 (presentish day) is who you see if you want to build/add to your dream home. Kayla is only just back at work after a devastating loss. When a client comes in that gives her the fear, acting weird and being threatening without directly threatening, it is just weird. Then we have Ellie and the time jumps to 1965, Ellie is starting to realise how important black people's rights are and gets fully involved much to her families horror. Ellie witnesses some horrific racism, prejudice, hate and violence around and directed toward her.

You wonder what the two timelines and characters could have in connection and both are separate storys, when I went chapter to chapter I wanted to go back to the other, see what was happening. The story is evocative, emotive, shocking, horrific, heartbreaking and deals with many themes, racism, violence, family, friendships, secrets, love, loss. Whilst this is a fictional story you only need to look at history and even now, 2022, some places are still very racist, killings and horror done because of skin colour. It is heartbreaking. I love a book that gets the emotions going and Chamberlain does that, it had been a while since I read her and I need to dig my older books out the pile. Fab read but get the tissues ready and munchies to eat your feelings as I got all kinds of emotions reading this. 4/5 for us.

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Reflection by Diane Chamberlain

Reflection by Diane Chamberlain
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - Over 4 days

Pages - 368

Publisher - Harper Collins

Source - The Works

Blurb from Goodreads

The author of Brass Ring and Fire and Rain delivers an edge-of-your-seat story filled with secrets, surprises, and psychological suspense. Returning to the small Pennsylvania Dutch town of Reflection, Rachel Huber must confront the tragedy that caused her to leave twenty years before."One of the premier writers of contemporary fiction." -- "Romantic Times" Diane Chamberlain's background as a psychotherapist and clinical social worker is evident in her psychologically complex characters.Will appeal to fans of the novels of Anne Rivers Siddons, Barbara Delinsky, and Rosamunde Pilcher.


My Review

Rachel Huber is back in Reflection, the small town she left decades ago under a cloud of hate, shame and distrust. When her gran Helen has an accident Rachel goes back without a second thought, so many years have passed, she needs to reconnect with her gran and face her past. As Helen's health recovers and they get to know each other, Rachel finds the town still shuns and blames her for what happened. Rachel confronts her past,finds that she isn't the only one with secrets, the past never stays in the past and old feelings have never really gone away.

I do enjoy a small town drama, we know something bad happened but it is hinted at and teased out. The focus centres on Helen and Rachel, the family estranged and now brought together when both need it most. Rachel's oldest friend Michael is now a religious man and the heart of the village, his followers are torn between their loyalty and his friendship with Rachel, her past and their seeming closeness.

Weaved with so many issues, family secrets, PTSD, religion, infidelity, love, lies, death and small town grudges it engages the reader quickly. As we flip from present day and dip into the past, the story gives us insight into the characters and what shapes them into who they are, what they have endured and what is still to come. 3.5 out of 5 for me this time, I do enjoy Chamerlain, I have read her before and I will read her again.

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November Pre-loved giveaway - Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain

This months giveaway is Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain. You can find my review here http://www.alwaysreading.net/2013/10/review-necessary-lies-by-diane.html
This book is in great condition, the spine is completely in tact, there is a buy one get one half price, Waterstones sticker, very light indents to the cover and otherwise perfect.
As always please enter the giveaway by filling in the form below, any issues please contact me asap.
Otherwise please fill in the form below as per and good luck. a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Review - Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain

Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to rad - 3 days

Publisher - PAN

Pages - 335

Blurb from Goodreads

North Carolina, 1960. Newlywed Jane Forrester, fresh out of university, is seeking what most other women have shunned: a career. But life as a social worker is far from what she expected. Out amongst the rural Tobacco fields of Grace County, Jane encounters a world of extreme poverty that is far removed from the middle-class life she has grown up with. But worse is still to come. Working with the Hart family and their fifteen-year-old daughter Ivy, it’s not long before Jane uncovers a shocking secret, and is thrust into a moral dilemma that puts her career on the line, threatens to dissolve her marriage, and ultimately, determines the fate of Ivy and her family forever. Soon Jane is forced to take drastic action, and before long, there is no turning back.


My review

The book starts in present day, well 2011, and gives a brief cover on an event and then takes us back to 1960, North Carolina in America. Jane Forrester is a new wife, new graduate and looking to have a career. An anomaly for her time but desperate to have a career and help people she gets a job as a social worker. Jane is rich, married to a doctor and wants for nothing, her clients are struggling to survive, need help but are proud people. Jane finds herself drawn to one family in particular in a small rural community. Jane needs to keep to what is best for the community, the people and keep her personal feelings at bay or risk more than her job.

Aw this is a great story with sad and very real issues that were a "normal" part of society for the poorer people and how they where exploited. Forced sterilizations, women seen as outcasts for wanting something more than a baby, racism, in these days you take so much for granted and often forget the horrors inflicted upon previous generations.

The book focuses on relationships between the rich and the poor, societal attitudes, the love between families and how a look at human nature and just how good and bad it can be. The story is mostly told from the view point of Ivy, 15 years old and one of Jane's new clients, poor and limited education. The other is told from Jane's, both are from first person narrative and skillfully shows the stark differences between the world they inhibit.

I found it hard to put down and was really drawn in to the tale from the first few pages. Ivy is a great wee character and my heart went out to her for trying to take so much on her shoulders. Jane is a likable character but she annoyed me at times with some of her actions and even her docile attitude in regards to her husband at times. That said it reflects well the way a woman lived and was expected to live in the 1960s. It is a thought provoking book and certainly makes you think about society back when, if you didn't fit into what was deemed acceptable you could loose so much. At the end there is an authors note with some of the reading she undertook whilst preparing and writing this book, I aim to read some of them too as it is such a shocking and interesting subject. The chapters are named so you know who is talking, although they are so distinctive you would know without it and they are fairly short so you can dip in and out. Overall I really liked it so 4/5 for me this time. I of course will read this author again, I really enjoy her writing style and have read her before.

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Review - The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain

The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Publisher - Harlequin Mira

Blurb from Goodreads

"I don't know how to tell you what I did."

Would you read a letter never meant to be opened? Would you want to know secrets never meant to be told? Or should a woman's mistakes stay buried?

An unfinished letter was hidden among Tara and Emerson's best friend's things after her suicide. Noelle was the woman they entrusted to deliver their precious babies into the world, a beloved friend. Her suicide shocked them both. But her legacy could destroy them.

For her letter reveals a terrible secret that challenges everything they thought they knew. Taking them on a journey that will irrevocably change their own lives - and the life of a desperate stranger - forever.


My Review

Imagine your best friend had killed herself, the kindest and most helpful person in your wee town and out of the blue she kills herself. Now imagine you and your other best friend trying to go through her stuff and piece it all together. This is what happens with Tara and Emerson after Noelle commits suicide. A midwife who helped many and ran loads of programmes to help others and for no known reason has left them. As they start to go through her belongings they discover secrets that show they didn't know their friend at all and some secrets that will rip their world apart.

Oh.My.God I loved this story and had life and work not got in the way I would have got through it in one sitting. The story goes chapter to chapter from each of the girls and from the present to the past. Each chapter is named on who the view point is from (it is all done in first person narrative) and the past is dated so you can follow it easily. A few times I felt I knew exactly where the story was going and then Chamberlain would pull something else out of the bag and turn it on its head. The twist at the end I did not see coming and gasped!

This book has had some slated reviews which I actually don't understand as it is well written, engaging from the start and covers a lot of bases. Some parts of the story some people may find a bit "aye right" but overall it is very well done and I bought into it all. The characters are quite different and each has something you will like or hate. It is books like this that prompt me to go off and snap up all of the authors work and race through them. I thought it was a great read although some parts of it may be a bit upsetting as one of the characters is a midwife and as much as they bring and experience joy there are some sad moments in their career. This was a blinder for me, I loved it so 5/5 for me.

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The Bay At Midnight by Diane Chamberlain

The Bay at Midnight by Diane Chamberlain
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time Taken To Read - 4 days

Publisher - Mira

Blurb From Goodreads

Her family's cottage on the New Jersey shore was a place of freedom and innocence for Julie Bauer--until her seventeen-year-old sister, Isabel, was murdered. It's been more than forty years since that August night, but Julie's memories of her sister's death still shape her world. Now someone from her past is raising questions about what really happened that night. About Julie's own complicity. About a devastating secret her mother kept from them all. About the person who went to prison for Izzy's murder--and the person who didn't.

Faced with questions and armed with few answers, Julie must gather the courage to revisit her past and untangle the complex emotions that led to one unspeakable act of violence on the bay at midnight.



My Review

The story starts in present day with Julie, a very successful author, getting a blast from the past. It stirs up a lot of buried emotions about her sisters death in 1962 and starts a new police investigation into her sisters murder. The story goes between Julie, her mum Maria and her sister Lucy, it jumps between present day and back into the past, mostly the summer of 1962.

Julie states very early on it was partly her fault what happened to her sister but apart from knowing she was killed, we don't know the particulars of what happened. The story slowly unravels and the mysteries unveiled as more details come out. Julie has a few issues to deal with in the present day, her daughter is being distant and difficult, she has mixed feelings about someone from her past and she is suffering from writers block. The story covers all of this but the main focus is the sisters death and will it all come out who was responsible for her death.

The story is a bit slow paced for me as there is so many issues to be dealt with and I was purely focused on the how and why of Julies sisters death. The up to date issues where interesting however I did find Julies daughter to be rather tedious. She went from seemingly fairly grownup and knowing what she wanted to acting very childlike which, I felt, was inconsistent with her character throughout. However some people have stated they felt this added to the realistic nature of a 17 year old.

Overall it was a good read, I didn't love it but I did enjoy it. The chapters are fairly short so you can dip in and out as much as you like, which I always love, and the writing flows making it easy to follow. I do enjoy this authors style and will be tracking down her other books although this is a 3/5 for me this time.

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Keeper Of The Light by Diane Chamberlain

Keeper of the Light. Diane Chamberlain by Diane Chamberlain
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Time Taken To Read - 1 day

Blurb From Amazon

As your husband grieves his mistress, You find yourself falling for the family she left behind. But she hid secrets that will destroy him...or you. Do you tell? I m going to die as punishment for all the bad things I ve done... You are on duty in the emergency room when, despite your desperate effort, the victim of a gunshot wound loses her life. She is Annie O Neill. The same woman your husband is in love with... Olivia can't watch any longer as her husband - the father of her unborn child - grieves his adulteress. She can t bear the faces who judge her professionalism and brand her guilty. She can let it drive her mad, or compete with the wake of perfection Annie has left behind. Stepping into Annie s shoes, Olivia finds another life. One with an adoring husband and troubled young daughter. But the façade is cracking with every step she takes. Because Annie s life was built on secrets...ones that will destroy everyone she left behind.


My Review

From reading the blurb on the back I knew I had to get this book. Imagine being an a&e doctor in a small town when a gunshot victim comes in. You have to make some risky and quick decisions and then you realize this is the lady who has come between you and your husband, her life is in your hands. When Olivias husband hears of his other womans death he can't take it and leaves his wife, utterly distraught and heartbroken. Olivia wants him back and sets about finding out what is so special about the woman who ruined her marriage. Her journey finds secrets that could tear lives apart, she learns new insights about herself and makes new friends and enemies along the way.

I went through the motions with this book, I went from liking Olivia to thinking she was pathetic and acting like a door mat. The more you get into the story the more you uncover about the characters and why they have behaved as they did. There is a lot of concealed back story that doesn't come out immediately but is tantalizingly revealed as the story unfolds.

The characters are very well done and one or two tends to stay with you. The story flips from present day to the past to clarify some of the story but it is done in a way that is very easy to follow. There is some sex scenes in the book but nothing too over the top and it is relevant to the part of the story and to emphasize the relationship and feelings. I thought this was a fantastic read and have already gotten some more from the same author, 5/5 for me.

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