Amazon offers daily Kindle Deals which greatly discount digital books. One recent deal was Lake News by Barbara Delinsky. The book blurb describes a scandal involving the Catholic Church in Boston, and because of my past history as a Catholic, my time spent in graduate school in Boston, and my academic research on Catholicism, I was intrigued. I decided for $1.99, I didn’t have too much to lose, so I bought the book. I am glad I did as I thoroughly enjoyed the book for reasons I didn’t expect, in part because it dealt intimately with narcissism, a psychological issue that has been very relevant to my life experiences.
Lily Blake, the book’s heroine, is a teacher and a night club singer. She is also friends with the man who is named as the new Cardinal of Boston. A scandal erupts as a malicious journalist concocts a story linking Lily sexually to “Father Fran.” Lily finds herself the object of media fascination as reporters camp outside her building and stalk her movements around town. In the first quarter of the book, I felt my own adrenaline rising and tension building in my body. Delinsky does an amazing job of portraying the stress that the blatant violation of privacy causes to the innocent Lily.
With the help of a good friend, Lily escapes to the small New Hampshire town (Lake Henry) where she was raised. There, she begins a personal and professional relationship with John Kipling, a man whose family has an unhealthy connection to Lily’s past. Likewise, Lily must renew her relationships with her toxic mother and her sisters. As she spends time in Lake Henry, the challenges of these relationships and the ongoing battle to regain her dignity and her reputation fill her time.
Within the first few pages of the book, I knew that I was going to enjoy this book a lot. Delinsky’s word choices are captivating. She describes the loons that live on Lake Henry in great detail, and while that could be a very dull scenario, Delinsky succeeds in making it a beautiful plot line. The characters she creates are also fleshed out quite well. I had a very clear vision in my head of what all the characters should look like thanks to her descriptive language.
The intrigue of the book also kept me turning pages, ever curious to see how events would resolve. However, the book weakened for me toward the end because Delinsky seemed to need “happily ever after” scenarios for most of the various subplot lines. In particular, Delinsky had developed three different characters who are strong narcissists. Their biting emotional abuse was painful for me to read because it was all too familiar, but that pain also spoke to the accuracy of the portrayal. However, unlike in Delinsky’s fictional world, most narcissists do not change radically in a short period of time. Most never change at all. Narcissists view their position as the only correct one, and they are not able to see outside of it. Thus, when two of Delinsky’s three narcissists were able to recognize and admit their mistakes, I wanted to cry “foul.” That’s just not how I felt things would have happened.
Aside from my issues around her fantasy resolutions at the end of the book, Delinsky created an enjoyable book in Lake News. It kept me distracted during a day of high pain, and that is a true gift.
© 2015 Elizabeth Galen, Ph.D., Green Heart Guidance, LLC
Lily Blake, the book’s heroine, is a teacher and a night club singer. She is also friends with the man who is named as the new Cardinal of Boston. A scandal erupts as a malicious journalist concocts a story linking Lily sexually to “Father Fran.” Lily finds herself the object of media fascination as reporters camp outside her building and stalk her movements around town. In the first quarter of the book, I felt my own adrenaline rising and tension building in my body. Delinsky does an amazing job of portraying the stress that the blatant violation of privacy causes to the innocent Lily.
With the help of a good friend, Lily escapes to the small New Hampshire town (Lake Henry) where she was raised. There, she begins a personal and professional relationship with John Kipling, a man whose family has an unhealthy connection to Lily’s past. Likewise, Lily must renew her relationships with her toxic mother and her sisters. As she spends time in Lake Henry, the challenges of these relationships and the ongoing battle to regain her dignity and her reputation fill her time.
Within the first few pages of the book, I knew that I was going to enjoy this book a lot. Delinsky’s word choices are captivating. She describes the loons that live on Lake Henry in great detail, and while that could be a very dull scenario, Delinsky succeeds in making it a beautiful plot line. The characters she creates are also fleshed out quite well. I had a very clear vision in my head of what all the characters should look like thanks to her descriptive language.
The intrigue of the book also kept me turning pages, ever curious to see how events would resolve. However, the book weakened for me toward the end because Delinsky seemed to need “happily ever after” scenarios for most of the various subplot lines. In particular, Delinsky had developed three different characters who are strong narcissists. Their biting emotional abuse was painful for me to read because it was all too familiar, but that pain also spoke to the accuracy of the portrayal. However, unlike in Delinsky’s fictional world, most narcissists do not change radically in a short period of time. Most never change at all. Narcissists view their position as the only correct one, and they are not able to see outside of it. Thus, when two of Delinsky’s three narcissists were able to recognize and admit their mistakes, I wanted to cry “foul.” That’s just not how I felt things would have happened.
Aside from my issues around her fantasy resolutions at the end of the book, Delinsky created an enjoyable book in Lake News. It kept me distracted during a day of high pain, and that is a true gift.
© 2015 Elizabeth Galen, Ph.D., Green Heart Guidance, LLC
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