Customer Reviews

The Inn at Lake Devine

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I fell madly, totally, and completely in love with the heroine of Elinor Lipman's The Inn at Lake Devine.

Natalie Marx is around twelve when the short novel opens, and her family has just received a politely worded rejection letter from the proprietor of the Inn at Lake Devine: there are no rooms at the inn for people with Jewish names. The first half of the book recounts Natalie's comic attempts to visit the inn, her real but limited success, and the interesting people she encounters along the way.

The second half of the book concerns the twenty-five-year-old Natalie's re-introduction to the inn and her romance with the innkeepers' son.

As always, Lipman's characters are quirky, yet true to life. They respond to real life situations in real ways, yet Lipman's compassionate eye for the comic shines through.

I really enjoyed reading The Inn at Lake Devine. I could really relate to Natalie as both a child and a young adult.

Who hasn't felt like an outsider without really understanding why. This novel touched on so many different feelings - anti-Semitism, love, grief and so much more.

From Natalie re-uniting with her childhood friend from camp to her relationship with the family at the inn (I don't want to ruin anything for those who haven't the book yet) - let's just say that her relationships are complicated.

This was a fun read from start to finish and I definitely plan to read more of Ms. Lipman's work.

I picked up this book for a paper I was writing about modern Jewish heroines. It wasn't a great addition to my paper, but it was a quick, charming read that would be great for a beach, a plane, or a rainy day.

Our heroine is a cooking student who is scarred by an incident from her childhood in which a resort--the titular inn--refused to allow her family to stay there one summer because they were Jewish.

The premise seems heavy, but the execution is not. While the novel does concern the heroine's need to go back to the inn (where she once stayed with a childhood friend and her family), this is not a serious treatment of anti-Semitism or interfaith relationships.

What it is--and what it does well--is detail the fumblings and failures of several families--Natalie's, her childhood friend Robin's, and the Berrys, who own the inn. The end result is a Jane Austen-lite comedy of manners: funny but without the biting wit or satire. The book drops the ball on some of the issues (in particular, Natalie's interfaith relationship with a member of the Berry family is too neatly resolved considering what has come before it), but what it does do, it does well.

An endearing, easy read.

While reading this book I found myself neglecting household chores and turning off the television. When teenager Natalie finds out The Inn at Lake Devine only accepts Gentile guests she is disgusted and hurt. The rest of young adult life is spent getting to know the family that runs The Inn at Lake Devine. I loved The Fifes. They were so perfectly annoying in the begining. I'm sure I've met their family in my real life some where before! I look forward to reading more of Lipman's books.

If you want a quick, easy, light hearted summer novel, this would please you!

This is a great book to either zip through, or casually meander without the worry of losing track of the story. Put it down, go for a swim, or a weekend vacation. When you come back to it, it will be still fresh and memorable. Better yet, take it with you, if you go away.. Simply put, a perfect summer time book, "ready to wear", so to speak.

This is a sweet, good humored, yet, sensitive story about a young, jewish girl facing one of her earliest experiences of predjudice. At the age of 12 years, she encounters the reality of her family affected by religious persecution. Her family inquires as to reservations for a summer get-away and is blatantly slighted by the vacation resort called The Inn at Lake Devine. Provoked by the reply that follows in response, she instantly becomes a young advocate, mailing material alledging the resort's transgressions.

Dating back to 1962, the memory of her family being rebuffed by the gentile Vermont Inn becomes somewhat of an obsession for Natalie. The sweet comedy alights from the relationships that originate and the ones that are celebrated at this very resort. A passive/aggressive or love/hate relationship is developed between the inn and Natalie AND the relatives between the two.

The fun is seeing the end result. Not bitter, not mean spirited, it is sweet rewards for Natalie who carries a hurt in her heart long enough to do something about it.

As a society we are divided by class, religion and color. Whenever we try to intermingle any of these differences in personal relationships it is, often times, met with disapproving attitudes by others. And eventhough we may be reminded, justifiably so, by the holocaust or by slavery our nation still discriminates, still judges. Elinor Lipman in her novel, "The Inn at Lake Devine" writes with great wit and humor about the great divide between Jews and Gentiles. Ms. Lipman's story centers around a hotel in Vermont in the 60's that flatly states they do not accept Jews as guests. The main character, Natalie Marx, challenges the hotels policy and after meeting a gentile friend at summer camp, whose family spends each summer at the Inn, invites herself to vacation there with her friends family (as that is the only way she can "legally" get into the Inn). Natalie's eyes are widened even further after witnessing the owners and their family during that vacation. Years later she returns to the Inn to attend the wedding of her summer camp friend where unforeseen circustances occur and relationships develope between Natalie and the innkeepers 2 sons. Interestingly, Ms. Lipman takes the action to the Catskills, where the tables are now turned as the Jews talk about the Gentiles. All of this is done with great style and wit by Ms. Lipman and she never judges anyone so that we dislike them. Instead, Ms. Lipman allows us to observe the inner-workings of our society and how we, as a whole, can improve all our lives together. What happens to Natalie, the owners 2 sons and the Inn will have to be discovered by the reader. In the meantime, buy Ms. Lipman's novel - she addressess a subject worth writing about and delivers it humorously and professionally.

I actually finished reading this book in a day. It was a quick well written book. It dealt with some serious subject matters that are probably still applicable to today's times. However, I felt like the subject matter was handled through a beach read. Everything turned out right with a big bow at the end. Not true of real life. It was however a fun read.

Calling Elinor Lipman's work "cute" is a bit of injustice, but that's just how I felt about this book. After reading this, I felt the same way I feel coming out of a great romantic comedy movie, all warm and fuzzy inside.

The book follows Natalie Marx who becomes intrigued/obsessed with an Inn who, when she was a child, did not allow her family to vist because they were Jewish. Natalie whowever, manages to find a way into the Inn through non-Jewish friends, and her commentary about the Inn and it's visitors, and the family who graciously allows her to vacation with them is hilarious. (And the gentile hottie Natalie becomes involved with is a pretty cool storyline too).

The back of this book contains a quote from the Chicago Tribune calling it a "punchy little comedy of manners. . .Think Jane Austen" and although way too many female authors get compared to "modern-day Jane Austens" this description actually fits. I highly recommend this book.

No question but that Ms. Lipman is one of modern fiction's better writers, even if she is not yet a household name in every American home--as she deserves to be. THE INN AT LAKE DEVINE is one of her most enjoyable works, in part because it is lively and quick-moving. For a story with so many morals and so much character development, it is easy to read and usually funny. This novel comes highly recommended.

What I really admire about this delightful book is the way the author starts with a most unpleasant incident - a letter in 1962 excluding a family from an inn in Vermont just because they are Jewish - and turns it into a wonderful social comedy of just revenge and just desserts, without ever being "preachy" about it. Th touch may be light but the voice is assured and serious. This book made me want to read more by Ms. Lipman.