The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards: Book Review

 With revelations that prove as captivating as the deceptions at the heart of her bestselling phenomenon The Memory Keeper's Daughter, Kim Edwards now gives us the story of a woman's homecoming, a family secret, and the old house that holds the key to the true legacy of a family.

Sites of Interest: Author's Site | Amazon 

Publisher: Viking Adult | Published: January 4, 2011

Hardbound | 400 pages | ISBN: 978-0670022175

Genre: Fiction

It had potential. If I could tell you of a perfect book and all of its elements, Kim Edward’s The Lake of Dreams had all of these elements. There was an independent heroine, an interesting and attention-grabbing preface and a dark family past to be discovered. However, the reality of the book was gravely disappointing. Edwards is the well-known author of The Memory Keepers Daughter, a bestseller. Even amazon.com stated that ‘Lake of Dreams may disappoint fans of her first novel.’ I’m not saying the entire novel was terrible, there were certainly some extremely interesting tidbits and well written parts, but overall I was gravely disappointed by the unnecessary detail and selfish unlikeable characters.

The Lake of Dreams tells the story of Lucy Jarrett, a glorified nomad who jumps between many different jobs and many different men over the years, but has settled in Japan with her current boyfriend Yoshi. Lucy takes a trip back to her hometown in upstate New York to visit her family. She is immersed in her past world, reuniting with her high school boyfriend Keegan Fall, and unearthing the feelings associated with her father’s death. She learns that her brother and uncle are trying to drain the local marsh (rightfully owned by the Iroquois) to build a high-end property. While all of these changes are happening around her, she discovers an old letter from an unknown relative. As she delves deeper and deeper into her family’s dark past, she discovers a hundred year old secret that could change her family’s fate forever. The secret involves scandal, suffragettes, and stained glass windows. While none of these things seem related, they all fall into a perfectly intricate puzzle by the time the last page has been turned. Meanwhile, she becomes closer to Keegan and begins to imagine a life back in the Lake of Dreams, but will the changes in her life prevent her from finding happiness? And, what about Yoshi back in Japan? Lucy’s world has been turned upside down and inside out all because of a hundred year old letter she found under the window seat.

The plot of the story is spot-on and I greatly enjoyed the family history, but I was suffocated by the minute detail. After reading, I would be able to sketch the entire town, who lived in the town’s houses, and even the twists and turns of the marsh. Personally, I don’t need to know that much about a fictional town. The “family secret” could have been dissolved nicely into half of the chapters it took to unfold. Edwards could have a gem of a novel if she could shave off a few chapters, half of the detail provided, and about ten uses of the word detritus.

It is with many thanks this book was provided by the publisher as a complimentary copy to review.