The Last House on the Street

In 1965, 20-year-old Ellie Hockley, who is white, shocks her family and North Carolina community by volunteering to work in the SCOPE program, which registers Black people to vote ahead of the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Ellie is determined to participate even though it puts her in danger and causes her family to be shunned. As she falls in love with one of the Black students, the couple ignore all warnings to be careful about their relationship and violence ensues. In 2010, Ellie has returned to North Carolina to care for her ailing family members. In another story line, a grieving Kayla and her young daughter Rainie are about to move into their newly built house—on the same street where Ellie grew up. Their stories combine in a suspenseful tale of long-held grudges, the viciousness of racism, and the pain of not knowing the truth of past trauma. Narrator Susan Bennett has a wonderful voice that effectively portrays Southerners, Northerners, children, and adults. Her sense of timing when voicing situations that have a sense of urgency and doom is excellent. She is particularly good at portraying the prickly, naive, passionate Ellie.