Review: A Week at the Lake by Wendy Wax (audio)

Title:A Week at the Lake

Author:Wendy Wax

Narrator:Amy Rubinate

Published:June 2015, Tantor Audio / Berkley

Length:10 hours 48 minutes / 432 pages

Source:Personal copy via Audible / Publicist

From the USA Today bestselling author of The House on Mermaid Point comes a powerful novel about secrets, loyalty, and the bonds of true friendship . . .  

Twenty years ago, Emma Michaels, Mackenzie Hayes, and Serena Stockton
bonded over their New York City dreams. Then, each summer, they
solidified their friendship by spending one week at the lake together,
solving their problems over bottles of wine and gallons of ice cream.
They kept the tradition for years, until jealousy, lies, and life’s
disappointments made them drift apart.

It’s been five years
since Emma has seen her friends, an absence designed to keep them from
discovering a long-ago betrayal. Now she’s in desperate need of their
support. The time has come to reveal her secrets—and hopefully rekindle
their connection.

But when a terrible accident keeps Emma from
saying her piece, Serena and Mackenzie begin to learn about the past on
their own. Now, to heal their friendship and their broken lives, the
three women will have to return to the lake that once united them, and
discover which relationships are worth holding on to . . .

My thoughts:Wendy Wax has become a favorite author of mine…I love her 10 Beach Road series and adored one of the other stand-alones, While We Were Watching Downton Abbey. This is another stand-alone and I found it to be just as charming and endearing as her other books. She really gets women’s friendships and relationships and can craft a story that explores these themes without them being too contrieved or trite.

What I loved about this book is just how real it felt. The friendships between these women and how even the most inconsequential event can have devastating results is only too real and relatable. How many times in real life has a secret kept you from a from someone, even when that secret was kept with the best of intentions? And when that secret then comes with keeping lie after lie? Oh boy! 

While I had a feeling halfway through what the secret was, I in no way saw the entire scope of it. And ultimately, that wasn’t the purpose of this book. In my opinion, the purpose was in how these friends end up dealing with/coming to terms with what the secret is and the intentions/motivations behind keeping the secret. How do they proceed moving forward – or is it too late to repair any damage done?

These types of books always provide a little food for thought while also providing a little escape of good reading. There were definitely some good, pure humorous moments and then there were many tender moments as well.

 

Audio thoughts:I am a big fan of Amy Rubinate, so when I saw that she was narrating this book, I jumped at the chance to listen to it and am so glad I did – what a great audio book! She did such a great job with this performance – the voices, the expressions, the pacing – everything!