Infinite Books

“The Lake Escape” by Jamie Day is a summer book: something you can quickly pick up and read sitting in a beach chair and sipping iced tea, then promptly put it aside when a seagull tries to steal your snack.  In the style of recently popular movies and novels, “rich people behaving badly”, the story takes place at a Vermont lakefront.  Julia, Erika, and David used to come there as children, and although now they’re in their forties, with families of their own, they still look forward to their annual vacation reunion.  However, the place is not as idyllic as it used to be, especially since David built a modern glass home there, in his eyes an architectural masterpiece. At the same time, Julia finds it an eyesore, blocking her view of the lake. As if he didn’t prove himself to be a jerk, David also brought his new, younger girlfriend, Fiona. Nobody likes her, but they are still shocked and upset when Fiona disappears. It had happened before: thirty years ago, two young women also vanished.  People keep saying that “the lake took them.” Did Fiona meet a similar fate?

The novel starts slowly, but it picks up halfway, bringing the past events and new characters. I didn’t find all the twists unexpected, probably because I’ve read many thrillers and mysteries and can often guess the author’s intentions.  Also, without giving too much detail about the novel, some ideas seemed to be rather far-fetched. I did like the main character, Izzy, a nanny freshly hired to take care of David’s children, although she irritated me at times.  She was the best-developed character, and her constant mentioning of Mary Poppins as an ideal nanny was sweet, as it was her crush on a moody young musician.

The novel is easy to read, and although, in my opinion, it is not as good as Jamie Day’s first book, it can still be an enjoyable read. After all, as the song goes, it’s “summertime and the living is easy,” so we may look for books that are easy beach reads and as refreshing as a glass of iced tea.  

THE LAKE ESCAPE by Jamie Day, Sy Martin’s Press, 2025