‘A stunning new novel about adultery, first love and other family secrets…’
– Lake Effect (Publishers Quote)
[ About Lake Effect ]
It’s 1977 and an air of restlessness has settled on the residents of Cambridge Road in Rochester, New York. When Nina Larkin is given a copy of The Joy of Sex by her newly divorced friend, she can no longer dismiss the nearly non-existent intimacy of her marriage. Just as her oldest child, Clara, is falling in love for the first time, Nina finds herself longing for the forbidden: a midlife awakening. An intoxicating fling with a neighbour brings Nina a freedom she never thought possible—but also risks the reputations of both families and unravels Clara’s world, just as she stands on the threshold of adulthood.
Years later Clara, now a successful food stylist in New York City, has never been able to move past the long-ago scandal. Drawn back home by the pull of a family wedding and wrestling with her own demons, she makes a pivotal decision that turns her life upside down.
[ My Review ]
Lake Effect by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney published with The Borough Press March 3rd and is described as a novel with the author’s ‘signature humour and insight…a wise and probing look at love and desire, mothers and daughters, loss and grief, and what we owe the people we love most.‘
Ten years ago I read and reviewed The Nest, D’Aprix Sweeney’s debut, which stunningly explored the complexities of the family dynamic. It was a novel that rightfully received great acclaim with its wonderful humour and observations. Recently, I was delighted to be given an opportunity to read Lake Effect, a book that left me a little bereft and a smidgeon nostalgic.
Spanning the late 1970s to the 1990s, Lake Effect is the story of two families whose lives become forever entwined following one shocking decision that would reverberate through both for decades. When Nina Larkin decides to shake up her dormant sex life with a neighbour she is taken aback by the feelings that are awakened. This eye-opening experience brings her to a momentous realisation that her marriage is beyond repair. Her husband, Sam, is very dependable and generous but the romance is long gone. This awakening in her late forties, once lit, cannot be dampened, leaving Nina with a choice. Does she follow her heart or her head? With two daughters she is conscious of the impact her decision will have on them but she also feels an urgent need to grab this opportunity. In a time when divorce in the American suburbs was not quite so acceptable, Nina knows that she will pay a heavy price for her decision but the reality proves to be even more of a struggle.
Her eldest daughter, Clara, is on the cusp of adulthood and her mother’s actions cause her untold pain. In the moment, she struggles to comprehend how her mother could do this to their family and this seed plants itself firmly in her mind for years to come. Nina’s affair is with Finn a neighbour, a man who had sat at their dinner table for parties and other events over the years. His wife, Honey, is mortified, distraught with this betrayal but Honey is an expert at covering things up so she invests herself in other activities with her head held high. Finn and Honey have teenagers who are shocked to the core with their father’s departure, leaving all with more questions than answers as the weeks and months pass by.
The consequences of Nina and Finn’s actions have a ripple effect that stretch out over the years, with some family members more forgiving than others, and then there is Clara. When her mother left the family home, Clara was unforgiving, leaving her angry and in a downward spiral. Many of her personal relationships that followed were dysfunctional in nature as she suffered commitment issues. This bitterness caused rancour and sadness as the rift deepened between Clara and Nina.
Over the next twenty years, we dip in and out of each family as they transition to a new, and very layered, dynamic. Nina and Finn were not given an easy path back into society. Their decision was fraught with pain but they always remained hopeful that their families would eventually accept them together.
With wonderful references to the 1970s and the 1990s, Lake Effect is another striking portrayal of the complex relationships within families. There are numerous unexpected moments with each one expertly unravelling, revealing another powerful juncture in this glorious novel.
I devoured Lake Effect. The language is beautiful with the private moments, between different pairings at pivotal times in their lives, all skillfully written. By the last page I was left sitting there contemplating the nature of what I had just read. A sublime book, Lake Effect swept me off my feet and immersed me into the lives of these two ordinary families whose lives become entangled forever. There is the moral dilemma here surrounding Nina and Finn’s decision. Were they good people or were their acts selfish and destructive? It is up to you the reader to decide…
Extremely emotive, Lake Effect is a beautifully astute tale. D’Aprix Sweeney writes with such a poignant hand making this a novel to contemplate and to savour.
[ Thank you to Harper Collins and The Borough Press for a copy of Lake Effect in exchange for my honest review ]
[ Bio ]
Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney is the author of the instant New York Times bestselling novels The Nest (named a best book of the year by People, the Washington Post, and NPR) and Good Company (a Read with Jenna selection). She has been a guest on Today, Late Night with Seth Meyers and NPR’s All Things Considered.
Her work has been translated into more than 28 languages, and The Nest is in development as a limited series with AMC Studios.
Sweeney holds an MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars.
She and her husband live in New York City.
