Lost Lake

by Sarah Addison Allen

[Lianne]

I received a copy of this novel through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers programme in exchange for an honest review. This review in its entirety was originally posted at caffeinatedlife.net: http://www.caffeinatedlife.net/blog/2014/04/15/review-lost-lake/

Lost Lake was a wonderful, quiet and magical read. In some ways it’s much more mature than her previous works; most of the characters are older and all of them have experienced much: lost loves, lost people, growing up, growing old. Despite of all of this, it’s Eby’s getaway that brings all of these disparate characters together, a place that helps people find themselves and the things they thought they lost. There’s a magical nostalgia to Lost Lake and you can see the differnt ways in which the place affects these characters. The book really is about second chances and making a fresh start, which is often difficult after a tragedy or a great upheaval or a traumatic event from the past.

All of the characters in this novel were interesting, charming, each with their own baggage. Kate and her daughter Devin are the main characters who draw the reader into the story, but all of the characters more or less have equal “screen time”, so sometimes it doesn’t feel as though Kate is the main character. Death and loss predominantly affects these characters, the spectre of lost people hovering at the back of their minds. It’s haunting and sad at times but the way they interact and come together is happy and hopeful so the emotions balance out nicely. I just wish there were more scenes/time spent with the characters because I felt it was a little too short, lol.

Overall I really enjoyed Lost Lake, it was mysterious at times but also inviting. I was initially surprised because it felt as though the magical realism was toned down a lot in the novel but over the course of the novel it does surface in interesting ways. Fans of magical realism and Sarah Addison Allen’s novels will enjoy this title.