The Lake of Dreams

A Novel

By: Kim Edwards

Narrated by: Ann Marie Lee

Length: 16 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

The highly anticipated new novel from the #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Memory Keeper's Daughter.

With revelations that prove as captivating as the deceptions at the heart of her best-selling 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. At a crossroads in her life, Lucy Jarrett returns home from Japan, only to find herself haunted by her father's unresolved death a decade ago. Old longings stirred up by Keegan Fall, a local glass artist who was once her passionate first love, lead her into the unexpected. Late one night, as she paces the hallways of her family's rambling lakeside house, she discovers, locked in a window seat, a collection of objects that first appear to be useless curiosities, but soon reveal a deeper and more complex family past. As Lucy discovers and explores the traces of her lineage00from an heirloom tapestry and dusty political tracts to a web of allusions depicted in stained-glass windows throughout upstate New York-the family story she has always known is shattered, Lucy's quest for the truth reconfigures her family's history, links her to a unique slice of the suffragette movement, and yields dramatic insights that embolden her to live freely. With surprises at every turn, brimming with vibrant detail, The Lake of Dreams is an arresting saga in which every element emerges as a carefully place piece of the puzzle that's sure to enthrall the millions of readers who loved The Memory Keeper's Daughter.

©2010 Kim Edwards (P)2010 Penguin

terrible

not worth your time. I couldn't even get though the first part. The story jumps from one to the other and it is really hard to follow. The narrator has a difficult voice (I'm sure she does justice to other stories) but this one just wasn't a good fit for her.

Obsessed with the past

The most irritating thing about this story was the way sentences, scenes, and thoughts were repeated. It was like deja vu. I think they forgot to edit it and when the story was revised, they did a copy and paste, rather than a cut and paste. The narrator was overly dramatic in the scenes when nothing was really happening other than foreshadowing. I wonder if she read the book before starting her narration? The story itself was all about the past of the family, but had very little action. The main character was continually expressing her emotional turmoil, but really seemed to have very little to be upset about. I did like the focus on stained glass windows and the descriptions of the village and towns near the lake. It was a relaxing and low key read with an unusual storyline. Pleasant, but bordering on tedious at times.

I loved it

What made the experience of listening to The Lake of Dreams the most enjoyable?

I liked the narrator despite the other reviews.

Any additional comments?

I read the reviews and have now listened to the audiobook 3 times. I think the narrator has a sense of peacefulness in her voice, it does not seem slow to me. For those of us obsessed with genealogy, this audiobook fit the bill. I found myself wishing I could find out what Lucy had found out and to actually find a relative in their family still alive is priceless. I enjoyed the story and will listen to it again.

The Lake of Dreams

I am having a bit of trouble listening because the reader has a way of reading the most normal phrases like "She closed the Door" in an overly dramatic way and it really gets on my nerves. My suggestion to her is to try and watch for this as the rest of her reading is quite well done.

Boring narrator

Though I found the book interesting, I felt the narrator turned it into a long, boring audible book. Her voice spoke each word as if it were so important that it made the entire book very anticlimatic. If another narrator had read it, I think that my interest would have been held much more. The narrator could have sped up her voice just a little and not ended each sentence with a hanging explanation point.

Much Ado about...what?

Despite the fact that I didn't think this book compares favorably to this writer's previous novel, "The Memory Keeper's Daughter" it is still an interesting listen and highly "credit-worthy".

I disagree with the hype I've seen on some other sites that say "Kim Edwards goes to Japan" or something similar. Actually this book has little whatever to do with Japan, and that part of the world is just an entry point for the story.

I thought Edwards had a good thing going in "Memory Keeper" because of the awkward situation presented at the beginning of the novel, and the difficult dilemma that forms the spine of the narrative from that point onward. In that way this setup reminded me so much of Jodi Picoult's work or novels by Chris Bojahlian.

"The Lake of Dreams", however, has none of this going on and it feels as though the story is missing a dimension. It's all about a woman obsessed with her geneaology and relationship to a stained glass luminary from the 1920's and 30's - all of which made me sigh and say so what? Edwards even leaves out the logical hookup with two of the main players. Mixed in is the usual dysfunctional family with plenty of real estate resources and financial assets to fight about, and the pc tone of it all makes it almost sound preachy. Compare to the neutral tone of "The Memory Keeper's Daughter".

The book is extremely well-written, despite the clich?? of using a story within a story told by a package of hand-written letters - as usual, wrapped and tied by the typical ribbon bow - but overdoes it on description and could have been about half as long. The style is quite baroque and poetic, if you want to call it that, which is further compounded by the narrator's painstakingly slow reading.

I hope that Kim Edwards soon returns to her more edgy themes.

Sadly, I'm "joining the crowd" in How Many Stars..

I hate to tagalong with other people's thoughts, but I have to agree with many of the lower rated reviews. I had to speed up the read (I listened on an iPod) because it was just too dragged out. The author restated too many dull details. The narrator was just so-so. Overall I thought the book was depressing. This was my FIRST "audible" read and I'm not very impressed with the book's selection. I hope the next ones I choose have more to offer.

Both Story and Narrator Got Better

It took me a while to get into this book, and I really hated the narrator for most of the book. But at some point and 2/3 in, I got hooked into the story. Narrator was still flawed but not as annoying as earlier. I agree with the reviewer who said sing-song voice. Also overly dramatic.

I want to enjoy this book, but I just can’t…

The story is REALLY slow getting started. I’m in chapter 5, and I could probably get through except the narrators voice just makes it unbearable.

Sweet Story

Initially I hated this narrator. She spoke so slowly, I had to incresase the speed for a good part of the book. However as I kept reading and the story unfolded I truly enjoyed this sweet little story. And the narrator actually worked with the overall tone of the book.