The Deepest Lake

By: Andromeda Romano-Lax

Narrated by: Susan Bennett, Rebecca Quinn Robertson

Rose, the mother of twentysomething aspiring writer Jules, has waited three months for answers about her daughter’s death. Why was she swimming alone when she feared the water? Why did she stop texting days before she was last seen? When the official investigation rules the death an accidental drowning, the body possibly lost forever in Central America’s deepest lake, an unsatisfied Rose travels to the memoir workshop herself. She hopes to draw her own conclusion—and find closure.

When Rose arrives, she is swept into the curious world created by her daughter’s literary hero, the famous writing teacher Eva Marshall, a charismatic woman known for her candid—and controversial—memoirs. As Rose uncovers details about the days leading up to Jules’s disappearance, she begins to suspect that this glamorous retreat package is hiding ugly truths. Is Lake Atitlán a place where traumatized women come to heal or a place where deeper injury is inflicted?

The Deepest Lake is both a sharp look at the sometimes toxic, exclusionary world of high-class writing workshops and an achingly poignant view of a mother’s grief.

“Welcome to the memoir workshop from hell. I relished this insider’s look … The Deepest Lake is a gripping yet thoughtful novel about overcoming trauma, meeting our inheritance, and what happens when we seize the power to rewrite our own stories.”—Alison B. Hart, author of The Work Wife

©2024 Andromeda Romano-Lax (P)2024 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

“Welcome to the memoir workshop from hell. I relished this insider’s look … The Deepest Lake is a gripping yet thoughtful novel about overcoming trauma, meeting our inheritance, and what happens when we seize the power to rewrite our own stories.”—Alison B. Hart, author of The Work Wife

Interesting twisty story

I enjoyed it and it captured me from the beginning. The end was not what I was expecting.

Superb!

One of my favourite books of 2024, so far. An intriguing exploration of mother daughter conflict and love, with high wire tension sparking throughout the novel. I loved the rustic, rural Guatemalan setting. Readers and writers who are interested in memoir writing and the publishing process may pick up a few gems. This is storytelling at its best. I highly recommend “The Deepest Lake”.

Long story that could have been told in 4 chapters

I didn’t enjoy the narration—it felt long-winded and lacked energy. The story dragged, and it definitely wasn’t a page-turner. In my opinion, the plot could have been told in just four chapters. The ending was especially underwhelming and left me disappointed.

A good bad book

Mediocre book, but good enough to finish. The story was slow. It may have been better as a novella. There was a lot of repetition, ground hog-like pages. The narration was also mediocre. It was clipped and monotone, almost like using the audio to “read” a Word document. BUT if you like books told from two points of view that ultimately come together - and I do - it was a sufficiently interesting story to finish.

Great Twist but Rushed Ending

The beginning was great I felt like a book where they continually talk about writing techniques, the author would take her own advice. The ending was so rushed and matter-of-fact. It took so long to get to the plot twist, that it felt like they wrapped it up in the last two chapters. I didn’t understand bringing in characters that felt important in the beginning only to never hear from them again. The performance was extremely monotonous.