Synopses & Reviews
A haunting, luminous debut novel set in a small New Hampshire town: the story of the crisscrossing of lives, within and without family, and of one woman, given up for adoption as a baby, searching for the truth about her life.
As an infant, Alice Thorton was discovered in Kettleborough, New Hampshire, in a boathouse by the lake; adopted by a young, childless couple; raised with no knowledge of the women who came before her: Eleonora, who brought her family to Bear Island, the nearly uninhabitable scrap of land in Kettleborough’s lake; Signe, the maiden aunt who nearly drowned in the lake, ashamed of her heart; Sophie, the grandmother who turned a blind eye to her unwanted granddaughter. Alice grows up aching for an acceptance she can’t quite imagine, trying to find it first with an older man, then with one who can’t love her back, and finally in the love she feels for one she has never met. And all the while she feels a mysterious pull to the lake. As Alice edges ever closer to her past, Lake People beautifully evokes the interweaving of family history and individual fate, and the intangible connections we feel to the place where we were born.
Synopsis
As an infant, Alice Thorton is found abandoned in a canoe. Adopted by a young childless couple, she is raised with no knowledge of her family’s history, especially that of her strong female forebears—Eleonora, Signe, and Sophie—who hold a special place in the history of their small town of Kettleborough, New Hampshire. Still, as Alice grows up aching for an acceptance she can't quite imagine, she feels a mysterious pull to Kettleborough’s lake and the island at its center, both of which will help provide the key to unlocking the truth of her past.
Resonant with atmosphere, Lake People is a memorable and luminous debut about criss-crossing lives, the interweaving of family history and individual fact, and the intangible connections we feel to the place where we were born.
About the Author
Abi Maxwell was born and raised in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, where she currently lives. She studied fiction writing at the University of Montana and now works as an assistant librarian at the Gilford Public Library. This is her first book.
Reading Group Guide
The introduction, discussion questions, and suggested further reading that follow are designed to enhance your group’s discussion of Abi Maxwell’s Lake People, the haunting debut novel about one woman’s journey to discover her family history and her own identity.