Reviews with content warning for Racial slurs - Big Lies in a Small Town

Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain

22 reviews

hanleyca's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional tense

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Don't quit. It's a slow start, but a good journey.

Content Warnings

magb1023's review against another edition

4.0

emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Content Warnings

lisettemarie's review

3.75

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense

Content Warnings

margaret_k30's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

jessicapinn's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I couldn't put this one down. Chamberlain beautifully intertwined the past with the present as a thriller centered around art and civil rights.

Content Warnings

vanessagrausam's review

5.0

emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

jacesherman's review against another edition

3.0

emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: N/A

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

Content Warnings

secre's review against another edition

5.0

challenging emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Big Lies in a Small Town is one of those rare novels that captivated me. It truly surprised me as it isn't an era of history I have great interest in, nor is mural painting or restoration a topic that grabs at me. Yet, I absolutely fell into this novel and devoured it in remarkable time. Alternating between the present day and 1940's, it uses both present and past to tease out the mysteries whilst displaying some wonderful characterisations.

In 2018, Anna Dale finds herself with a get out of jail card from prison as she is commissioned to restore an old mural that was done as part of the 1940's post office competition. There's one minor snag to this; she has zero experience in restoration, let alone as big a project as this is going to be. And there's a strict time frame. An expert would struggle. Anna is in over her head. Yet as the mural comes to life through her careful work, she finds herself fascinated by the life of the artist and what caused some of the more interesting choices and her later disappearance.

The mystery unfurls as the novel flicks back and forth from the mural's creation in 1940 and it's restoration in 1918. It's a compelling tale, quickly shifting from the excitement of Anna's arrival to having the darker undertones of the period of time with violence lurking in the shadows. It shines a light on systematic racism of the time, refusing to flinch away from it. Yet it isn't a dark book. It's thought provoking and fascinating, and it balances the light and dark well. I found myself truly interested in the restoration work, despite having no knowledge of the art and felt Diane Chamberlain melded fact and fiction well without ever info dumping.

This is the first Chamberlain I've read, it won't be the last.

Content Warnings