The Story of the Lake [Hardcover]

Laura Chester (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 23, 1995

Beginning with Victorian times, the lives of four families are played out in the resort area of Wisconsin's Nogowogotoc Lake, summer refuge of Milwaukee's wealthy beer barons, in a panoramic saga rich in Midwestern history.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Spanning the decades from the early 1900s through the 1960s, Chester's (Bitches Ride Alone, Black Sparrow, 1991) new fiction is a meandering saga about wealthy Midwestern families who summer at Lake Nogowogotoc, Wisconsin. Walter and Lucy Schraeger's marriage is floundering because of Walter's long-term affair with Alicia Ulrich, the glittering femme fatale of the lake. Veiled in mystery and deceit and possessing a murderous heart, Alicia finds that she is haunted by her early relationship with her father and his unusual death. Other lake stories include the young scion's taking advantage of the innocent maid, the hired help's rising above his station in life, soured marriages, unrequited love, a spinster-turned-suffragette, and sudden, untimely deaths. Unfortunately, Alicia is the only spicy character in this plodding novel, which is burdened by an excess of bland characters and underdeveloped plots that do not segue smoothly from chapter to chapter. Not recommended.?Mary Ellen Elsbernd, Northern Kentucky Univ. Lib., Highland Heights
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Nogowogotoc Lake on the outskirts of Milwaukee is the setting for Chester's multigenerational saga. Overall, the piece is an entertaining look at the high society in a pleasant midwestern summer retreat at the turn of the century. Brewers, bankers, department store owners, and sausage makers are the elite of this fiction. Their summer and, often, winter interactions on the estates surrounding Nogowogotoc Lake make up the slow-moving action of this novel. The family members quarrel, make up, commit adultery, intermarry, and celebrate weddings, births, holidays, and funerals (many). It takes a while, but Chester does draw the reader into caring about these events and the people. Denise Perry Donavin

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 382 pages
• Publisher: Faber & Faber; First Edition edition (March 23, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0571198619
• ISBN-13: 978-0571198610
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #720,691 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great summer reading, May 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Story of the Lake (Hardcover)

Why aren't there more great books like this one with real substance, humor, love and life. This had it all. Best to read quickly so that you can keep all the various characters in mind-- a bit like going to a new country and being filled to the brim with it all.