Title: Big Lies in a Small Town
By: Diane Chamberlain
Published: 2020
Call #: FIC Chamberlain
With one little meeting, Morgan Christopher’s life is about to change. She is granted a chance to get out of jail if she agrees to restore a mural by a specific deadline. While she is an artist, she doesn’t have any experience restoring murals, but someone believes in her and she’s up for the challenge if it means freedom. As she begins working on the mural, she discovers that there was something unbalanced about the original artist, Anna Dale, and seeks to find out what happened to her and why the mural was never finished. Interspersed with Morgan’s story is that of Anna Dale, the hopeful artist commissioned to paint a mural for the small town of Edenton, North Carolina in the 1940s. Anna is not from there and initially faces opposition as the local artist was denied the chance to paint the mural. However, Anna overcomes her uncertainties and uses this as an opportunity to help some local art students. Soon secrets and prejudices begin to interfere with her work and threaten her safety and sanity. When the truth about Anna and the mural is revealed, it will have lasting effects on Morgan decades later.
This is an engaging mystery made more interesting with the story going back and forth between the two women. Morgan’s story is key to piquing the reader’s interest in what happened to Anna while Anna’s story is a low burn to the surprising truth. Both women face overwhelming challenges and are easily sympathetic as they battle personal demons. This is a captivating novel filled with intriguing revelations throughout that will hold the reader’s attention til the end.
Mary-Megan K.
Popular Materials Asst.