The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain
This is a fantastic, overwhelming and inspirational book. From the first to the last page I was unable or unwilling to put it down. It is a story told by Ellie in 1965, a young white girl who falls in love with an African American man and in South Carolina in that era, this is a massive no. Racism is massive and very active, the KKK are out in force.
Then there is Kayla in 2010, a young widow with a 3 year old daughter, they have moved into a home that Kayla and her late husband designed and created, but there are people trying to stop her living there.
Kayla meets Ellie, who is in her 60’s now and it is actually really interesting, because you just don’t know what that connection is and what really happened all them years ago to make Ellie flee. There are many twists and turns and unexpectedness that had me enthralled. Many strong and powerful characters and many hateful nasty ones too.
It is a heart-breaking story and all the more devastating to read about discrimination and racism and the hatred in some parts of the world back many years ago. The depths that some people would go to and the secret hatred of an entire community and some of those same people are those closest to you.
Submitted by Stephanie
