The ghosts of the past come calling in a spellbinding heart-stopper from the “Queen of the Northern Gothic.”After the end of her marriage, Kate Granger has retreated to her parents’ home on Lake Superior to pull herself together—only to discover the body of a murdered woman washed into the shallows. Tucked in the folds of the woman’s curiously vintage gown is an infant, as cold and at peace as … and at peace as its mother. No one can identify the woman. Except for Kate. She’s seen her before. In her dreams…
One hundred years ago, a love story ended in tragedy, its mysteries left unsolved. It’s time for the lake to give up its secrets. As each mystery unravels, it pulls Kate deeper into the eddy of a haunting folktale that has been handed down in whispers over generations. Now, it’s Kate’s turn to listen.
As the drowned woman reaches out from the grave, Kate reaches back. They must come together, if only in dreams, to right the sinister wrongs of the past.
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It’s rare to find a book that haunts as deeply as Wendy Webb’s Daughters of the Lake. Psychic dreamer, time travel, scary legends. This book has it all. Put this one on your list!
Recommend to anyone who loves ghost stories.
A very enjoyable, light read.
Kate has returned home to re-think her life after her husband’s affair. When a drowned woman and child is washed up on the beach near her parent’s house Kate’s reaction is so strange, she is considered a possible suspect.
Kate knows the woman but only in her dreams. The woman wants Kate to learn the truth of her heritage and who she really is.
The story has a gothic feel to it and a lovely even pace.
In Wendy Webb’s entrancing Daughters of the Lake, dreams open a door between the dead and the living, a lake spirit calls to a family of gifted women, and a century-old murder is solved under the cover of fog. This northern gothic gem is everything that is delicious, spooky, and impossible to put down.
A fantastic Gothic mystery. Loved everything about it!
Wendy Webb’s deftly woven tale hits all the right notes. A lost legacy of lake spirits, restless ghostly figures, and a past shrouded in fog and regret blend in delicious harmony in Daughters of the Lake. The queen of northern gothic does it again with this quintessential ghost story every bit as compelling and evocative as her fans have come to expect.
I picked up Daughters of the Lake from the Kindle Firsts selection. Overall, I enjoyed the story. The relationship between Addie and Jess was most interesting to me. Sometimes time hoping can become confusing, but I thought it was done well in this book as each shift from time and/or POV deepened the mystery. What I didn’t like about the book was the heavy telling and use of passive voice. This story could have been so much more were it not for that. I nearly stopped reading a couple chapters in because of this but decided to continue on. I’m glad I did as there were some good twists at the end. 3.5/5 Stars
Everything you could want in a gothic mystery. Great writing. Wonderful descriptions and characters, and a chilling plot that will keep you thinking about it even after you close the last page.
I’m keeping this short and simple. If you love gothic mysteries with strong women at their core, then this is a novel you won’t want to miss. The mystery spans multiple timelines. The writing is smooth and immersive. The ghosts and danger are real, very real.
The parallel storylines here instantly drew me in. I loved this gothic tale of a tragic loss, combined with a haunting in an atmospheric old house.
Spirits and legends are not my usual “go to” topics, but this well written and mystical treatment keeps you turning the pages until you figure it out. Loved it!
I found this book captivating and certainly easy reading. The main characters were very realistic and their plights interesting. I was drawn in from the first page.
Loved the intertwined past and present–the gothic elements that create a rich, enticing tale. If you like Kate Morton’s books, Webb’s are similar but set in America. Old houses, tangled pasts and troubled lives–all add up to a great read.
It took me a little while to get comfortable with Wendy’s style (lots of exposition in big chunks) but once I was hooked on this story, I tore through it. Going back and forth in time is very tricky to do as a craftsperson and she did it beautifully. This story still sticks with me and I finished it months ago. Very engaging.
Wonderfully Haunting! Just my thing! The setting: supernatural Lake Superior with an otherwordly fog and an ominous legendary creature! The plot: an ancestry tale that begins shortly after the turn of the century and creeps into modern day with a big house turned bed and breakfast, and family secrets that refuse to stay dead. This was such a fascinating and atmospheric read. I loved the storyline, the setting, the paranormal, the characters… More, please!
I loved this story. It kept me reading late into the night. The story has romance, mystery and spiced with a dash of paranormal. The ending is a surprise.
Great read, couldn’t stop reading this book. Thought I had it figured out but I truly enjoyed the last few pages of this fantastic story. I will read more stories from this author.
I liked this book – and would have loved it, except for the end. The ending seemed a little over the top, even for a ghost story. I love urban fantasy, I love ghost stories, but I couldn’t quite believe this ending.
OVERVIEW OF STORY: The story of the Daughters of the Lake is based around Lake Superior and what I can only assume is local lore. The lake has a soul, a living spirit that can and has taken on a human form in the past. As a human the lake spirit fathered children and the descendants of those children, all girls, are the Daughters of the Lake. This book tells three stories that connect the women over many generations. The first is the story of the lake spirit falling in love and the hard choice he must make between his duty as the soul of the lake and his love of his family. The second, closer to the present day, around the turn of the 1900’s, a daughter of the lake, Marie gives birth alone in a dense fog on the shore. A young boy named Jess later finds her child, Addie floating in the water safe and sound. Jess and Addie grow-up attached to each other in an unnatural way that everybody in town notices. He goes off to college, promising to come back for Addie’s hand in marriage, he comes back instead to break the news that he plans to marry another. When Jess sees Addie at the train station his heart does an about-face and he asks Addie to marry him. Later, Addie goes into labor when Jess is out of town on business, the world shrouded in a dense fog, like the day she herself was born. She finds herself wandering to the shore of the lake, unbeknownst to her somebody is lurking in the fog, waiting to do her harm. The third part takes place in the present day. The body of a young mother and baby that were lost so long ago on a foggy night wash ashore. A young woman Kate has found out her husband has been cheating on her. She’s left the marriage and turned to her family and has been having strange dreams for weeks. When she sees the woman’s body on the beach outside her parents’ house, she not only knows the face but knows that the woman holds a baby within her arms. Kate sees the last days of Addie’s life unfold when she dreams, and Kate tries desperately to change the past and struggles to find the truth.
OPINION OF BOOK: The story of The Daughters of the Lake was an original plot. Which in all likelihood could be a local myth or legend. The story is a little complicated at first, but it all blended seamlessly together in the end. There are little mini-mysteries throughout the story. One example is the crying ghost on the third floor of Harrison house in the turret of the ballroom. Before the end of the book, you find out who the ghost is and why they are crying. It is almost unfair to call this a book because it tells so much of the family story. It covers so many generations and such a vast expanse of time you feel immersed in the family’s history. The Daughters of the Lake left me believing in the myth.
OPINION OF WRITING: I tend to get so involved in any story that I am reading that I don’t pay much attention to the titles at the beginning of chapters. With this book, you must pay attention to the titles. They tell you where and when the scene is set. The author takes the reader into different characters heads. You get to see not only different time periods, but you get to see it from the vantage points of others. The way that Kate’s dream journey’s back into Addie’s life are written about are haunting. Kate is in an unfamiliar place, with people she doesn’t know and a face she doesn’t recognize in the mirror. She can feel the emotions that Addie feels about the situation she is in but has no control over any of it. In my opinion, Wendy Webb did a phenomenal job of weaving together the mystical and every day to create The Daughters of the Lake.
Great story
Kate Granger’s life is in upheaval with an impending divorce on the horizon when she moves back home for a fresh start. One morning a body washes up in her backyard on the shores of the lake. When she recognizes the women it sets her in motion to solve this mystery. Part ghost story part mystery this was a really good read to me. Despite some slow moments I enjoyed the history of the family at the center of this story. I also enjoyed all the twists and turns. When I thought the story was wrapped up it had to throw in one more twist that I really did not see coming. I am not sure if this story was intended to scare the reader but for me, it was not scary. There were a few tense moments but nothing that will keep me up at night. I look forward to checking out Wendy Webb’s other works.