The Bay At Midnight

By Diane Chamberlain

Her family's cottage on the New Jersey shore was a place of freedom and innocence for Julie Bauer – until her seventeen–year–old sister, Isabel, was murdered.

It's been more than forty years since that August night, but Julie's memories of her sister's death still shape her world. Now someone from her past is raising questions about what really happened that night. About Julie's own complicity. About a devastating secret her mother kept from them all. About the person who went to prison for Izzy's murder – and the person who didn't.

Faced with questions and armed with few answers, Julie must harness the courage to revisit her past and untangle the complex emotions that led to one unspeakable act of violence on the bay at midnight.

With her flawless ability to craft unforgettably real characters, Diane Chamberlain gives readers a simmering, evocative novel about the secrets that families keep, and the haunting legacies they leave behind.

"Chamberlain skillfully...plumbs the nature of crimes of the heart." –Publishers Weekly

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Australia
• Release date: Nov 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781741162592

Diane Chamberlain

Diane Chamberlain is the bestselling author of twenty novels, including The Midwife's Confession and The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes. Diane lives in North Carolina and is currently at work on her next novel. Visit her Web site at www.dianechamberlain.com and her blog at www.dianechamberlain.com/blog and her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Diane.Chamberlain.Readers.Page.

Reviews for The Bay At Midnight

[sharn_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a good story that flowed smoothly but about 1/3 of the way through the book, I found myself bored. However, the last 1/3 of the story was great. The characters were developed well and I felt awful for Julie... I could've cried for her.The story was about a family who lost a daughter/sister [Isabel]. When Isabel's former boyfriend passed away, his brother was cleaning out his house and found a letter stating that the wrong person went to prison for Isabel's death and the mystery began.I'd definitely recommend for a nice light read but there's not a Diane Chamberlain book that I wouldn't recommend.

[faith76_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I got this book in a book swap as I had requested it. I had recently read The Lost Daughter and thought that the Lost Daughter was excellent and unputdownable for me. I think I may have read Diane Chamberain prior to this but unsure but glad I have stumbled across her again.However I did not enjoy this as much as the lost daughter as I think it had a lot to live up to. But I did enjoy this.It made me think of my own relationship with my daughter in the future when she is a teenager and the relationship with my mum. I gave my mum loads of grief as a teenager and had some real belter arguments that I am expecting it all with my own one day... It is like Maria the 82 year old gran in the book says " It's a never ending circle " but the ending words of Julie " And I would be there to help her let go" about her own child and her daughter's future that will stay with me and I hope I don't hold on to my daughter and learn to let her go.The ending for me made the book with the Epilogue of the different character's. I found it sad that Julie blamed herself for her sister's murder but in reality it was a sequence of events from Julie, Ross, Maria and Isabel. It made me think of my own family and how we always say we love each other it is a given unspoken rule and if Julie and her mum Maria could have been this way there would not have been so much guilt on either part. I liked how Julie makes amends at the end with Maria her mum and says how much she loves her and they just hold each other.I guessed who could have done this and killed Isabel but I really had it down to two people Pam Durant or Ned's dad but I was convinced it was Pam after Julie in 1962 goes to Pam's house after her sister has been found dead and questions pam and pam's eyes show no real emotion - from that point I was convinced it was Pam. I thought she had a jelous thing going on with Ned because I really think that Ned loved Isabel and Pam went to the exsteme to get what she wanted because she knew that with julie around she would'nt stand a chance. Now I did guess that Isabel was Ross's daughter when the rape occured between Ross and Maria. I was surprised in the end that it was an accident and that Ross did not know that when Isabel fell from the platform she knocked her head. I thought Ross was capable of murder because he went too far with Maria all those years ago and the fact that he just picked up Lucy that time when she could not swim and just chucked her in the bay - I honestly thought if it was him that was involved in Isabel's death he was capable of murder as it threatened everything - his career, his marriage .....Plan on working my way through all of Diane Chamberlain's books and have just bought Breaking the Silence.