Diane Chamberlain is an author I might have never discovered if it hadn’t been for NetGalley. As popular and prolific as she is, her books never made it on my radar. That all changed when I read an advanced copy of The Last House on the Street and was hooked from start to finish. I soon learned that many of my bookish friends count her as a favorite author and now, I do too.
Chamberlain has written dozens of bestsellers. So far, I’ve only read four. (I will keep reading more!) I’ve loved every one of them, amazed at their uniqueness and thought-provoking, compelling stories. They often deal with hot button topics and have their share of “trigger warnings,” but they are relatively clean and written with incredible skill.
Despite very distinct stories, the books I’ve read share a few things in common: A North Carolina setting, a dual timeline, and racism in the American South. But that is where the similarities end.
Today I swept through Big Lies in a Small Town. 400+ pages of momentum, tension, and mystery that I could not stop reading. This novel centers around a mural being painted in 1940 and restored in 2018 by two different women, each grappling with challenges and obstacles imposed upon them by people, history, and deadlines. As in other Chamberlain books, the stories have a brief but crucial overlap that brings everything into focus by the end.
I will link to the reviews I’ve written on other novels by Diane Chamberlain. They always leave me breathless! I hope this little endorsement will encourage some of my followers to read her books!
The Last House on the Street (2022)
The Escape Artist (1998) (whoop!) I neglected to write a review of this one, but I still recommend it highly! One of Chamberlain’s earlier books, this one has a single timeline but is still written in her signature style with a story that demands attention and a wild ending!
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