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Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen

It seems like forever since Sarah Addison Allen put out a new book!  It was worth the wait, however--and next week, Lost Lake will be out in bookstores everywhere.  How can you ignore this cover?  It just invites you to pick up the book, settle into a comfy chair, and let the magic take over.

Kate has been living in a fog of grief since her husband died suddenly a year ago.  In that fog, her forceful mother-in-law Cricket has taken over her life by selling her home and putting Devin, Kate's young daughter, into a private school.  Now it's crunch time, and Kate is expected to move into Cricket's home and work for her realty business.

Except Kate just woke up, and realizes she doesn't want any of this.  Instead of driving to Cricket's home, she  travels to Selby, Georgia with an old postcard in hand from her Great Aunt Eby.  Lost Lake is a resort that has seen better days, and Aunt Eby has decided to sell to a developer.  But there's still one magical summer left, and Lost Lake has something to say…

This book is all about the toll grief takes, the choices we make to move onward and embrace life, the places we find that seem pretty safe, but are actually places we find ourselves stuck in, unable to get out.  Lost Lake brings together a casts of characters that are sweetly quirky; all find a home at Lost Lake and gather there for once last chance to stay at the cabins before Eby sells.  With flashbacks to Eby's life as a young honeymooner in Paris and Amsterdam in the 1960's, the story fleshes out and Eby's choices later in life are understandable.  Kate's desire to do something and Devin's desire to stay at Lost Lake all get mixed up with the other guests at Lost Lake, and something magical happens.  You'll have to read it to find out!

Trying to describe this book, I can only come up with the words "sweet and gentle".  A lot of life changes happen at Lost Lake; necessary for all who are there that last summer.  This is a book that keeps you contemplating long after you've turned the last page.  I loved it, and you will, too.

Rating:  8/10; a favorite author returns with a magical tale of waking up to life.
Available January 21st in hardcover, audio, and ebook.

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