Debbie's Reviews > Big Lies in a Small Town

I take it back!

First thoughts, not nice! How could so many people love this thing? I was plotting a scathing review in my head. Well, not exactly scathing. It was more that I was whining about this meh, this middling, this medium not heavyweight mass of words. Humdrum to the max. Here were my notes: “Just not rich enough—language is Plain Jane, the characters aren’t very interesting, the plot sort of boring. A flat 3. Period.”

But I take it back. (Ha, so much for that period!) Because once I hit halftime, I couldn’t take my eyes off the show. What a plot! More about this later.

First—the story. It’s about two women and a mural. One woman, Anna, is painting it in 1940; the other, Morgan, is restoring it in 2018. The chapters alternate between their tales. There is quite a bit about how terribly blacks were treated in the 1940s South, and that is sobering and heart-wrenching. There are mysteries: Why was Morgan asked to restore the mural? Why wasn’t the mural ever placed in the post office, like it was supposed to be? What happened to Anna?

I’m going to dive right in with my growls, because they were pretty steady throughout the first half of the book.

Complaint Board

-First half: too boring, too slow. The two stories were too similar—both artists working on the damn mural eternally, so it was double boring. We hear umpteen times what the mural looks like, but we also hear minutiae on how it’s being created. Times two. I didn’t need to hear one more word about tools.

-Language is Plain Jane. Sophomoric is what my head says.

-Cut the chatter about clothes, and jazz up the dialogue, please. All too simple and pedestrian.

-Not one big word.

-Few, if any, highlights.

-Stupid little love story that made it all chick-litty and Hallmark-y. Luckily the love story doesn’t get a lot of airtime.

-Wasn’t crazy about the last few pages. Not quite enough closure; it left me curious.

-There was one glaring (though super minor) logistical problem. Morgan was considering whether to get an Uber or walk to the phone store. She decided to walk. Good thing, because hello, you can’t get an Uber unless you already HAVE a phone!

But then….but THEN….

I hit the middle and OMG! The suspense started building and building and I could NOT put the book down. I had to find out what happened to Anna, I had to! The hell with my appointment in an hour (seriously, it’s not cool to do a no-show for a doctor, but I was crazed!). In my race to the finish, my head was making calculations in the background. How tight could I cut it? How fast could I shower and feed the cat? Could I let him starve (he was already starving, so I couldn’t be crueler). Shortcuts were essential. Ignore texts! Well, you can read the text fast but do not respond unless someone is dead or dying. I had fantasies of arriving late to my appointment and talking my way in, of course, but meanwhile, I kept my eyes and mind on the story. Amid this frenzy, I realized this Diane Chamberlain can write like a mad fool. The plot is so clever! This was a first-class mystery and drama.

Seriously, seldom does a book take over me so completely. I read nearly half the book (and it was a 400-pager) in one sitting—I don’t think I’ve ever read so much at one time. The plot, which had been building slowly and annoying me, ended up being so complex, so rich, so intricate and multilayered. There was no way I could figure out where the plot was going (with one exception, but I couldn’t figure out how it would get there). The suspense was over the top. This plot, these tricky puzzle pieces that fit together so brilliantly, trumped all.

So I ended up shaking my head in awe. What a wild ride that second half of the book was. No, I can’t forget how I felt at the beginning—the complaints are still there—but I also will never forget how happily whacked I was during the second half. I even cried, which hardly ever happens when I read a book.

Are all of Chamberlain’s books so exciting? Or are they more like the boring first half of this book? Her pedestrian language bugs me, as did the stupid love interest, but if I get a story like this one, will I care? I think I just might have to try another book by her.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.