Big Lies in a Small Town, Diane Chamberlain, author, Susan Bennett, narrator
I like the books this author writes. She does great research on the subject matter and the narrative is easy to follow. In this novel, she brings the world of art restoration to life. She also opens eyes to the abuses of prison and the injustice of our justice system.
When the book opens, three young black children stumble on the body of a white male. Because of racism, they want to distance themselves and vow not to tell their mother. It can be too dangerous for them.
The novel then follows the lives of two women. The first woman is an artist, Anna Dale. In 1939, after winning a contest to paint a post office mural, she arrives in the small town of Edenton, to begin the project. She is young and naïve and still grieving over the recent death of her mother who suffered from mental illness. She engages some high school students to help her and one is Jesse Jameson Williams, a young black teen. In this town, their relationship becomes suspect to some people.
The other woman is Morgan Christopher. It is 2018, and she has just finished the first year of a three year prison term. Morgan is an art student who took the rap for a drunk driving accident in which a woman was crippled. The actual driver was her boyfriend, Trey, who went on to study law at Georgetown when she went to prison for his crime. He ran away and let her take the fall for him. She thought she was being a noble girlfriend, at first, never thinking she would go to prison. He had a friend lie and say he was not with Morgan the night of the accident.
When Morgan is offered a get out of jail free card, if she will restore the mural painted by Anna Dale, by August 5th, the day the art gallery of Jesse Jameson Williams is scheduled to open, she agrees. She can’t believe her good fortune, although she has no idea how to restore a painting.
Anna recognizes Jesse’s great talent and they begin to spend time together as she becomes his mentor and he becomes her helper and confidant. As a white woman, their relationship does not pose the same kind of danger from loose tongues, as Jesse does. After a murder is discovered in Edenton, Jesse and Anna are suspected. They both disappear. However, years later, Jesse returns to his hometown, as a famous artist, and uses his wealth to help students who are talented and in need.
Many social problems of society of introduced. Some are explored more fully than others. Racism is front and center in this novel, as is the left wing political bent of the author as she paints her character, Morgan, as one who admires Michelle Obama. Anna’s character defies racists and racism. She fears the stigma of the mental illness from which her mother suffered. Edenton’s resident artist lives up to the description of a toxic male. Anna’s friend’s policeman husband is racist. The curator of the future Williams Gallery, Oliver, had a son when he was 17 and is now divorced and dealing with his son’s loyalty and love for his wife’s new husband. The mural features women, four vs one man, to show that women can have power. The lack of loyalty in situations like love and friendship, where it is expected, is exposed as well. The characters are flawed and Chamberlain takes the reader through their maturation and reform.
Why did Williams want the Anna Dale mural restored? Why did he choose Morgan to restore the painting? Why must the gallery open on August 5th for his daughter to keep her ancestral home? These are simply the conditions of Lisa Williams, father’s will. Chamberlain created an interesting mystery using the restoration project and knits some of the unanswered questions together, at the end, but the story felt a bit contrived, and the ending was a little disappointing.

The novel is told in dual timelines that center around a work of art - a mural for a small southern town post office after the Depression. The original artist was Anna Dale who disappeared before the painting was completed and Morgan Christopher, the artist charged with restoring the old painting for an art gallery opening and became obsessed with finding out what really happened to Anna Dale. The author did a great job building suspense and developing the two main characters. Great discussion book.

I thought this story approached both from the 1940s and 2018, was a great mystery about art and a story about it's creation. The story held my interest every minute and had a great ending that answered all the questions you may have had. I've read several books by Diane Chamberlain now and love every one of them!

I loved this book - it's been a while since I just couldn't put a book down. I was actually listening to this in my car so I came up with excuses to drive.

You go back and forth between times but it's easy to follow along.

You think you know how the story will end but I hope you will be pleasantly surprised as I was.

Morgan is released from jail to clean and fix a mural done by Anna Dale. So you jump back and forth between Anna and Morgan's life.

I def. recommend reading this.

It was really good! Sad that these things happen!

I liked it. Suspenseful and intriguing