Cover of The Secret Diary of Sarah Chamberlain

The Secret Diary of Sarah Chamberlain

In the year 2008, fifteen year-old Emily Grace (Em) discovers a secret hiding place under a wooden plank in the attic of an old house in Petersburg. It conceals a 150 year-old-diary belonging to Sarah Chamberlain, the previous owner of the house. Carefully turning to the last entry, Em's interest is piqued by the mention of missing confederate gold and a murder mystery. She slips the diary into the pocket of her capris.

Read more

As she reads the diary, Em is touched by Sarah's deep love for her husband, Robert. Emotionally, Em's life is spinning out of control and the diary is a welcome distraction. Each day her faith slips further and further away as she blames God for the many trials and tribulations she has had to endure. After rereading the last page and Robert's senseless murder, she has one more reason to doubt God's love for his creation.Em slips the diary back in her pocket planning to return it to the attic before helping her mother clean the old house in Petersburg. While scrubbing black scuffmarks off the kitchen floor, Em has an emotional meltdown airing her list of grievances, including Robert's murder, before God. As she shouts that she doesn't believe he really exists, vertigo suddenly hits with a vengeance and she passes out. Regaining consciousness, Em is dumbfounded; the kitchen has been replaced by a nineteenth century parlor.

Audience
young adult
Length
medium · 320 pages

Click a tag to see books like this one that share it. Point at it (on a phone, tap it) for less of it instead.

Read it? Sign in to help tag it.

Liked The Secret Diary of Sarah Chamberlain? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked The Secret Diary of Sarah Chamberlain. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

  1. Agnes Campbell's Hat Shares time travel, young adult
  2. Double Fault Shares time travel, young adult
  3. Past the Ages Shares time travel, young adult
  4. Midnight Special / Coming on Strong

“People who read The Secret Diary of Sarah Chamberlain tend to reach for these next.”

  1. Under the Summer Sky
  2. Timeless Desire
  3. Thwarted Queen (Thwarted Queen Book 3)
  4. High Stakes

“If you want more of the same (time travel), start with these.”

  1. Linked Through Time
  2. Why Have the Birds Stopped Singing?
  3. ...Before You Leap
  4. A Thief in Time

“Readers describe these the same way.”

  1. The Time Hunters and the Lost City
  2. Your Time, My Time
  3. The Christmas Present
  4. Highland Guardian

“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

  1. Mallory and the Mystery Diary
  2. Comes the Night
  3. Rose and Jacob
  4. The White Garden: A Novel of Virginia Woolf