Title: Lost Lake

Author: Sarah Addison Allen

Publisher: St. Martin's Press 2014

Genre: Magical Realism

Pages: 296

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library; 52 Books - W24; Monthly Key Word - May (Lost); Lucky No. 14 - Cover Lust

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.

I just love Allen's books.  I always know what I'm getting into when I pick one up: great characters, a bit of magic, and a happy ending.  They're fairly predictable and yet I always get lost in the stories.  I especially loved Devin and the alligator from this story.  Something about the little girl who "sees" more than most of the adults rings true.  I even liked Selma and her part in the resolution of the conflict.  Definitely a go-to feel good read for the week.