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Published Sep 2013
352 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publication Information
After losing her parents, fifteen-year-old Ivy Hart is left to care for her grandmother, older sister and nephew as tenants on a small tobacco farm. As she struggles with her grandmother's aging, her sister's mental illness and her own epilepsy, she realizes they might need more than she can give.
When Jane Forrester takes a position as Grace County's newest social worker, she doesn't realize just how much her help is needed. She quickly becomes emotionally invested in her clients' lives, causing tension with her boss and her new husband. But as Jane is drawn in by the Hart women, she begins to discover the secrets of the small farm - secrets much darker than she would have guessed. Soon, she must decide whether to take drastic action to help them, or risk losing the battle against everything she believes is wrong.
Set in rural Grace County, North Carolina in a time of state-mandated sterilizations and racial tension, Necessary Lies tells the story of these two young women, seemingly worlds apart, but both haunted by tragedy. Jane and Ivy are thrown together and must ask themselves: how can you know what you believe is right, when everyone is telling you it's wrong?
"This engrossing novel digs deep into the moral complexity of a dark period in history and brings it to life." - Publishers Weekly
"Chamberlain brings to light the horrors inflicted for years on victims of the eugenics sterilization program...This is a troubling account, considering how recently involuntary sterilization occurred in this country." - Library Journal
"Chamberlain certainly knows how to escalate tension. Socially conscious melodrama at its best." - Kirkus Reviews
"This enthralling novel transfixed me from the very first pages." - Christina Schwarz, New York Times bestselling author of Drowning Ruth
"Expertly intertwines history and matters of the heart - love, loyalty and choosing what is right, no matter the consequences." - Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times bestselling author of The Weight of Silence and One Breath Away
"Diane Chamberlain's Necessary Lies is the most important book she has ever written." - Dorothea Benton Frank, New York Times bestselling author of Porch Lights
This information about Necessary Lies was first featured
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: John Pagliuca
Diane Chamberlain grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey and spent her summers at the Jersey Shore, two settings that have found their way into her novels. She attended Glassboro State College (now Rowan University) in New Jersey before moving to San Diego, where she received her bachelor's and master's degrees in social work from San Diego State University.
Chamberlain is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of twenty-eight novels published in over fifteen languages. Her books include Big Lies in a Small Town, The Stolen Marriage and The Dream Daughter. She lives in North Carolina with her partner, photographer John Pagliuca, and her sheltie, Cole. She has three grown stepdaughters, a couple of sons-in-law and four grandchildren.
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