The Last House on the Street

By: Diane Chamberlain

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.

It’s rare when a book stays with me and haunts me. I finished this book almost a week ago and it’s still marinating in my heart. 

Stories like this should be told over and over lest we forget. I’m not a huge fan of books with a political agenda however, this book wasn’t like that at all. It merely educated as I had no clue SCOPE ever existed. 

That aside, I think I found myself more drawn to Ellie’s story than Kayla’s. Kayla’s story was more of a sub-plot to help Ellie’s story reach the very end. I had a more emotional attachment to Ellie in this story also. 

Kayla’s grief was well-written, including her not wanting to live in the house she designed with her husband. I really liked her relationship with her daughter and her dad. It was honest and open. Kayla’s intrepidations over living the new house are well-founded as she begins to receive threatening messages urging her not to move in. There’s a creepy woman who has some aggressive things to say to her also. The all over creepiness of living in a house with mostly windows and a dark forest is threaded through the book and leaves a significant chilling imprint all over Kayla’s story. 

Ellie is a beautiful character from start to finish. She broke my heart over and over again and as her life is shattered, I felt like mine shattered along with her. It’s rare for me to have such a strong reaction. Her story is one of strength, power, dignity and passion. She’s a character so real and so important that I wanted to go find her so I could sit down and have a chat. 

The subject matter is intense and should not be taken lightly, especially in this day and age when racism is still a hot topic. As a white woman, I felt uncomfortable and challenged and broken. 

I wholeheartedly recommend this book. Over and over and all day long. 

My rating – :star: :star: :star: :star: :star: