"Lake of Dreams" by Kim Edwards ~ Now on Goodreads and Amazon.com

More research reveals a new book by Kim Edwards of "The Memorykeeper's Daughter!"  Oh, my!  My "Outdoing Yourself...Challenge 2011" is getting easier by the moment!!  I need to hop back over and see who else is building their lists....

Can we hope to have as good a novel this time around?  I hope so.  It's always difficult to follow a blockbuster novel, particularly one made into a movie (!!), with a 2nd novel.   I think it's our duty not to set our hopes too  high.   This can really hurt a novelist.

Earlier this year when "Ape House" came out the reviews were all a-swirl about whether the book was as good as "Water for Elephants." Many reviewers and friends of mine were comparing the two and "Ape..." was on the losing side.  It's a shame because the subjects were totally different.  "Ape House" is a stand-alone novel and is a very good one!  Actually, I found it more interesting than "....Elephants," to tell the truth.  But poor Sara Gruen had to suffer through that 2nd Novel Syndrome.

Here's the summary of "The Lake of Dreams" that Goodreads is showing:

"With revelations that prove as captivating as the deceptions at the heart of her bestselling 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 lineage - from 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."

I'm holding out hope that this new work is as good as her first, that it's different, and that it holds its own.  Certainly sounds like it!

Let me know what you're thinking...

Your Bookish Dame/Deb