Fern grew up in the family business – literally. Her mother, and her mother’s parents before her, operated a resort on the shore of a Canadian lake. Living at the resort year-round had some benefits – endless outdoor entertainment, a rotating cast of friends coming to visit, and staff who become more like family than coworkers or employees. As she got older though, Fern decided this wasn’t what she wanted her future to look like, and struck out to form her own life in Toronto – a business partnership, a love life, friends. But after her mother’s unexpected death, Fern returns home to secrets and a mysterious man from her past who appears out of nowhere.
Meet Me at the Lake is the sophomore release from Carley Fortune, a best-selling Canadian author and journalist. Part coming of age, part mental health advocacy, Fortune’s writing is reminiscent of Fredrik Backman’s but with a stronger romance twist. Fortune delivers a story about second chances and learning to make the most of the time you have, but at the heart of it, this is a story about the dangers of mental health, specially around huge life changes.
I give Meet Me at the Lake 4 out of 5 stars. As a huge proponent of mental health, especially post-partum and perinatal mental health, I have to admit, those portions of this storyline caught me completely off guard. I was pleasantly surprised and had to immediately tell my husband about that moment! I did find it difficult to engage with this storyline at first, but couldn’t put the book down by the time I was a few chapters in. I also appreciate the way Fortune included real world business situations like video calls and finance meetings into this to give the plot a depth beyond just a romance or coming of age novel. With that said, there was a certain aspect that hit on the “Hallmark movie” quality that tends to irk me – all a little too perfect.
If you loved Fortune’s debut release Every Summer After or works from Fredrik Backman like A Man Called Ove, you will love this book! With mentions of parental loss, fatal car crashes, and mental health struggles, this book may be best directed to more mature readers over 16. With multiple timelines and points of view, this book would be a great book club selection where those could be explored and discussed at length!
I chose Meet Me at the Lake for the Read With Lindsey Reading Challenge prompt “becoming a movie in 2025”. This was optioned by Archwell Productions with an original planned release date of 2025, but I understand it may not hit screens this year. Archwell is the company created by Prince Harry and Megan Markel for their creative adventures, so I can see why they would have chosen this movie – mental health is an important challenge and cause championed by the Prince and his brother over the past decade.
If you or someone you care for is challenged with a mental health struggle today, don’t wait to get help. The National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI) is available with multiple ways to talk to trained professionals today. Call the help line M-F, 10AM to 10PM ET at 1-800-950-6264 or text “helpline” to 62640 to chat. You can call or text 988 from your cell 24/7 to reach the Crisis Center in an emergency.
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What I’m Reading
- Current print book: The Secret Book of Flora Lea, Patti Callahan Henry
- Current audio book: The Book Club for Troublesome Women, Marie Bostwock
- Book I’m most looking forward to: Light a Penny Candle, Maeve Binchy
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