- Jubilee offer: spend Ł10 or more on any product sold by Amazon.co.uk on or before June 6 and you can buy The Diamond Jubilee A Classical Celebration Album for just Ł2.50 Here's how (terms and conditions apply)
The Lake of Dreams
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to Ł0.25
Get an extra Ł5 when you trade in books worth Ł10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in The Lake of Dreams for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to Ł0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Special Offers and Product Promotions
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
An absorbing, perceptive and moving tale that fans of The Memory Keeper's Daughter will lap up (Daily Mail )
Beautifully plotted and breathtakingly accomplished (Daily Express )
An emotional novel with lyrical touches (Sunday Times )
A powerful saga (Good Housekeeping )
An epic of discovery and deception (She )
A page-turner (Red ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Beautifully plotted and breathtakingly accomplished (Daily Express )
An emotional novel with lyrical touches (Sunday Times )
A powerful saga (Good Housekeeping )
An epic of discovery and deception (She )
A page-turner (Red ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Product Description
A woman's homecoming, a family secret and an old house that holds the key to a shocking legacy...
After years abroad, Lucy returns home from Japan. At a crossroads in her life, she is newly haunted by her father's unresolved death a decade ago. Late one night, as she paces the hallways of her family's rambling lakeside house, she discovers, locked in a window seat, a collection of objects that first appear to be idle curiosities, but soon reveal a complex family history. Old longings stirred up by her passionate first love soon lead her into the unexpected. And as Lucy discovers and explores the traces of her past, the family story she has always known is shattered - and then dramatically reconfigured, emboldening her to live with a freedom she has never known before.
With surprises at every turn, brimming with vibrant detail, The Lake of Dreams is a gripping and powerful saga that's sure to enthrall the millions of readers who loved The Memory Keeper's Daughter.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I haven't read the widely acclaimed Memory Keeper's Daughter (also by this author) so can't compare it to that, but having heard such great things, thought I'd give this latest offering a try. This is the story of Lucy, who returns to her childhood home from Japan after several years. Whilst there she discovers a number of old letters and papers in her mother's house, seemingly they belonged to a mysterious ancestor of whom none of the family have ever heard and who appears to have disappeared from the family tree. Lucy sets out to discover what could have happened that meant she was wiped from their family history.
This is an interesting enough story, very nicely written with some vivid descriptions and a good talent for setting the scene, I could almost taste the delicious home cooked food in Avery's cafe. However my one criticism would be that it is a very gently paced read and I felt like I was always waiting for something to happen, and nothing much ever really did. I didn't dislike it by any means but was left feeling that within all those pages there was very little action of any kind.
As for the characterisation, I found Lucy's boyfriend Yoshi was just a cardboard cutout, her ex boyfriend and first love Keegan was far more engaging, and her mother was very defensive and not very likeable.
This is an interesting enough story, very nicely written with some vivid descriptions and a good talent for setting the scene, I could almost taste the delicious home cooked food in Avery's cafe. However my one criticism would be that it is a very gently paced read and I felt like I was always waiting for something to happen, and nothing much ever really did. I didn't dislike it by any means but was left feeling that within all those pages there was very little action of any kind.
As for the characterisation, I found Lucy's boyfriend Yoshi was just a cardboard cutout, her ex boyfriend and first love Keegan was far more engaging, and her mother was very defensive and not very likeable.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
To be fair, this is not a book I would normally have chosen, so maybe I am not the best judge. Having now read it, I remain unconvinced. There are some nice descriptive passages and the story flows along easily enough, but it never really challenges, surprises, or indeed impresses the reader. It's a formulaic, gentle romance/family history that just never quite takes off. The central plot of the secret family history gradually uncovered by the protagonist fails to grip, and the characters, though largely believable, are not interesting enough to keep the reader emotionally involved in the story. Works fine as a mindless way of filling some time, but anyone looking for a more memorable or rewarding read should search elsewhere.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
The Lake of Dreams is a nicely written book with some lovely imagery but by the end I felt like it was all a bit pointless.
Essentially it's a story about a genealogy search after the protagonist, Lucy, finds some unusual items in her family home. The search takes the majority of the book and although Lucy reveals some interesting family secrets I felt it was never really fully explored and it all culminated very quickly and resolved in a few pages.
There was a lot of potential in the links to women's rights in the early part of the twentieth century but I didn't think the author really made the most of what could have been really interesting material. There are also themes of Inuit rights, environmental issues, land rights and family relationships but I think that the author just attempts to get too much in and never really deals with any of the themes thoroughly enough.
Note that there is a family tree at the back of the book - I only found it at the end when it was useless to me!
All-in-all a nicely written book that didn't get to grips with any of the themes it covered and left me feeling less than satisfied. Not one I would really recommend to my reader friends.
Essentially it's a story about a genealogy search after the protagonist, Lucy, finds some unusual items in her family home. The search takes the majority of the book and although Lucy reveals some interesting family secrets I felt it was never really fully explored and it all culminated very quickly and resolved in a few pages.
There was a lot of potential in the links to women's rights in the early part of the twentieth century but I didn't think the author really made the most of what could have been really interesting material. There are also themes of Inuit rights, environmental issues, land rights and family relationships but I think that the author just attempts to get too much in and never really deals with any of the themes thoroughly enough.
Note that there is a family tree at the back of the book - I only found it at the end when it was useless to me!
All-in-all a nicely written book that didn't get to grips with any of the themes it covered and left me feeling less than satisfied. Not one I would really recommend to my reader friends.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Moving
After reading 'The Memory Keeper's Daughter', which was one of my favourite books, I was excited to see this book had been released. However, it did not live up to my expectations. Read more
Published 13 days ago by Carol
Could Have Been Better
I have read a couple of books where there is a family secret to be discovered and thought this would be similar. Unfortunately I was disappointed. Read more
Published 16 days ago by Bluebell1811
Interesting...........
I read this as I really enjoyed the author's previous novel. I agree with other reviewers in the fact that it was a bit of a slow read , however it is worth sticking with to see... Read more
Published 25 days ago by Tilly Tompkins
Not for me
I really enjoyed The Memory Keeper's Daughter so was expecting to like this book too but disappointingly I found it to be very boring and slow. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Bookworm
Slow and overly-wordy read
I picked this up from my mother in law as the blurb on the back seemed interesting. I have found, however, that it is slow to go anywhere and I've felt frustrated that the story... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Esmerelda
Moving but lacks oomph!
Not immediately attention grabbing, this novel does take some building up and does appear quite confusing at first, but persist, although I wouldn't say it was a brilliant read it... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Lisa-Scarlet
Unexpected depth
I should in the interest of full disclosure say that I'm a big fan of split historical/contemporary and love a bit of Rachel Hore, whose writing this was reminiscent of. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mrs. Nicola Clements
Beautifully Written
Was captivating from the outset. Interest was maintianed during the first half of the book, but really beagn to wane in the second. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Kate20
Disappointing Lake of Dreams
I had been looking forward to reading this book but, in the end, I had to force myself to wade through it. Read more
Published 1 month ago by josie h
Not as good as the memory keeper's daughter
Picked up this book as it kept appearing in bookshops, top 10 books, reccommended reads etc. Also thought as I'd enjoyed The Memory Keeper's Daughter that I would like this... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Saz
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
