Ladies of the Lake

By: Cathy Gohlke

Narrated by: Stephanie Richardson

Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

When she is forced to leave her beloved Prince Edward Island to attend Lakeside Ladies Academy after the death of her parents, the last thing Adelaide Rose MacNeill expects to find is three kindred spirits. The “Ladies of the Lake,” as the four girls call themselves, quickly bond like sisters, vowing that wherever life takes them, they will always be there for each other. But that is before: Before love and jealousy come between Adelaide and Dorothy, the closest of the friends. Before the dawn of World War I upends their world and casts baseless suspicion onto the German American man they both love. Before a terrible explosion in Halifax Harbor rips the sisterhood irrevocably apart.

Seventeen years later, Rosaline Murray receives an unsuspecting telephone call from Dorothy, now headmistress of Lakeside, inviting her to attend the graduation of a new generation of girls, including Rosaline’s beloved daughter. With that call, Rosaline is drawn into a past she’d determined to put behind her. To memories of a man she once loved...of a sisterhood she abandoned...and of the day she stopped being Adelaide MacNeill.

©2023 Cathy Gohlke (P)2023 Dreamscape Media

Great start, steep decline

Some obvious and implausible plot lines, but I still enjoyed it until the author began to beat me over the head with religion .

Starts slow but picks up

I was worried at first that this was a YA book but that changed about a 1/4 ways into the book. Definitely written for women but I enjoyed it. A story of love, deception and redemption. The ending was sad but it helped to explain the relationship of the women. The ladies of the lake. Both my wife and I enjoyed it.

I appreciated the reader’s passion for the story.

I was surprised by the ending as far as the love story went! And I was glad the correct two got together.

Enjoyable Read, But Preachy

This would have been a solid 4 stars were it not so religious. The first 2/3 or so are perfectly secular and then it suddenly veers into a virtual Billy Graham crusade. Everyone is constantly praying and discussing a variety of characters from the Bible and it never let's up. It's as though a good editor had been removing all that crap and then ran out of time or red ink and the book was prematurely published. It's really too bad.

We all need good friends!

I could hardly wait for this surprise ending! Great coming of age story!! I will totally recommend this book!

Such a good story!

This story started out a bit slow, but it became one I couldn’t stop listening to. The characters were well developed, and the narrator gave each one a unique voice with a distinct personality. I have a new favorite author and narrator!

it's Christian fiction!

I bought this as a daily deal unaware religion played such a big role in the story. About three fourths of the way through I was doubting I would be able to finish the novel. I decided to grind forward and was pleased with the ending. Finishing the book left a much better feeling about the story than if I would have stopped reading three quarters of the way through!

Mediocre

Content warning: Death by suicide. Wartime love triangle. The religious language gets heavy-handed towards the end, even more disconcerting because the writing doesn't proceed that way for the first two-thirds of the story. The narrator mispronounced a few words, but was otherwise fine.

So amazing!

With hints of Ann of Green Gables, and the intensity of Christy, this story was destined to be a favorite of mine! This is the first story I’ve read by this author, and I will be reading more! A wonderful story covering several decades; filled with history, friendship, faith, secrets, wounds, fear, forgiveness and romance. The audio version was perfect, I loved how each character had a unique voice.

Enjoyed

I liked the story and characters. Easy listening and narration. Will see what other books have been written by this author.