Book
The lake house : a novel / Kate Morton.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781451649321 :
- ISBN: 1451649320 :
- Physical Description: 495 pages ; 24 cm
- Edition: First Atria Books hardcover edition.
- Publisher: New York : Atria Books, 2015.
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | FICTION / Literary. FICTION / Historical. FICTION / General. |
| Genre: | Suspense fiction. Mystery fiction. |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at South Central Regional Library. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Manitou Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manitou Library | F Mor (Text) | 36620001673055 | Adult Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2015 October #2
In the latest from Morton, secrets from the past come to light in the present, a theme that is the author's specialty. Alice Edevane is a teenage novelist in love in 1930s Cornwall. Loeanneth (literally, the lake house) is a place made for storytelling, with magical woods and fairy fields, all totally lost on her stern mother, Eleanor. Seventy years later, Sadie Sparrow is visiting her grandfather after getting too close to a case, a no-no for a London detective. Sadie stumbles upon Loeanneth, frozen in time, and throws herself into the mystery of the abandoned house, using her considerable professional skills and a helpful librarian. She tries to involve a native mystery novelist, A. E. Edevane, who has not been back to Cornwall in years. Missing babies, maternal sacrifice, and secrets, secrets, secretsâMorton offers generous clues, only to peel back deeper layers just when the truth seems close. There is a procedural element to the story for traditional mystery readers, and it is not short on heart-wrenching choices and rich characters. The ending is a bit neat, but after all Morton puts the characters through, they've earned it. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2015 August #2
A suspected kidnapping, a once-proud manor house, and a disgraced police officer all figure in Morton's latest multigenerational Cornish saga. In 2003, Sadie is put on administrative leave from her post with the London police force for getting too involved in a child-abandonment case. She retreats to her grandfather's house in Cornwall, and there, while jogging, she happens upon the ruin of what locals inform her is Loeanneth, the ancestral lakeside manse of the deShiel family. The story ricochets among 2003, 1911, and 1933 as we learn that Eleanor deShiel, who inspired a children's book reminiscent of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, became the chatelaine of Loeanneth thanks to a Downton Abbey-esque plot twist in which, due to the Titanic disaster, new husband Anthony Edevane inherits enough money to reclaim her birthright from creditors. But when Anthony goes to war, he returns shell-shocked and prone to unpredictable outbursts. Meanwhile, their children, Deborah, Alice an d Clemmie, frolic on the grounds, oblivious to their parents' difficulties. Alice, 16, is a budding mystery writer (whose future fame will equal Agatha Christie's), but in 1933 she's nursing a teenage crush on Ben, an impecunious gardener. As a lark, she concocts a hypothetical scenario which might have prompted Ben to kidnap Theo, her baby brother. Flashbacks reveal that Deborah and Clemmie also have reason to blame themselves for Theo's disappearance during an all-night Midsummer's Eve partyâhe was never found and his fate remains unknown. At loose ends, Sadie investigates this cold case, developing several theories. As the various skeins intersect, the story becomes unwieldy; using multiple narrators, Morton can believably withhold information to build suspense, but when such selective nondisclosure is carried to extremes, frustrated readers may be tempted to practice their skimming. An atmospheric but overlong history of family secrets and their tormented gatekeepe r s. Copyright Kirkus 2015 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2015 May #2
New York Times best-selling author Morton (The Secret Keepers) offers another tale of families riven by dark secrets, as 14-year-old Alice Edevane's little brother Theo disappears during a lavish party at the family's sprawling estate in Cornwall, England. The case remains unsolved for 60 years, when Det. Sadie Sparrow of the London police stumbles upon the abandoned estate and approaches Alice, now a grand dame author. Fans are lining up.
[Page 54]. (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. - LJ Express Reviews : LJ Express Reviews
Eleven-month-old Theo Edevane, cherished son of a well-to-do Cornish family, vanishes from his crib on the night of a midsummer ball in 1933. Devastated, the Edevanes, including 16-year-old Alice and her two sisters, leave their isolated estate and never return. Overgrown with weeds and vines, the manor languishes in the English countryside until dejected London DS Sadie Sparrow discovers it on a morning run in 2003. Sparrow, who struggles with her own secrets, becomes preoccupied with the Edevane mystery and doggedly pursues Alice, now in her 90s, to find the truth. Verdict In true Morton fashion, the plot breezes effortlessly through 1933, 2003, and 1911, with rich gothic undertones, superb pacing, and seamless interweaving of the various story lines and time periods.This novel proves yet again that Morton (The House at Riverton; The Secret Keeper) can consistently build intriguing stories with a familiar set of tools: family secrets, forgotten mansions, and troubled modern-day meddlers. Morton's work has wide appeal but is ideal for fans of gothic and historical fiction. [See Prepub Alert, 4/20/15, and Barbara Hoffert's profile of Morton, LJ 8/15.]âErin Entrada Kelly, Philadelphia (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2015 July #4
Bestselling storyteller Morton (The Secret Keeper) excels in this mystery set against the gothic backdrop of 1930s England. In Cornwall, the wealthy Edevane family prepares for its annual midsummer ball at Loenneth, their isolated estate. That night, teenager Alice Edevane is lingering near the nursery when someone kidnaps the cherished Edevane son, Theo; despite a lengthy investigation, he is never found. The story moves forward to 2003 London, where Det. Sgt. Sadie Sparrow is suspended after speaking to the media about a missing-person case, recently closed, that haunts her. Sparrow seeks refuge with her grandfather in Cornwall. On her first morning run there, she finds the now-dilapidated Loenneth mansion deep in the woods. Curious, Sparrow peers through the windows into tumbledown rooms abandoned in haste long ago. She begins to investigate the 70-year-old Edevane case with help from the Cornwall locals, including a retired copper who was there in 1933 when Theo disappeared. Sparrow locates the now-elderly Alice, a celebrated mystery writer in London, who hands over the keys to the estate so Theo's case can be reopened. The compelling story moves back and forth in time as Sparrow uncovers what happened to Theo in 1933 while also resolving the recent missing-person case. Morton's plotting is impeccable, and her finely wrought characters, brought together in the end by Sparrow's investigation, are as surprised as readers will be by the astonishing conclusion. (Oct.)
[Page ]. Copyright 2015 PWxyz LLC
