Lost Lake - Sarah Addison Allen

5 Stars!!!

ABOUT THE BOOK -

The first time Eby Pim saw Lost Lake, it was on a picture postcard. Just an old photo and a few words on a small square of heavy stock, but when she saw it, she knew she was seeing her future.

That was half a life ago. Now Lost Lake is about to slip into Eby’s past. Her husband George is long passed. Most of her demanding extended family are gone. All that’s left is a once-charming collection of lakeside cabins succumbing to the Southern Georgia heat and damp, and an assortment of faithful misfits drawn back to Lost Lake year after year by their own unspoken dreams and desires.

It’s a lot, but not enough to keep Eby from relinquishing  Lost Lake to a developer with cash in hand, and calling this her final summer at the lake. Until one last chance at family knocks on her door.

Lost Lake is where Kate Pheris spent her last best summer at the age of twelve,  before she learned of loneliness, and heartbreak, and loss. Now she’s all too familiar with those things, but she knows about hope too, thanks to her resilient daughter Devin, and her own willingness to start moving forward. Perhaps at Lost Lake her little girl can cling to her own childhood for just a little longer… and maybe Kate herself can rediscover something that slipped through her fingers so long ago.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR -

Sarah Addison Allen is the New York Times Bestselling author of Garden Spells (2007) The Sugar Queen (2008) The Girl Who Chased the Moon (2010) and The Peach Keeper (2011). She was born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina.

Visit her website - HERE





MY REVIEW -
Absolutely brilliant! I loved this story! I have now read all five of Sarah's books (except for a short story - Waking Kate, a prequel, which I just downloaded). I have loved all of her books, but I really think this was my personal favorite!

As in all of Sarah's books - there are lots of little magical parts which is why I love her books so much. I would say her books are "magically creative". They are not your run of the mill, usual magic stuff like witches and spells. This is more just normal people like you and I that have strange, unexplainable, "magical" things happen. And this book has lots of it.

The character development in here is superb! It only takes you seconds to fall in love with all the characters.
Kate - She just awoke from grieving a year after the death of her husband. Decides she wants to "get on with her life".
Devin (Kate's daughter) - She is s free spirit and free thinker. She wears tutus and cowboy boots. She believes in talking alligators that leave her messages. And she lives life to the fullest!
Both Kate and her daughter are delightful!
Eby - Mistress of "Lost Lake", nostalgic, loving and caring, and always doing for others before herself.
Lisette - The french cook. Doesn't talk - was born without a voice box, but she can "talk" to you just by looking at you. She sees her dead boyfriend and saves a chair for him in the kitchen.
Selma - Red haired beauty, a guest at lost lake. She has charms that get her any man she wants.
Bulahdeen - a very sweet, chatty old woman, also a guest.
Wes - Loved him! Owns land next to Lost Lake, lost his little brother in a fire, was childhood friends/sweethearts with Kate.
Cricket - Kate's mother-in-law - AKA "wicked witch of the west"!

This story is so vividly written it makes you feel like you have just jumped into the pages and right into Lost Lake! I so wanted to be there. What a wonderful, magical place.

There are some really great lines in here! I will delight you with a few -

"Magic is what we invent when we want something we think we can't have."

"If we measure life in the things that almost happened, we wouldn't get anywhere."

"The books I read when I was twenty completely changed when I read them when I was sixty. You know why? Because the endings changed. After you finish a book, the story still goes on in your mind. You can never change the beginning. But you can always change the end."

"When your cup is empty, you do not morn what is gone. Because if you do, you will miss the opportunity to fill it again."

"Sometimes, the best endings are the ones that surprise you. Sometimes, the best are the ones that have everything happening  exactly how you want it to happen. But the absolute perfect endings are when you get a little of both."

~Some great philosophy there!

What a great, fun, magical book! If you are a fan of Sarah Addison Allen or not - you will want to read this one!

Thanks Librarything early reviewers for sending me this book for my honest review!

Get your copy from Amazon - HERE