Storm Publishing
It is an age-old dilemma. How intrusive should one be when sorting through a deceased parent's belongings and, above all, their private papers? This is the dilemma faced by three adult sisters as they gather at the family cottage shortly after learning their beloved father has died suddenly. Alex, Sam and Jess have come to this treasured family lake house to comfort Carol, their grieving mother and also spare her some of the burden of 'sorting things out.'
And therein lies the rub. Secrets will out, and the uncovering of this particular mystery, which has lain undiscovered for years - or has it - tests this grieving family as it has never been tested before. Can the bonds that have held these four women close down the years survive the realization that uncovering the past can change everything and indeed has?
This is a straightforward tale seen through the eyes of the three sisters. It is well-written and with sensitivity as well as providing enough twists and turns to keep the reader turning the pages.
It is also a quick read, perhaps a little too quick and filled with so many secondary characters and their individual dilemmas that the overwhelming predicament of whether this grieving family can heal its wounds is sometimes in danger of taking second place.
But perhaps all these minor characters and complications are necessary as Last Summer at the Lake House is the first of a projected three volumes, The Summerville Series. According to the publisher, the second book, titled The Summerville Sisters, is already available.
Author Heather Dixon lives in Burlington with her husband, her three young daughters and their Bouvier dog, Zoey. In fact, her previous book, also published recently, is titled Burlington, about a young wife and mother who never imagined she would fit in with the beautiful and rich mothers of her children's elementary school until a tragedy happens and she must make a momentous decision.
Besides writing novels, Dixon is also the managing editor of a non-profit website, and before that spent more than a decade as a copywriter and freelance writer in the marketing and advertising industry. Her work has appeared in The Globe and Mail, Huffington Post, Scary Mommy and Motherly. She has also spoken on CBC radio.
'Women's fiction' can often be dismissed in disparaging tones. So, it is worth quoting the Women's Fiction Writers' Association on genres, whereas the driving force of a romance novel is a love story, a mystery's is the exposure of an event, a thriller's is a fear-inducing chase or escape, etc., the driving force of women's fiction is the protagonist's journey toward a more fulfilled self.
Women's fiction includes so many of the best-loved and most well-known works. Think Louisa May Allcott's Little Women series, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and a personal favourite of this reviewer's, The Rector's Wife by Joanna Trollope - and yes, she is related to Victorian novelist Anthony Trollope (Barchester Towers).
