Kate Pheris has been in a daze since the death of her husband, Matt, one year ago. She's allowed her overbearing mother-in-law, Cricket, to consume her and make all the decisions, including the one that will have Kate and her daughter, Devin, move in with her. However, an old postcard in the attic leads Kate back to her childhood and LOST LAKE, where her great aunt, Eby Pim, still lives. LOST LAKE has been the home of many dreams and the rescuer of the lost for so long but now Eby is herself lost and considering selling. Can the magic of LOST LAKE save them all or is it too late for dreams to still come true?
Sarah Addison Allen crafts a charming, magical tale of healing and renewal with LOST LAKE. Kate is adrift after the loss of her husband while Eby is mourning her lost days in Paris. Even the secondary characters are holding on to various secrets and grief that prevent them from moving forward towards happiness. LOST LAKE offers a place of solace and comfort and I could almost feel myself relaxing into the calm, tranquil scenery depicted by Sarah Addison Allen. In fact, this is one of the very things that make her books so enjoyable as Sarah Addison Allen creates such peaceful and soothing worlds despite all the hustle, bustle and very real to life situations she describes. I didn't want LOST LAKE to end!
LOST LAKE has so many memorable scenes and characters that a review just can't do it justice. From the whimsical but oh so wise Devin to the mute Lisette to the cranky seductress Selma , each character has depth and finds something they may not even know they are missing in LOST LAKE. I particularly like the elements involving the alligator as it adds just the right touch of magical realism to the story.
LOST LAKE will always have a special place in my heart as Sarah Addison Allen thoughtfully addresses the grieving process and shows that the pain can be overcome. LOST LAKE is a beautiful, lyrical, and poignant tale that will resonate with readers everywhere. I can't recommend LOST LAKE enough!
From the author of New York Times bestseller Garden Spells comes a beautiful, haunting story of old loves and new, and the power of the connections that bind us forever… The first time Eby Pim saw Lost Lake, it was on a picture postcard. Just an old photo and a few words on a small square of heavy stock, but when she saw it, she knew she was seeing her future. That was half a life ago. Now Lost Lake is about to slip into Eby’s past. Her husband George is long passed. Most of her demanding extended family are gone. All that’s left is a once-charming collection of lakeside cabins succumbing to the Southern Georgia heat and damp, and an assortment of faithful misfits drawn back to Lost Lake year after year by their own unspoken dreams and desires. It’s a lot, but not enough to keep Eby from relinquishing Lost Lake to a developer with cash in hand, and calling this her final summer at the lake. Until one last chance at family knocks on her door. Lost Lake is where Kate Pheris spent her last best summer at the age of twelve, before she learned of loneliness, and heartbreak, and loss. Now she’s all too familiar with those things, but she knows about hope too, thanks to her resilient daughter Devin, and her own willingness to start moving forward. Perhaps at Lost Lake her little girl can cling to her own childhood for just a little longer… and maybe Kate herself can rediscover something that slipped through her fingers so long ago. One after another, people find their way to Lost Lake, looking for something that they weren’t sure they needed in the first place: love, closure, a second chance, peace, a mystery solved, a heart mended. Can they find what they need before it’s too late? At once atmospheric and enchanting, Lost Lake shows Sarah Addison Allen at her finest, illuminating the secret longings and the everyday magic that wait to be discovered in the unlikeliest of places.
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