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

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Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain

38 reviews

vanessagrausam's review against another edition

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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

5.0

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jblum4's review against another edition

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4.0

Enjoy found family, coming of age, multiple timelines. Themes of perpetuating injustices for multiple storylines and courageously rising above obstacles

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greatexpectations77's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was a twisty, tense story, and I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the older story a little more than the recent one, and the artist's daughter was kind of tiring in how much of a tool she was being. This did make me wonder if I would have been an art restorer in another life. I liked the interplay of the many societal factors happening in here and the idea of an artist yelling about the crime against her in her art.

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tetcha's review

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emotional hopeful informative 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? Yes

4.0

Diane Chamberlain is a new author to me who writes an emotionally engaging story, richly detailed, with plenty of intrigue, secrets and lies. I found it to be a thought-provoking mystery with serious issues involving art, abuse, racism, misogyny, justice, prejudice, personal demons and mental health. I absolutely loved the dual timeline story, and quickly became completely immersed in the challenging lives of both women that were equally enthralling right to the very end.

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hisaacson's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

3.75

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jacesherman's review against another edition

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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

3.0

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secre's review against another edition

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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

5.0

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.

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