Book Synopsis:
A stunning novel that examines the price of loyalty, the burden of regret, the meaning of salvation, and the sacrifices we make for those we love, told in the voices of two unforgettable women linked by a decades-old family mystery at a picturesque lake house.
In 1935, six-year-old Emily Evans vanishes from her family’s summer house on a remote Minnesota lake. Her disappearance destroys the family – her father takes his own life, and her mother and two older sisters spend the rest of their lives at the lake house, keeping a decades-long vigil for the lost child.
Sixty years later, Lucy, the quiet and watchful middle sister, lives in the lake house alone. Before her death, she writes the story of that devastating summer in a notebook that she leaves, along with the house, to the only person who might care: her grandniece, Justine. For Justine, the lake house offers freedom and stability – a way to escape her manipulative boyfriend and give her daughters the home she never had. But the long Minnesota winter is just beginning. The house is cold and dilapidated. The dark, silent lake is isolated and eerie. Her only neighbor is a strange old man who seems to know more about the summer of 1935 than he’s telling.
Soon Justine’s troubled oldest daughter becomes obsessed with Emily’s disappearance, her absent mother reappears, and the man she left launches a dangerous plan to get her back. In a house haunted by the sorrows of the women who came before her, Justine must overcome their tragic legacy if she hopes to save herself and her children.
The Lost Girls is available in ebook and hardback now. You can purchase your copy using the links below.
My Review:
The Lost Girls is an atmospheric and gripping duel time novel which I really enjoyed. I knew from the start that this would be a great read for me as I love dual timeline stories especially when they are based around a creepy house.
I loved the fabulous descriptions of the lake house which had a deliciously creepy feeling to if from the start. I found myself able to envision the isolated location of the house and the abandoned atmosphere of the holiday destination in winter. The house seemed like a character itself sometimes as it seemed to slowly give up the secrets it held. I felt under its spell at times and had to keep reading to find out if there were any clues hidden in its possessions.
The story is told in two timelines one set in 1935 which followed Lucy and her two sisters. The other follows Judith who inherits the lake house from her grandmother and moves there to escape an abusive relationship. I liked Lucy at the beginning as we learn more about her childhood through her diary entries. She and her sisters definitely had a difficult childhood which was heartbreaking to read about at times. I never really warmed to Judith though or her rather selfish mother however who made my blood boil at times.
Overall I thought this was a well paced but gripping read which had lots of twists that kept me guessing as to what happened to Emily. I did prefer the older timeline to the more recent one though I did enjoy following Judith as she tried to piece everything together. The ending was very surprising and more sad then I was expecting.
Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Verve books for my copy via Netgalley. If you are a fan of Kate Morton or Eve Chase, I think you will like this book.
About The Author:
Heather Young earned her law degree from the University of Virginia and practiced law in San Francisco before beginning her writing career. She received an MFA from the Bennington College Writing Seminars, and has studied at the Tin House Writers’ Workshop and the Squaw Valley Writers Workshop. She lives in Mill Valley, California, with her husband and two children. The Lost Girls is her first novel.
Over The Rainbow Blog 
Thanks for the blog tour support x
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