Review: The Lake House by Kate Morton

Title: The Lake House

Author: Kate Morton

Published: 21 October 2015
Publisher: Allen and Unwin
Source: Allen and Unwin in exchange for an honest review
Reviewed: Sapphired Dragon
Rating: *****

My Review:

This book was one of my first forays into Kate Morton's writing, but after hearing so many good things and the fact the description of this book seemed right up my alley, I couldn't resist requesting it and I am so glad that I did as this book was beyond amazing.

 

At nearly 600 pages, you could be forgiven for being a little intimidated by this book but within a few pages, I was completely lost in the tale, captivated by the story unfolding around me.

 

The story at its core centers around the disappearance of baby Theo on Midsummer 1933. A mystery that has baffled police right up to 2003 when DC Sadie Sparrow from London, on leave after mistake that could cost her career comes across the old family House, Loeanneth and becomes interested in the case even though its been cold for over 50 years.

 

This book extends across three main time periods, namely parts of 1911 though world war 1, early 1930s and 2003 and seen mainly through the eyes of three main protagonists, Alice Edevane and her mother Eleanor Edevane, both of whom were there that fateful Midsummer night and Sadie Sparrow, unaccountably hooked on the mystery and determined to see it through.  Three women, all with secrets of their own colouring their thoughts and feelings.

 

The use of multiple points of view could have been terribly confusing but Ms Morton instead uses them to expertly weave a tale covered in layers that are slowly peeled away to reveal more of the story as Ms Morton brings her characters and the reader ever closer to the truth.

 

Ms Morton's writing style is rich in imagery and flows beautifully as she creates a picture of Cornwall, the house  Loeanneth  and the various surrounds.  Those words on the 600 pages are never wasted, everyone of them crucial to the story,  placed exactly where they should be and tightly woven into the plot. It the perfect combination of writing, story and character to keep me totally invested throughout.

 

The advance praise that this book has received is most definitely well deserved as Kate Morton proves herself to be a master story teller with a beautifully crafted tale that is full of mystery, secrets, drama and romance.

 

I absolutely adored this story and give it 5 stars!

 

Sapphired Dragon xx

About The Book:

The Lake House by Kate Morton

Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon | Booktopia | Allen and Unwin

A missing child.

June 1933, and the Edevane family's country house, Loeanneth, is polished and gleaming, ready for the much-anticipated Midsummer Eve party. Alice Edevane, sixteen years old and a budding writer, is especially excited. Not only has she worked out the perfect twist for her novel, she's also fallen helplessly in love with someone she shouldn't have. But by the time midnight strikes and fireworks light up the night skies, the Edevane family will have suffered a loss so great that they leave Loeanneth forever.

An abandoned house.

Seventy years later, after a particularly troubling case, Sadie Sparrow is sent on an enforced break from her job with the Metropolitan Police. She retreats to her beloved grandfather's cottage in Cornwall but soon finds herself at a loose end. Until one day, Sadie stumbles upon an abandoned house surrounded by overgrown gardens and dense woods, and learns the story of a baby boy who disappeared without a trace.

An unsolved mystery.

Meanwhile, in the attic writing room of her elegant Hampstead home, the formidable Alice Edevane, now an old lady, leads a life as neatly plotted as the bestselling detective novels she writes. Until a young police detective starts asking questions about her family's past, seeking to resurrect the complex tangle of secrets Alice has spent her life trying to escape.