Search Results for: diane chamberlain

The Last House on the Street

January 11, 2022 by Nancy

I’ve read a handful of Diane Chamberlain books, and every time, she’s knocked it out of the park. The Last House on the Street continues that streak, tackling themes of racism, grief, and family.

Kayla Carter is grieving over the loss of her husband while their gorgeous new home was being built. She and her young daughter have been staying with her father, but he’s ready to downsize and it’s time for them to move into the house. But Kayla has trepidations about the house that’s surrounded by trees, with its large and abundant windows, the creepy lake on the property, and of course the memory of Jackson’s death.

When a strange woman shows up at her office, knowing details about her life and threatening to kill someone, Kayla becomes even more anxious about the move.

In 1965, Ellie Hockley becomes involved in the Civil Rights movement. As a white southerner, her presence in a group working to help the poor Black people register to vote is dangerous, and her family is dead set against it. When she becomes drawn to one of the Black volunteers, both of their lives are in jeopardy, as the Klan is alive and well in their rural North Carolina county.

The Last House on the Street is a dual POV novel, switching between Ellie mostly in the past and Kayla in the present, but Ellie also turns up in Kayla’s life, as she’s returned home to care for her ailing mother and brother in their family home, down the street from Kayla’s new home. Kayla is intrigued by the older woman, her past relationship with Kayla’s father, and how she may fit in to what’s been going on with Kayla’s new house.

Each chapter is fairly short, and keeps you invested in what’s going on. I found the chapters in the past were more interesting and action-packed as tension due to the racial issues is palpable. Ellie quickly goes from a naïve young woman to someone with a passion for helping others, regardless of what her family and friends think.

The conclusion is powerful and surprising (though I did figure out one or two of the revelations), and definitely a satisfying one, and I recommend The Last House on the Street.

Pretending to Dance

November 15, 2015 by Nancy

I’ve greatly enjoyed the books I’ve reviewed by Diane Chamberlain — The Silent Sister was one of my favorite books I read last year — so when Macmillan Audio sent me a copy of Pretending to Dance, I knew it would go into the rotation.

Molly and her husband Aiden are in the process of applying to adopt a baby. After losing a pregnancy at 20 weeks, rendering her unable to have children naturally, they turned to adoption. During the home interview, questions about their families come up, and Molly begins to worry that lies she told Aiden about her past would come out, destroying both her marriage and their chance to adopt.

Flashback to Molly at age 14. Her father, Graham, is immobile in a wheelchair due to Multiple Sclerosis, but Molly believes he still lives a relatively happy and pain-free life. She enjoys working with him, typing his notes and pages for his books about “pretend” therapy, on their family land in rural North Carolina. All of Graham’s family live on the land — his mother, brother and sister and their families, and Amalia, who is Molly’s birth mother. When the family, including Graham’s partners at his therapy practice, begin having family meetings, Molly is more than happy to skip them, in favor of spending time with her friend Stacey, the only one of her friends around that summer.

It’s clear to the reader that the family meetings are about more than just Graham’s brother wanting to sell off parts of the land, but Molly is so wrapped up in her own life that she has no clue. Stacey is trouble — her mother doesn’t really care what she does — and gets Molly involved with older boys and drugs. Molly also begins questioning Amalia’s presence in their lives, pulling out pieces of the story from her father, who encourages her to talk to Nora, the mother who raised her.

Pretending to Dance mostly takes place during that summer of Molly’s 14th year, with the occasional flashback to the present and Molly and Aiden’s journey to adoption. The only family member Molly is in touch with is her cousin, who gives her updates via email on Amalia as she begins experiencing health issues. Molly must decide if she can tell Aiden the truth about what happened during that fateful summer, and find it in her heart to forgive Nora for an unspeakable act that occurred so long ago.

At times Pretending to Dance felt more like a YA novel, with teen angst, young love, and the dumb mistakes that come along with them. But Chamberlain has a way of weaving together an intricate plot with sympathetic characters that kept me listening.

Notes on the audiobook: Pretending to Dance is read by Susan Bennett, who also read The Silent Sister. I enjoy listening to her reading a story and never find my mind wandering.

The Silent Sister

November 13, 2014 by Nancy

Macmillan Audio often sends me audio books they think I’ll like — sometimes they’re right, sometimes they’re not. But when I received Diane Chamberlain‘s latest novel, The Silent Sister, they were definitely right. This was the fourth book by Chamberlain that I read and reviewed, and I think it’s my favorite so far. She has a way of creating these wonderfully intricate and compelling stories that often don’t work themselves out fully until the novel’s completion. It’s pretty telling that I gave all four books 4 stars on Goodreads.

Riley MacPherson has the daunting task of cleaning out her father’s house and belongings after his death. Having recently broken up with her boyfriend who was clearly never going to leave his wife, and with the summer off thanks to her job as a middle school counselor, Riley moves into his house and enlists the aid of Jeanne Lyons, her mother’s close friend, to get the house ready to sell. While going through her father’s papers, she discovers that her sister, Lisa, did not commit suicide as Riley’s always been told, but faked her death to avoid standing trial for the murder of Lisa’s violin teacher.

Having lost her mother to cancer years earlier, and with her brother Danny distant and suffering from PTSD after a tour in Iraq, Riley is desperate for a family connection and digs into Lisa’s disappearance. She finds a lot of unanswered questions along the way — why did her father leave his valuable pipe collection to Tom and Verneese Kyle, an older couple that he didn’t even like? Why is Verneese insisting that Riley was adopted? And if Lisa really did fake her death, why has she never reached out to Riley?

Lisa’s story is also told, starting from the day she fakes her suicide, following her as she finds a place to live in San Diego, gets a job, and decides to go to college. Exiled from her family and fearing capture daily, she also greatly misses playing the violin, but finds comfort in a woman named Celia.

The Silent Sister is a page-turner that’s full of suspense and twists, some more easily guessed than others. The emotional turmoil that Riley suffers is painful to read as she discovers more and more lies intended to protect her. Lisa goes from fearing for her life to realizing she can have a future, telling only Celia the truth about what happened with her teacher.

Notes on the audiobook: Susan Bennett does an excellent job reading this novel. She is enjoyable to listen to and had me finding excuses to continue listening. I never found myself drifting, which is always a possibility with audio books.

Breaking the Silence

September 9, 2014 by Nancy

I have a tendency to procrastinate, and reviews without hard deadlines are usually the victims of this habit. So when I write up a book within hours of finishing it that’s a pretty good sign I really liked the book. I finished Diane Chamberlain’s Breaking the Silence just about 2 hours ago, and the only reason I didn’t sit down and write it up right then is I was sitting in my car, waiting for soccer practice to end, and then had to feed the kids. Pesky life getting in the way.

Laura Brandon is woken in the middle of the night by a phone call that her father, who has been ill, is not going to live much longer. She gets to the hospital in time for him to tell her to take care of a woman named Sarah Tolley, someone Laura has never heard of. Against her husband Ray’s wishes, Laura goes to see Sarah, an elderly woman in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, who has no idea who Laura’s father is or how she should know him. When Laura returns home, she finds her 5 year old daughter, Emma, screaming uncontrollably, and Ray dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Several months later, Emma still has not spoken a word to anyone, even Laura. While the trauma of Ray’s suicide is clearly the cause, it’s unusual for a selectively mute child to not even speak to loved ones, and Laura is at a loss as to how to help her. At Emma’s therapist’s advice, Laura seeks out Dylan Gear, a one-night stand from 6 years earlier who is Emma’s birth father. Dylan has his own demons to battle but agrees to meet Emma and finds he relishes the thought of having a daughter, something he never thought possible.

Laura continues to visit Sarah, taking her on walks and listening to her talk about how she met her husband, Joe, her life as a psychiatric nurse in a hospital performing research on the unwitting patients, and how she lost Joe and her own daughter, Janie. Meanwhile, Laura receives anonymous letters warning her to stay away from Sarah. And as Laura and Dylan bond over their shared worry for Emma, they grow closer to each other.

While I listened to the audio version of this book, had I read the print version, this is one I would have stayed up late reading. I found excuses to listen whenever I could. The characters are real and riveting, and as Laura tries to break both Emma’s silence and through Sarah’s barriers of Alzheimer’s, the story unfolds in a way that keeps you coming back for more. While I’m growing tired of past-and-present type novels, the way the two stories are woven together is very well done, keeping me guessing as to how Sarah and Laura are connected.

Notes on the audiobook: The narrator of Breaking the Silence speaks in a soft voice, almost a whisper, which at times made it hard to focus on the story. But as it got further in the writing was more than enough to keep me interested. While the mass market paperback was released in 1999, it was reprinted in 2009, and Tantor Audio now has released it on audiobook. You can listen to a sample on their site.

Safe With Me

April 24, 2014 by Nancy

Hannah’s — and any mother’s — worst nightmare comes true when her vivacious 12-year-old daughter, Emily, is hit by a car while riding her bike. When Hannah learns her daughter will not survive once taken off life support, she must make the heart-wrenching decision to donate Emily’s organs in order to save the lives of several ill children.

Olivia’s only saving grace in her abusive marriage is her daughter, Maddie, who is suffering from a form of hepatitis and needs a new liver. Their prayers are answered when one becomes available and Maddie begins to heal.

One year later, Hannah has moved out of the house she shared with Emily and has poured her heart and soul into opening a second beauty salon with her business partner, Sophie. When Olivia and Maddie walk into her salon to get Maddie a cut and color, the three hit it off immediately. But while chatting with Maddie, Hannah learns she had a liver transplant, and though she suspects Maddie received Emily’s liver, she keeps her suspicion to herself.

Safe With Me rotates between Hannah and Olivia in third person and Maddie in first person, which is an interesting shift in perspective. Maddie is smart and funny but spends too much time online due to her illness, Olivia is stuck in a marriage she is afraid to leave, and Hannah uses the renovation of her salon as an excuse to avoid dealing with her grief. But as the 3 women get to know each other the tie between them helps each one to move on with their lives.

This is my second book by Amy Hatvany (see links at the end of the post to mine and Jennifer’s reviews of her other novels) and she’s quickly become one of my favorite authors, reminiscent of Kristin Hannah and Diane Chamberlain. Her characters and situations are heartbreakingly real and she writes beautifully with realistic dialog.

Notes on the audiobook: I enjoyed all three narrators, and am always impressed when an adult is able to realistically portray a child, in this case, teenage Maddie. The difference voices for each main character works well and makes it easier to distinguish between the three.

You can hear a sample at Simon and Schuster’s audio page.

Necessary Lies

October 8, 2013 by Nancy

One issue facing women in the US today is related to reproductive rights – the ability for women to decide what to do with their own bodies. This is not a new issue for women, and I was shocked to learn that not too long ago, states reserved the right to sterilize women, often against their will. These women were almost always poor, black, or both, their fates decided by social workers and a board made up of privileged men. In Necessary Lies, Diane Chamberlain explores the eugenics program, practiced in many states but continued in North Carolina until the early 70s.

Jane Forrester is newly married to a pediatrician, and while married well-off women didn’t usually work in the 1960s, especially in the south, she is hired as a social worker in Grace County, North Carolina, an area comprised of tobacco farms and country roads. Her husband disapproves of her working at all, let alone with the poor and uneducated, preferring her to join the Junior League and spend her time with the other country club wives. Jane is still grieving the death of her father and younger sister in a car accident a few years earlier, and her supervisor wonders if she’s too tender-hearted for the job.

One family Jane meets during her orientation is the Harts, a poor family living on a tobacco farm. 15-year-old Ivy Hart bears the responsibility of taking care of her family — older sister Mary Ella, who is beautiful but feeble minded, Mary Ella’s 2 year old son Baby William, who also shows signs of mental retardation and doesn’t receive the supervision he requires, and grandmother Nonnie, who has raised the girls as well as she can after they have lost both of their parents but has a sweet tooth that she can’t curb, ignoring her diabetes.

Mary Ella bears a striking resemblance to the sister Jane has lost and she has difficulty keeping her emotions out of her job. She’s horrified to learn of the eugenics program and the Department of Welfare’s intention to sterilize Ivy with Nonnie’s permission, but her hands are tied and must file the petition herself. As Jane gets more involved in Ivy’s situation, she grows further apart from her new husband and becomes in danger of losing her job. Jane ignores those who call her “high and mighty” and sticks to her decision to tell the truth, and must live with the repercussions of that decision.

With the story’s narration switching between Jane and Ivy, the reader gets a full understanding of their fears and motivations. Secondary characters are not as multi-dimensional, which is to be expected when it’s not their story being told, yet through Jane’s and Ivy’s own observations and discussions with others, they do not fall flat either.

Notes on the audiobook: Necessary Lies audiobook alternates between Ivy and Jane, and the narrator does a convincing job of voicing both backwoods Ivy and city girl Jane. As I’ve mentioned one of my favorite things about audiobooks is they often include interviews with the author that do not appear in the print copy, and I especially enjoyed hearing Diane Chamberlain’s interview. She discusses her own past career as a social worker, her research into the eugenics program and life on a tobacco farm, and her first foray into historical fiction.