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Diane Chamberlain
Diane Chamberlain is an American author of historical fiction and suspense, known for The Shadow Wife and The Girl in the Mirror. Her novels blend mystery with real-world history set in small-town America.
Big Lies in a Small Town
Synopsis
In 2018, twenty-two-year-old Morgan Christopher is serving time in a North Carolina prison for a crime she didn't commit when an unexpected visitor offers her a way out. A recently deceased artist's will stipulates that Morgan — and only Morgan — restore a decades-old mural in time for the opening of a new gallery. She has no training in restoration and no idea why she was chosen, but freedom is freedom, so she says yes.
Nearly eighty years earlier, in 1940, a young New Jersey artist named Anna Dale wins a national competition to paint a mural for the post office in the small town of Edenton, North Carolina. Alone and eager to prove herself, Anna moves south into a community where old prejudices run deep and dangerous secrets lie just beneath the surface — and where being an outsider can cost far more than a commission.
As Morgan peels back the grime on Anna's canvas, she uncovers unsettling images hidden in the paint — axes, knives, blood — and, with them, the story of what really happened to Anna Dale. Told in two braided timelines, Big Lies in a Small Town is a suspenseful novel about art, injustice, and the truths a town would rather keep buried.
Genres
Characters
Morgan ChristopherProtagonist
A young artist released from prison to restore a mysterious 1940 mural.
Anna DaleProtagonist
A New Jersey artist who wins a 1940 contest to paint a post-office mural in Edenton, North Carolina.
Frequently asked questions
Does Big Lies in a Small Town have a dual timeline?
The narrative unfolds across two distinct timelines, one in 1970 and another in the present day, with both stories converging around the mystery of a missing artist and a controversial mural.
How does this book connect to Diane Chamberlain's other novels?
This novel shares Diane Chamberlain's characteristic use of Southern settings and historical mysteries, often exploring themes of hidden pasts and family secrets, similar to her works like "The Silent Sister" and "The Last House on the Street."