The Lake House

Don’t read this novel if you have an overflowing “To Do” list, if you value your sleep, or if you need to clean your house from top to bottom for Thanksgiving company, because you will become an unproductive zombie with a dirty house. :) That’s pretty much what happened to me. By the time I got to the last quarter of the book I decided to just sit down and finish it, which was hard to do with a toddler. Luckily, I had some peanut butter cookies on hand for those “just a few more pages” or “just one more chapter” moments.

The Lake House is set in beautiful Cornwall and mainly bounces back and forth between the 1930s and 2003. It involves several family mysteries, a missing child, and a web of family relationships so complex you just might lay awake until 3 a.m. trying to untangle it all.

I have loved all of Morton’s novels, but The Lake House ranks up there with my other favorite, The Forgotten Garden. Morton is a master of atmosphere, suspense, and plot. I can tell she is well versed in Victorian Gothic literature. Some might say her endings are too “neat,” but I prefer to see them as fearlessly satisfying and refreshingly lacking in cynicism.

My recommendation is to immediately get yourself a copy of this novel. Then, grab a warm blanket, a cup of hot chocolate, curl up in your favorite chair and let those long autumn evenings become your friend.