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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.
This ebook edition includes a Reading Group Guide.
- Sales Rank: #834328 in eBooks
- Published on: 2013-02-19
- Released on: 2013-02-19
- Format: Kindle eBook
From Booklist
A powerful sense of place pervades Maxwell’s accomplished, if a bit disjointed, debut. The novel tells the bittersweet tale of Alice Thornton, abandoned in the first days of her life in a boathouse in Kettleborough, New Hampshire. Alice is adopted by a childless couple and gradually begins to discover her deep connections to Kettleborough and the potent history of the women in her birth family. Among them is Eleanora, a hardy pioneer who brought her kin to the area, and eccentric Aunt Signe, who nearly drowned in Kettleborough’s idyllic lake. As she grows older, Alice longs for acceptance, seeking it with a series of men, none of whom can fill the void in her life: there’s Mike, handsome and fascinating but much too old for her; husband Josh, who doesn’t love her; and Simon, kind and well meaning, if a bit simple. In New Hampshire native Maxwell’s first offering, she slows the story’s momentum by shifting back and forth between decades. A more linear narrative might have better suited this otherwise luminous work. --Allison Block
Review
“I read this novel almost without stopping—it’s a riveting book, with quiet lyrical power. It’s also inventive, wonderfully strange, hard-headed, and genuinely enchanting. A very impressive debut.” —Joan Silber, author of National Book Award finalist Ideas of Heaven
“Abi Maxwell’s beautifully imagined debut novel tells the story of Alice Thornton’s search for the truth about her past and the mysterious lake that calls her home. Woven with secrets, danger, and a family history both magical and dark, Lake People held me spellbound until the last haunting page.” —Amy Greene, author of Bloodroot
“Lake People is one of the most astonishing novels I have read in a decade. Abi Maxwell steps into the literary world with a book that rivals Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping.” —Debra Magpie Earling, author of Perma Red
“Lake People is intricate, lovely and wise. Abi Maxwell trusts her stories and her talent, and the result is that rarity among first novels—one that possesses the substance and burnish of a classic.” —Deirdre McNamer, author of Red Rover
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.
Most helpful customer reviews
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful.
Disconnected
By Yolanda S. Bean
This book really failed to capture my interest. If it was any longer than its brief 210 pages, I would not have finished it. It was just dull and the chapters were so disconnected from each other that the book never had a smooth flow or rhythm to it. Perhaps if the chapters were richer in detail they could stand on their own as short stories, but as they were, each one felt more like a muted vignette. Though the setting played perhaps the largest role in the "novel" none of the chapters felt fully rooted in this unique location. Without the year heading each chapter, the time period would be basically indistinguishable. There really was an opportunity here to make at least that part of the story come to life, but unfortunately, 1910 had much in common with the scenes set in 1994.
The premise at the heart of the novel - an adopted woman finding her biological roots - was certainly one that caught my attention, but the mystery never included the reader. The lack of flow between these chapters was further compounded with the oddly shifting perspective. There were chapters here from first-person, third-person and an oddly reflective third-person... It made it impossible to connect with any of the characters. It was a shame because some of the sentences were quite lovely and descriptive, but there weren't enough of them consecutively to compensate for the massive inconsistencies between chapters.
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful.
A dazzling debut; an unusual novel told through stories
By B. Case
"Lake People" by Abi Maxwell is a positively stunning debut, an exquisite novel in the tradition of Marilynne Robinson's "Housekeeping" and Elizabeth Strout's "Olive Kitteridge." I read it once slowly and then immediately turned around and read it again even more slowly. Why? Because the author's well-crafted, precise, and distilled prose was a thorough delight, a quiet pleasure...something easily savored twice.
"Lake People" is an unusual novel told in stories; together the stories form a complete and interconnected whole. Overall, the book is about the life of Alice Thornton, one inhabitant of a small town in the Lake District of New Hampshire.
The book begins where it ends, in 1982, when Alice is 24. In the first chapter, Alice recounts the story of how she was discovered in 1958 as an orphan in a basket in a canoe tied to the boathouse of a prominent town resident. We learn about her great-great-grandmother, Eleonora, whose story forms part of the common heritage and mythology of the town.
In the next chapter, we move back to 1910. Alice's biological grandmother, Sophie, tells a story about her Aunt Signe (one of Eleonora's daughters). That chapter is called "My Heavenly Days" and it is one of many outstanding and satisfying self-contained stories in this unusual novel.
The story "Hush," finds us in 1958. This is a third-person narrative recounting the details concerning the discovery of Alice as an orphan. We learn about Alice's father, mother, uncle, grandmother, and grandfather. We also learn about Mike Shaw and his girlfriend June, inhabitants of the rental above the boathouse where Alice was discovered. This chapter is not so much a self-contained short story as it is part of the architecture of the ongoing tale of Alice's life.
The next story is called "Free." It is one of my favorite complete stories within the novel, and it is told as a third-person narrative. In it we learn about an important event in the life of Alice's adoptive parents, Clara and Paul Thornton.
This is followed by a chapter called "Crossing." In this story, Alice narrates, in the first person, two related tales about her friend Devnet. In the first story, Alice is 12 and Devnet 13. Their friendship ends over how Devnet reacts during an incident that tests their integrity. The second tale is occurs when Alice is 36 and Devnet is 37. They meet again, this time by chance, and similar moral issues arise.
The next tale is called "Lake People." Alice is 16. This story is told as a third-person narrative and recounts a significant event in Alice's life. We learn more about Mike Shaw and his wife, June. We also learn more about Alice's father. Together with "Crossing," the previous story, this chapter teaches us more about the wealthy inhabitants of the Lake District, the folk who own mansion vacation homes in the area.
In "Hill Country," Alice is 21. This short story is told as a third-person narrative and recounts Alice's brief marriage to Josh, a man who she loves deeply but who is incapable of loving her back. We also get to know one of Alice's cousins, a poor and uneducated woman name Martha who is related to her biological mother. It is another outstanding, self-contained short story, an incredible emotional tour-de-force.
The last five stories all take place in 1982, when Alice is 24. The first chapter, called "The Village," is a third-person narrative recounting Alice's visit to find and meet her adoptive mother, who abandoned Alice as an infant. At the end of the piece, her mother gives Alice a deed to an island property in the Lake District once owned by her great-great-grandmother, Eleonora. This is another amazing and deeply felt self-contained short story.
The next chapter is called "The Island." In it we learn about Alice's adventures discovering and living in her new island home. It is a touching story about opening yourself to love after your heart's been broken, and then having your heart broken once more, because of a significant misunderstanding. This is a heart-wrenching short story that, although self-contained, we are happy to have played out to a better conclusion in the final chapter.
The next tale is called "Polite." In it, Alice's biological grandmother, Sophie, writes directly to Alice in a first-person narrative. She tells Alice what she feels about other family members and family events. It is an apology of sorts, but it is also very revealing about Sophie's character and life. This chapter is part of the novel's architecture and ties pieces from the other stories together.
"The Old Factory," is, perhaps, the best short story in the novel. Discover it for yourself. It is brimming with life and amazing in every way.
The final chapter is called "Return;" it is not a self-contained short story but a first-person narrative told by Alice that tacks a lovely and fitting conclusion onto the story arc composed of all the other stories in the book.
This is an unusual novel where each chapter tells a complete and satisfying story; together they give you an unforgettable portrait of a life, a people, and a place. Maxwell finds the extraordinary in the ordinary and imbues it with such a life force that the reader feels transported in time and place. If you enjoy complex, character-driven novels rich with emotion and an almost-being-there sense of place, this could be one of the books you've been searching for. I recommend it highly.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
Decent Story Almost Drowned By Confusing Style
By Susan K. Schoonover
At the heart of LAKE PEOPLE is a decent family story set around a New Hampshire lake. The time frame ranges from 1910 to seventy some years later. Five generations of a family that originated in Sweden are included though the youngest family member Alice an adopted child who finally discovers her roots is the main focus. Author Abi Maxwell appears to be so determined to show off her writing skills that she chooses a confusing style for her novel when a more straight forward approach would have provided a much more accessible, pleasant read. The book can be deciphered in to sense by a patient reader and the story is really quite interesting when finally unraveled. However I am not sure how many readers will make the needed extra effort since though the book is adequately rendered it is not a really important book that is definitely worthy of the extra thought and time required. This is a short book that unfortunately seems like a much longer one.
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