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LAKE OF DEAD LANGUAGES
by Carol Goodman
Ballantine, January 2003
390 pages
$13.95
ISBN: 0345450892


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Carol Goodman’s debut novel is an impressive piece of work where the past will hit the protagonist at full force causing her to confront her demons once and for all. Two students died at the Heart Lake School for Girls in the Adirondacks almost twenty years ago. Both of the girls were roommates of Jane Hudson who was devastated about their deaths. Now, after leaving a troubled marriage, Jane returns to work at the school as a Latin teacher reawakening old wounds. The past will be making a comeback as two other students related to Prof. Goodman die in similar fashion, making her wonder what she might know.

Using Jane as the story’s narrative tool, the author displays the anguish the character has carried all those years, not knowing how to handle it, and letting it take over her life. The book’s imagery is impressive like Dana Stabenow’s Alaskan mystery series or Annie Proulx’s Newfoundland in THE SHIPPING NEWS. The lake that borders the school is a character in itself where it will have different meanings to other characters. The descriptions are so vivid that one can picture the water’s tranquility during the spring season, as well as its cold heart in the winter. Symbolism abounds in the book making it a worthwhile read.

The plot structure is handled well by having it separated into three separate parts. Part One is an introduction to all the major characters and a brief overview of Jane’s life. There are some clues spread out piecemeal throughout the first third of the book, but it will not be until Part Two, when the readers learn what happened two decades ago. The narrator has her own preconceptions as to what happened all that time, but she does not see the real picture. Once Part Three begins, she will be blown away by the several truths revealed that will change her perception of yesterday forever and surprise readers at the climax. The author takes dramatic license with one of the characters that will play an important role in the climactic scene, but it is forgivable due to the story it told. Carol Goodman is an author who knows how to write and how to evoke a great sense of drama inside a psychological mystery. She is off to a great start.

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Reviewed by Angel L. Soto, January 2003

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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