- Paperback: 380 pages
- Publisher: Viking (29 Nov 2011)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0670921211
- ISBN-13: 978-0670921218
- Product Dimensions: 17.8 x 11.2 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 438,825 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Lake of Dreams
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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 an alternate 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 an alternate Paperback edition.
Product Description
The darkest secrets are the ones we hide from ourselves...
Ten years ago, traumatized by her father's death, Lucy left her home and her country. Now, she returns to her family's rambling lakeside home to lay old ghosts to rest.
However, sleepless one night, she makes a momentous discovery. Locked in a moonlit window seat is a collection of family heirlooms - objects whose secrets no one was ever supposed to find. Piecing together her family's true history, she realises that the story she has always been told was a fiction. And the more she uncovers, the more Lucy comes to question her own life choices - including why it is that her first lover, Keegan Fall, has never left her heart . . .
Mesmerizing and haunting, The Lake of Dreams is a startling story of family secrets and lies, lost love and redemption, and of the many pieces and puzzles that make up a life.
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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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.
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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
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