The Lake House

by Kate Morton

Living on her family's gorgeous lakeside estate in Cornwall, England, Alice Edevane is a bright, clever, inquisitive, innocent, and precociously talented fourteen-year-old who loves to write stories. One midsummer's eve, after a beautiful party drawing hundreds of guests to the estate has ended, the Edevanes discover that their youngest son, Theo, has vanished without a trace. What follows is a tragedy that tears the family apart, leaving their estate as empty as their broken hearts. Nearly sixty years later, having enjoyed a long, successful career as an author, Alice is now eighty years old and living in London. Theo's case has never been solved, though Alice still harbors a suspicion as to the culprit. Miles away, Sadie Sparrow, a young detective in the London police force, is staying at her grandfather's house in Cornwall. While out walking one day, she stumbles upon the old estate. Her curiosity is sparked, setting off a series of events that will bring her and Alice together.

• ISBN10: 1451649320
• ISBN13: 9781451649321
• Publish Date: 20 October 2015
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Imprint: Atria Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 512
• Language: English

Reviews

[Liz (Bent Bookworm)]

Beautiful. I loved the entire book. More details later maybe.

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

Kate Morton is the master of weaving multiple storylines together. In The Lake House, there are multiple stories being told—Sadie is a detective with a secret, Eleanor is a mother with a secret and Alice is a daughter with a secret. Alice and Sadie exist in the present time and Eleanor exists in the past. The stories of these three women share a common theme and are slowly revealed through research and flashbacks.

As a long time fan of Morton’s work, I’m always trying to dissect and figure out what the major secret is in her novels. I nearly had this one figured out before the grand reveal. This was exciting for me as I’m not sure that I’ve been able to do that with any of the other books of hers that I have read. It was rewarding to have figured most of it out. It was the final piece that I didn’t get, but I don’t think there were enough textual clues to have figured it out before the end. As result, that final mystery fell a bit flat.

My favorite part about The Lake House was the insight into Alice’s life as a writer. Because the story revolves around Alice reflecting on her life growing up, the reader is able to witness an author being born. It was quite intriguing to see how the events in Alice’s life, especially the disappearance of her brother, Theo, shaped her as a writer. You’ll have to decide, as you read the book, if her obsession with observing others and writing EVERYTHING down was a positive influence on her life or not.

The Lake House is another wonderful addition to Morton’s body of work. While not my favorite of Morton’s because of the final reveal, I did enjoy Sadie’s journey through time to discover the truth behind Theo disappearance and Alice’s reflections on her life as she discovered the truth about her family—a truth she thought she knew already.


This review was originally posted on Second Run Reviews

[elysium]

4,5 stars

This is my second Morton book I’ve read and this was even better than The Forgotten Garden. Why is the books you love the hardest to review?

The dual timeline works well here and while the story is told from various point of views it’s not confusing at all.

I’m not good at solving mysteries and I though several times that I know what happened and then something new comes up. I got something right but one thing really surprised me and did not see it coming.

I don’t remember when was the last time that I got so caught up in a book that I jut want to keep reading and reading. I’m definitely reading more from Morton!

[Kait ✨]

If you’re a Kate Morton fan, you’ll probably really like this book; if you’re not, you might, but it isn’t where I’d recommend you start. I had a few minor quibbles with this book, namely that it felt like quite a slow start and was perhaps a bit too neatly wrapped up (though that may be an unfair criticism). Overall, though, I really enjoyed The Lake House—it had all the essential ingredients that make Kate Morton’s books so charming and compelling (abandoned house in the countryside, family secrets, the past being dug up, and subsequently, a narrative that is split between the past and the present). This perhaps is starting to feel a bit tired, but the narrative was made fresh for me with a compelling present-day narrator and a stronger detective element than is usual in her books. Sadie Sparrow is a lot of fun and I loved learning more about her, which was an unusual surprise: I don’t often like the modern narrator in these types of split narrative books. Sadie’s a detective, and I enjoyed guessing if her suspects committed the crime or not. Kate Morton has really mastered the art of giving the reader enough clues to keep them slightly infuriated and insatiably curious, but not enough to give away the ending. I think [b: The Forgotten Garden|3407877|The Forgotten Garden|Kate Morton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1547843777l/3407877._SY75_.jpg|3448086] and [b: The Distant Hours|6746018|The Distant Hours|Kate Morton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1358273860l/6746018._SY75_.jpg|41374289] are still my favourite Kate Morton books—so if you’re new to her, I’d suggest starting there—but I really enjoyed this one and am eagerly anticipating her next (and, sadly, far-away) novel.