30 Best 「diane chamberlain」 Books of 2024| Books Explorer
- The Courage Tree
- Summer's Child
- The Lies We Told
- Keeper of the Light (Keeper Trilogy)
- The Midwife's Confession
- The Secret Life Of Ceecee Wilkes
- Kiss River (Keeper Trilogy)
- The Good Father
- Her Mother's Shadow (The Keeper Trilogy)
- Before the Storm
Eight-year-old Sophie Donohue just wanted to be like every other little girl. Which is why her mother, Janine, reluctantly agreed to let her go on the weekend camping trip with her Brownie troop. But when Janine arrives to pick up Sophie after the trip, her daughter is not with the others. Somehow, along the forested route from West Virginia, Sophie has disappeared.But Sophie is no ordinary eight-year-old. She suffers from a rare disease, and Janine has recently enrolled her in an experimental treatment as a last effort to save her life—despite the vehement objections of her ex-husband, Joe. Without her medication, Sophie cannot survive long. All her mother's instincts tell Janine that Sophie is alive, but time is running out.Deep in the Virginia forest, another drama unfolds. Sophie finds refuge in a remote cabin inhabited by Zoe, a woman who wants nothing to do with the child. Zoe is struggling to save her own daughter from the law, and Sophie's presence jeopardizes any chance of that happening. She is as determined to save her daughter as Janine is to save Sophie…and only one of them can succeed.
Early on the morning of her eleventh birthday, on the beach beside her North Carolina home, Daria Cato receives an unbelievable gift from the sea—an abandoned newborn baby. When the infant's identity cannot be uncovered, she is adopted by Daria's loving family. But her silent secrets continue to haunt Daria.Now, twenty years later, Shelly has grown into an unusual, ethereal young woman whom Daria continues to protect. But when Rory Taylor, a friend from Daria's childhood and now a television producer, returns at Shelly's request to do a story about the circumstances surrounding her birth, something precarious shifts in the small town of Kill Devil Hills.The more questions Rory asks, the more unsettled the tiny community becomes, as closely guarded secrets and the sins of that long-ago summer begin to surface. Piece by piece, the mystery of summer's child is being exposed, a mystery that no one involved—not Shelly, Daria, not even Rory—is prepared to face.
Maya and Rebecca Ward are both accomplished physicians, but that's where the sisters' similarities end. As teenagers, they witnessed their parents' murder, but it was Rebecca who saved Maya from becoming another of the gunman's victims. The tragedy left Maya cautious and timid, settling for a sedate medical practice with her husband, Adam, while Rebecca became the risk taker.After a devastating hurricane hits the coast of North Carolina, Rebecca and Adam urge Maya to join them in the relief effort. To please her husband, Maya finally agrees. She loses herself in the care and transport of victims, but when her helicopter crashes into raging floodwaters, there appear to be no survivors.Forced to accept Maya is gone, Rebecca and Adam turn to one another—first for comfort, then in passion—unaware that, miles from civilization, Maya is injured and trapped with strangers she's not certain she can trust. Away from the sister who has always been there to save her, now Maya must find the courage to save herself—unaware that the life she knew has changed forever.
Dr. Olivia Simon is on duty in the emergency room of North Carolina's Outer Banks Hospital when a gunshot victim is brought in. Midway through the desperate effort to save the young woman's life, Olivia realizes who she is—Annie O'Neill. The woman Olivia's husband, Paul, is in love with.When Annie dies on the operating table, she leaves behind three other victims. Alec O'Neill, who thought he had the perfect marriage. Paul, whose fixation on Annie is unshakable. And Olivia, who is desperate to understand the woman who destroyed her marriage.Now they are left with unanswered questions about who Annie really was. And about the secrets she kept hidden so well.
Dear Anna, What I have to tell you is difficult to write, but I know it will be far more difficult for you to hear, and I’m so sorry… The unfinished letter is the only clue Tara and Emerson have to the reason behind their close friend Noelle’s suicide. Everything they knew about Noelle—her calling as a midwife, her passion for causes, her love for her friends and family—described a woman who embraced life. Yet there was so much they didn’t know.With the discovery of the letter and its heartbreaking secret, Noelle’s friends begin to uncover the truth about this complex woman who touched each of their lives—and the life of a desperate stranger—with love and betrayal, compassion and deceit.Told with sensitivity and insight, The Midwife’s Confession will have you turning pages late into the night. From the bestselling author of The Lies We Told and The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes comes a story of deception that asks: How much is too much to forgive?
Separated by a continent from her child, Gina Higgins comes to Kiss River with little more than a desperate plan. Now, saving her daughter depends on whether she can uncover a message buried deep below the ocean's surface.Kiss River's historic nineteenth-century lighthouse has all but fallen into the sea, taking with it the huge Fresnel lens that once served as its beacon. Gina is desperate to find a way to raise the lens; the glass holds the key to her future, her fortune and her only chance to save the one person who matters to her.Clay O'Neill lives in the old light keeper's house, a home he shares with his sister, Lacey. When Lacey invites her to stay with them, Gina eagerly accepts. As Gina begins her quest to raise the lens, Clay finds himself drawn to her struggle, and to Gina herself.But the answers lie deep below the ocean. And the lighthouse holds secrets that neither Clay nor Gina can anticipate….
A beloved daughter. A devastating choice. And now there's no going back.Four years ago, nineteen-year-old Travis Brown made a choice: to raise his newborn daughter on his own. While most of his friends were out partying and meeting girls, Travis was at home, changing diapers and worrying about keeping food on the table. But he's never regretted his decision. Bella is the light of his life. The reason behind every move he makes. And so far, she is fed. Cared for. Safe.But when Travis loses his construction job and his home, the security he's worked so hard to create for Bella begins to crumble….Then a miracle. A job in Raleigh has the power to turn their fortunes around. It has to. But when Travis arrives in Raleigh, there is no job, only an offer to participate in a onetime criminal act that promises quick money and no repercussions.With nowhere else to turn, Travis must make another choice for his daughter's sake.Even if it means he might lose her.
AnnieA loving mother and wife, Annie O'Neill was the heart of the small community of Kiss River. But her generous nature hid a darker side that remained secret for years after her tragic death.LaceyWhen Lacey O'Neill finally learns the shattering truth about the mother she's spent a decade emulating, the foundation of her life begins to crumble. Then her close childhood friend dies, leaving her teenage daughter, Mackenzie, in Lacey's care, and Lacey unwillingly finds herself in the role of mother.MackenzieUprooted by her mother's death, Mackenzie resents her new home of Kiss River. She wants nothing to do with the father who never knew she existed—and especially not her mother's oldest friend. But the person who could understand her best might be the one she resents most: Lacey.
Fifteen-year-old Andy Lockwood is special. Others notice the way he blurts out anything that comes into his mind, how he cannot foresee consequences, that he's more child than teenager. But his mother sees a boy with a heart as open and wide as the ocean.Laurel Lockwood lost her son once through neglect. She's spent the rest of her life determined to make up for her mistakes, and she's succeeded in becoming a committed, protective parent—maybe even overprotective. Still, she loosens her grip just enough to let Andy attend a local church social—a decision that terrifies her when the church is consumed by fire. But Andy survives…and remarkably, saves other children from the flames. Laurel watches as Andy basks in the role of unlikely hero and the world finally sees her Andy, the sweet boy she knows as well as her own heart.But when the suspicion of arson is cast upon Andy, Laurel must ask herself how well she really knows her son…and how far she'll go to keep her promise to protect him forever.
It is 1960 in North Carolina and the lives of Ivy Hart and Jane Forrester couldn't be more different. Fifteen-year-old Ivy lives with her family as tenants on a small tobacco farm, but when her parents die, Ivy is left to care for her grandmother, older sister, and nephew. As she struggles with her grandmother's aging, her sister's mental illness, and her own epilepsy, she realizes they might need more than she can give.When Jane Forrester takes a position as Grace County's newest social worker, she is given the task of recommending which of her clients should be sterilized without their knowledge or consent. The state's rationalization is that if her clients are poor, or ill, or deemed in some way "unfit" they should not be allowed to have children. But soon Jane becomes emotionally invested in her clients' lives, causing tension with her new husband and her supervisors. No one understands why Jane would want to become a caseworker for the Department of Public Health when she could be a housewife and Junior League member. As Jane is drawn in by the Hart women, she begins to discover the secrets of the small farm―secrets much darker than she would have guessed. Soon, she must decide whether to take drastic action to help them, or risk losing a life-changing battle.Necessary Lies is the story of these two young women, seemingly worlds apart, but both haunted by tragedy. Jane and Ivy are thrown together and must ask themselves: How can you know what you believe is right, when everyone is telling you it's wrong?
"Chamberlain's powerful story is a page-turner to the very end." -Library Journal\nRiley MacPherson has spent her entire life believing that her older sister Lisa committed suicide as a teenager. It was a belief that helped shape her own childhood and that of her brother. It shaped her view of her family and their dynamics. It influenced her entire life. Now, more than twenty years later, her father has passed away and she's in New Bern, North Carolina, cleaning out his house when she finds evidence that what she has always believed is not the truth. Lisa is alive. Alive and living under a new identity. But why, exactly, was she on the run all those years ago? What secrets are being kept now, and what will happen if those secrets are revealed? As Riley works to uncover the truth, her discoveries will put into question everything she thought she knew about her family. Riley must decide what the past means for her present, and what she will do with her newfound reality. Told with Diane Chamberlain's powerful prose and illumination into the human heart and soul, The Silent Sister is an evocative novel of love, loss, and the bonds among siblings. \n"Enthralling and gripping...Chamberlain has a gift for telling stories about families whose good intentions go awry in difficult circumstances. Her characters are always portrayed with an understanding that sometimes life's most tragic mistakes require heroic strength to survive." -Book Reporter
An unsolved murder.A missing child.A lifetime of deception.In 1977, pregnant Genevieve Russell disappeared. Twenty years later, her remains are discovered and Timothy Gleason is charged with murder. But there is no sign of the unborn child.CeeCee Wilkes knows how Genevieve Russell died, because she was there. And she also knows what happened to the missing infant, because two decades ago she made the devastating choice to raise the baby as her own. Now Timothy Gleason is facing the death penalty, and she has another choice to make. Tell the truth, and destroy her family. Or let an innocent man die in order to protect a lifetime of lies…
Molly Arnette is very good at keeping secrets. She and her husband live in San Diego, where they hope to soon adopt a baby. But the process terrifies her.\nAs the questions and background checks come one after another, Molly worries that the truth she's kept hidden about her North Carolina childhood will rise to the surface and destroy not only her chance at adoption, but also her marriage. She ran away from her family twenty years ago after a shocking event left her devastated and distrustful of those she loved: her mother, the woman who raised her and who Molly says is dead but is very much alive; her birth mother, whose mysterious presence raised so many issues; and the father she adored, whose troubling death sent her running from the small community of Morrison Ridge.\nNow, as she tries to find a way to make peace with her past and embrace a future filled with promise, she discovers that even she doesn't know the truth of what happened in her family of pretenders.\nTold with Diane Chamberlain’s compelling prose and gift for deft exploration of the human heart, Pretending to Dance is an exploration of family, lies, and the complexities of both.
‘Essential reading for Jodi Picoult fans’ Daily Mail\nA past that won’t stay buried…\nWhat if you did something so devastating, you regretted it for the rest of your life?\nNineteen-year-old Maggie Lockwood spent a year in prison for her part in a fire that cost three lives. The scars carried by the surviving victims – inside and out – are still raw and Maggie’s release from jail does nothing to free her from the guilt.\nReturning home, Maggie hides herself away, too afraid to see Keith, the boy she grew up with, played with as a child – and recently learnt is her half-brother.\nKeith nearly lost his life in the fire and the emotional and physical wounds he carries have changed him forever. With childhood innocence gone, Maggie and Keith must learn to come to terms with their new lives, but trying to move forward will have deadly consequences…
Steeped in history and filled with heart-wrenching twists, The Stolen Marriage is an emotionally captivating novel of secrets, betrayals, prejudice, and forgiveness. It showcases Diane Chamberlain at the top of her talent.One mistake, one fateful night, and Tess DeMello’s life is changed forever. \nIt is 1944. Pregnant, alone, and riddled with guilt, twenty-three-year-old Tess DeMello abruptly gives up her budding career as a nurse and ends her engagement to the love of her life, unable to live a lie. Instead, she turns to the baby’s father for help and agrees to marry him, moving to the small, rural town of Hickory, North Carolina. Tess’s new husband, Henry Kraft, is a secretive man who often stays out all night, hides money from his new wife, and shows her no affection. Tess quickly realizes she’s trapped in a strange and loveless marriage with no way out.\nThe people of Hickory love and respect Henry but see Tess as an outsider, treating her with suspicion and disdain. When one of the town’s golden girls dies in a terrible accident, everyone holds Tess responsible. But Henry keeps his secrets even closer now, though it seems that everyone knows something about him that Tess does not. \nWhen a sudden polio epidemic strikes Hickory, the townspeople band together to build a polio hospital. Tess knows she is needed and defies Henry’s wishes to begin working at there. Through this work, she begins to find purpose and meaning. Yet at home, Henry’s actions grow more alarming by the day. As Tess works to save the lives of her patients, can she untangle the truth behind her husband’s mysterious behavior and find the love―and the life―she was meant to have?\nA Library Reads Top Ten Book of October 2017\nPraise for The Stolen Marriage:\n"[A] well-crafted crime-tinged tale." ―Publishers Weekly "The Stolen Marriage is the kind of story that will grab you and refuse to let you go until you turn the last page." ―All About Romance\n"Readers will be sucked in immediately...you just can't go wrong with a book with [Chamberlain's] name on the cover." ―Southern Pines Pilot
New York Times bestselling author Diane Chamberlain delivers a thrilling, mind-bending novel about one mother's journey to save her child.\nWhen Carly Sears, a young woman widowed by the Vietnam war, receives the news that her unborn baby girl has a heart defect, she is devastated. It is 1970, and she is told that nothing can be done to help her child. But her brother-in-law, a physicist with a mysterious past, tells her that perhaps there is a way to save her baby. What he suggests is something that will shatter every preconceived notion that Carly has. Something that will require a kind of strength and courage she never knew existed. Something that will mean an unimaginable leap of faith on Carly's part.\nAnd all for the love of her unborn child.\nThe Dream Daughter is a rich, genre-spanning, breathtaking novel about one mother's quest to save her child, unite her family, and believe in the unbelievable. Diane Chamberlain pushes the boundaries of faith and science to deliver a novel that you will never forget.\nPraise for The Dream Daughter:"Chamberlain writes with supernatural gifts...fate, destiny, chance and hope combine for a heady and breathless wonder of a read." ―Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Orphan's Tale\n"Can a story be both mind-bending and heartfelt? In Diane Chamberlain’s hands, it can. The Dream Daughter will hold readers in anxious suspense until the last satisfying page." ―Therese Fowler, New York Times bestselling author of Z
From New York Times bestselling author Diane Chamberlain comes a novel of chilling intrigue, a decades-old disappearance, and one woman’s quest to find the truth…“A novel about art and secrets...grippingly told...pulls readers toward a shocking conclusion.”―People magazine, Best New BooksNorth Carolina, 2018:Morgan Christopher's life has been derailed. Taking the fall for a crime she did not commit, her dream of a career in art is put on hold―until a mysterious visitor makes her an offer that will get her released from prison immediately. Her assignment: restore an old post office mural in a sleepy southern town. Morgan knows nothing about art restoration, but desperate to be free, she accepts. What she finds under the layers of grime is a painting that tells the story of madness, violence, and a conspiracy of small town secrets.North Carolina, 1940:Anna Dale, an artist from New Jersey, wins a national contest to paint a mural for the post office in Edenton, North Carolina. Alone in the world and in great need of work, she accepts. But what she doesn't expect is to find herself immersed in a town where prejudices run deep, where people are hiding secrets behind closed doors, and where the price of being different might just end in murder.What happened to Anna Dale? Are the clues hidden in the decrepit mural? Can Morgan overcome her own demons to discover what exists beneath the layers of lies?“Chamberlain, a master storyteller, keeps readers hooked, with a story line that leavens history and social commentary with romance and mystery.”―Lexington Dispatch
What if your LONG-LOST SISTER holds the key to a family secret?\\nA much-loved gripping novel from the Sunday Times top ten bestselling author about two sisters and a heartwrenching secret.\\n**PRE-ORDER THE LAST HOUSE ON THE STREET, DIANE CHAMBERLAIN'S BRAND NEW NOVEL**\\nClaire leads a busy, fulfilled and happy life, a life she wouldn't trade for anything . . . but that is about to change for ever.\\nWhen Claire fails to prevent a young woman's suicide, the incident seems to trigger something in her - forgotten images of a long-lost sister and a childhood she had always remembered as being close to perfection. Realising that this was not the case, Claire runs the risk of uncovering the dark secrets that are locked away in her memories.\\nCaught in a complex struggle between the present and past, between the man who wants to help her and the husband who cannot, Claire must discover the terrible truth for herself...\\nUnlock the secrets you'll love to discover with Diane Chamberlain, the storyteller beloved of readers everywhere:\\n'An excellent read that will be loved by her fans and anyone who enjoys reading' Jodi Picoult\\n'I completely LOVED this book' Jane Green\\n'Totally amazing...so powerful and beautifully written. I love Diane's writing' Cathy Kelly\\n'Incredibly moving story, rich in character and atmosphere. I couldn't put it down' Susan Lewis\\n'With beautifully drawn characters and a string of twists that will keep you guessing right up to the end' Stylist\\n'Chamberlain puts so much grit, emotion and drama into her books that it's impossible to stop thinking about them' Heat\\n'Gripping' Woman & Home\\n'Essential reading for Jodi Picoult fans' Daily Mail
A community's past sins rise to the surface in New York Times bestselling author Diane Chamberlain's The Last House on the Street when two women, a generation apart, find themselves bound by tragedy and an unsolved, decades-old mystery. 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.
America at the Gates of Hell is about the need for transformation of the hearts and minds of Americans. Never before have we faced such stark historical contrasts of good and evil. We stand at the precipice! Will we choose life? Can we escape our fate? This book is full of truth! The author dares to explore apocalyptic writings to provide insight. She draws from her life experience to take the reader on a journey of loving change. Her style provides the tools to overcome the obstacles. There is a way to escape if the suggestions are taken. Take the journey from the Apocalypse in Chapter one through betrayal and loss, boundaries, control, and more. Finally the author leads the end to a place of hope for the reader after despair. Has America or the English speaking world waited too long to turn the corner? Each reader must answer for themselves what part, if any, to play....
The images were vivid, the sensations powerful, and the more she tried to fight them, the more they drew her in. Claire leads a busy, fulfilled and happy life, a life she wouldn't trade for anything ...and one that is about to change forever. When Claire fails to prevent a disturbed young woman's suicide, the incident seems to trigger something in her - forgotten images of a long-lost sister and a childhood she had always remembered as being close to perfection. Realising that this was not the case, Claire runs the risk of uncovering the dark secrets that are locked away in her memories. Caught in a complex struggle between the present and past, between the man who wants to help her and the husband who cannot, Claire must discover the terrible truth for herself.
Laura Brandon's promise to her dying father was simple: to visit an elderly woman she'd never heard of before. A woman who remembers nothing—except the distant past. Visiting Sarah Tolley seemed a small enough sacrifice to make.But Laura's promise results in another death. Her husband's. And after their five-year-old daughter, Emma, witnesses her father's suicide, Emma refuses to talk about it…to talk at all.Frantic and guilt ridden, Laura contacts the only person who may be able to help. A man she's met only once—six years before. A man who doesn't know he's Emma's real father.Guided only by a child's silence and an old woman's fading memories, the two unravel a tale of love and despair, of bravery and unspeakable evil. A tale that's shrouded in silence…and that unbelievably links them all.
It is not just in recent years newspapers have carried headlines of those dishonoring the uniform by raping innocent civilians, fellow students at Academies, trainees, or fellow service members. Savage beatings, sodomy, rape, cruelty, mistreatment, and murder are just part of the headlines that reach all the way up to the top commanding officers and generals. When these heinous crimes are tolerated, unity and the very integrity of the services suffer. This historical account, Conduct Unbecoming, along with this author's own history will awaken a sleeping nation to how its women have continued to suffer in the Armed services. Follow this author through her expose of rape, torture, and corruption by her own military commanders, to her struggles with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the "Kabuki dance" with the adversarial veterans administration of denials, cruelty, and retraumatization. She courageously fought evil and prevailed! A military culture that perpetuates Conduct Unbecoming causes a disconnect from the military's mission and those who would serve honorably. Allowing moral turpitude to go underground to the extent that it has, adversely affects good order and discipline and brings dishonor on the military organizations these men serve.This author refuses to be silenced for behavior that has continued nearly four decades unabated!
When Jeff Cabrio arrives in Valle Rosa with ideas for revitalizing the dying town, he encounters Mia Tanner, a woman intent on escaping her past, and Carmen Perez, an investigative reporter struggling to gain respect
Welcome to the Chapel House, the old oceanfront mansion where a group of close friends share their hopes and dreams . . . and where love is sometimes an unexpected guest. Heartfelt and deeply moving, Private Relations won the 1989 RITA award for Best Single Title Contemporary Novel from the Romance Writers of America
Returning home twenty years after a tragic accident that caused the Pennsylvania Dutch townspeople of Reflection to condemn her, Rachel Huber cares for her ailing grandmother despite open hostility and finds allies in two childhood friends.
Actress Eden Riley's decision to make a film about her mother plunges her into a shattering confrontation with her own past, irrevocably altering her life and the lives of those she loves. Her mother, Katherine Swift, was a renowned children's author who died when Eden was very young. Now Eden, recovering from a divorce and disillusioned with her glamorous life, returns to the childhood home of the mother she barely knew. She moves in with her uncle, archaeologist Kyle Swift, and his wife, Louise. Eden gets more than she bargained for when Kyle gives her the journal her mother had kept from the age of thirteen until her death. Eden is spellbound by the powerfully written, intimate diary that chronicles a life of hardship, madness, and tragedy. But her fascination turns to horror when she discovers the shocking truth about her mother's life. Eden turns for comfort to Ben Alexander, Kyle's colleague, not knowing that Ben has a secret of his own that could ruin Eden and her career. Now Eden must make a heartbreaking decision as she struggles to lay the ghosts of the past to rest and come to terms with her own future. Shifting gracefully between Eden's world and Katherine's, Secret Lives seduces with the power of its images and the lyricism of its prose.
Her family's cottage was a place of innocence for twelve-year-old Julie Bauer - until her sister was murdered. It's been many years since that August night, but Julie's memories of Izzy's death still haunt her. Now someone from her past is asking 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. 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.
A moving tale of parental love and desperation. Library JournalA custody suit filed by her attorney ex-husband throws Susanna Millers life into chaos. Defying a court order to turn 11-month-old Tyler over to his father, Susanna flees. She changes her name, dyes her hair, and leaves Boulder, Colorado without a word to anyone not even her best friend Linc Sebastian. Two thousand miles from home, she seeks anonymity in Annapolis, Maryland. And as she tries to forget her past, Susanna discovers that starting a new life is more dangerous than shed ever imagined and that the unpredictable has an alarming way of insinuating itself into a life . . .